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176 reviews for:
Das glücklichste Volk: sieben Jahre bei den Pirahã-Indianern am Amazonas
Daniel L. Everett
3.81 AVERAGE
176 reviews for:
Das glücklichste Volk: sieben Jahre bei den Pirahã-Indianern am Amazonas
Daniel L. Everett
3.81 AVERAGE
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
This dude changed the way we think about the relationship between language and culture. Super interesting albeit dense
informative
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
slow-paced
The fact that Everett went there to convert the Pirahã to Christianity but ended up losing his own faith was an impressive plot twist. The Pirahã have managed, through sheer force of being content with their own lives, to reject Western culture and capitalism. You can't sell any Abrahamic religion without the guilt, the shame, the insecurities, and the economic system, so they are immune. I'm sure the fact that they won't believe second hand stories also helps, but the Pirahã plainly don't have any use for Western religion or technology.
The Pirahã see the world in a very different way, and their language reflects it. Some concepts are fundamental to the way a society functions, and numbers is definitely one you need if you expect to have an Economy. Their idea of a family unit is nowhere near as rigid as Westerners are used to, and neither is their relationship to sexuality or child rearing. They can often come across as extremely callous, and that's because they are. Because living in the jungle is hard, and there are, indeed, snakes, and malaria, and dying in childbirth is a common occurrence. Their life expectancy is not very long compared to the average Westerner. And while they seem fascinated by how long Westerners live, they also have made absolutely no attempt to find out how that's accomplished, because they're happy as they are. I don't think many people living with a smartphone in their pocket would, given the choice, give up their lives, move to the jungle and spend all day hunting, gathering and making sure they're not killed by a wild animal. But then again, the Pirahã don't even have a concept of worry. They don't have anxiety or the expectation to keep up with the Kardashians. We keep being told that the happiest people in the world live in Finland, Denmark and other rich nordic countries. I have my doubts.
I had already read Everett's [b:How Language Began: The Story of Humanity's Greatest Invention|32191675|How Language Began The Story of Humanity's Greatest Invention|Daniel L. Everett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1481056591l/32191675._SY75_.jpg|52832562], and in this book he reiterates his arguments against Chomsky's idea of recursion being intrinsic to language and grammar having a genetic component. I still agree with Everett.
What Everett has accomplished in this book is an amazing feat of anthropology. While the rest of the world is slowly being assimilated into a unified, amorphous culture, the Pirahã are going to continue to do their thing.
The Pirahã see the world in a very different way, and their language reflects it. Some concepts are fundamental to the way a society functions, and numbers is definitely one you need if you expect to have an Economy. Their idea of a family unit is nowhere near as rigid as Westerners are used to, and neither is their relationship to sexuality or child rearing. They can often come across as extremely callous, and that's because they are. Because living in the jungle is hard, and there are, indeed, snakes, and malaria, and dying in childbirth is a common occurrence. Their life expectancy is not very long compared to the average Westerner. And while they seem fascinated by how long Westerners live, they also have made absolutely no attempt to find out how that's accomplished, because they're happy as they are. I don't think many people living with a smartphone in their pocket would, given the choice, give up their lives, move to the jungle and spend all day hunting, gathering and making sure they're not killed by a wild animal. But then again, the Pirahã don't even have a concept of worry. They don't have anxiety or the expectation to keep up with the Kardashians. We keep being told that the happiest people in the world live in Finland, Denmark and other rich nordic countries. I have my doubts.
I had already read Everett's [b:How Language Began: The Story of Humanity's Greatest Invention|32191675|How Language Began The Story of Humanity's Greatest Invention|Daniel L. Everett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1481056591l/32191675._SY75_.jpg|52832562], and in this book he reiterates his arguments against Chomsky's idea of recursion being intrinsic to language and grammar having a genetic component. I still agree with Everett.
What Everett has accomplished in this book is an amazing feat of anthropology. While the rest of the world is slowly being assimilated into a unified, amorphous culture, the Pirahã are going to continue to do their thing.
informative
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
I got this book mainly because I was curious about the author's deconversion story.
My interest in the subject matter in this book, in order - deconversion story, culture/anthropology, linguistics.
Amount of subject matter in this book, in order - linguistics (in excruciating detail), culture/anthropology, deconversion story.
I stuck with it, and most of it (the cultural experiences) was interesting, until the last couple of hours, with was almost entirely about linguistics, except for the brief deconversion story. But it kind of rambled. I wish that the author had written two books - one that focused on the culture of the people and his experiences there, and a second for students studying languages.
Because of the language, I recommend the audio version of this book; I can't imagine how mind-numbing it would have been to try to read whole sentences in Portuguese and Pinaha.
My interest in the subject matter in this book, in order - deconversion story, culture/anthropology, linguistics.
Amount of subject matter in this book, in order - linguistics (in excruciating detail), culture/anthropology, deconversion story.
I stuck with it, and most of it (the cultural experiences) was interesting, until the last couple of hours, with was almost entirely about linguistics, except for the brief deconversion story. But it kind of rambled. I wish that the author had written two books - one that focused on the culture of the people and his experiences there, and a second for students studying languages.
Because of the language, I recommend the audio version of this book; I can't imagine how mind-numbing it would have been to try to read whole sentences in Portuguese and Pinaha.
I really wanted more of the author’s personal story, but that’s not what this book is.
I was absolutely facsinated to learn about the Pirahã tribe, to begin with I couldn't make up my mind whether this was the most advanced race of people on the planet or the most primitive, or whether those are actually the same thing. Their culture of living almost exclusively in the present, with few memories of the distance past to hold them back or unnecessary worries about the future to stress them out, might explain why these people seem so happy and full of laughter.
As for the book itself, I loved Part 1 (Life), which detailed the author's experiences while living with the Pirahã. I couldn't wait to turn the next page and discover the next amazing thing about how these people exist... like how ... wait that would be ruining the book if I mentioned any of them here.
For me, Part 2 (Language) would have found more belonging in a academic journal of some kind. It was extremely dry, and unless you want to read the word "recursion" 700 times, or get into an indepth analysis of why we have verbs and nouns and which order they go in, you might be like me and skim read this part hunting and gathering more antecdotes from Pirahã life.
In Part 3 (Conclusion) the author briefly touches on the loss of his faith and the break up of his family.
Overall this book gave me a lot of food for thought, bored me with linguistic theory and entertained me with stories from another lifestyle.
As for the book itself, I loved Part 1 (Life), which detailed the author's experiences while living with the Pirahã. I couldn't wait to turn the next page and discover the next amazing thing about how these people exist... like how ... wait that would be ruining the book if I mentioned any of them here.
For me, Part 2 (Language) would have found more belonging in a academic journal of some kind. It was extremely dry, and unless you want to read the word "recursion" 700 times, or get into an indepth analysis of why we have verbs and nouns and which order they go in, you might be like me and skim read this part hunting and gathering more antecdotes from Pirahã life.
In Part 3 (Conclusion) the author briefly touches on the loss of his faith and the break up of his family.
Overall this book gave me a lot of food for thought, bored me with linguistic theory and entertained me with stories from another lifestyle.
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
Really enjoyed this book! Would have been 5 stars except there was a huge chunk in the second half that got a bit too detailed about language theory. It was interesting but far too detailed. I would still recommend the book.