On Wed, 2007-05-30 at 07:58 -0400, William wrote:
> Easier to get meat from a herd than a wild animal - let us not  
> underestimate the laziness (efficiency) of paleoman.

The moment man started placing value on efficiency he stopped
being a hunter-gatherer.  From there it's a slippery slope to
civilization.

Many of my neighbors here in Southern Bahia (Brasil) are only a 
few generations removed from a bona-fide hunter gatherer life-
style.  And although for those few generations they have been 
living at the fringes of civilization, they still don't give a 
fig about efficiency.  The forests have gone, and there are too 
many people now, and what few animals are left are protected.
But if they could they'd rather hunt than herd.

Civilization is efficient.  Agriculture is efficient.  The Roman
Legions were efficient.  Free markets are efficient.  Corporations 
are efficient.  Globalization is efficient.  

A good hunter is /effective/.  He may superbly skilled, and he may
more brilliant than Einstein, but he has no use for efficiency.

Understand this or understand nothing about the difference between
where we came from and where we are now.

:j