On Sun, 18 Mar 2007 13:37:00 -0500, Paleo Phil <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Robert Kesterson:
>> If you believe that evolution works (which is the whole premise for
>> this diet), then the fact that we are here and primitive man is not must
>> mean that we were superior in some way.
>
> This is the same sort of rationale that led Europeans to determine that  
> they were "superior" to American Indians, Africans, and other peoples  
> they
> conquered.

I certainly didn't mean it that way, and apologize if I offended anyone by  
it.

> The fact that there are many more modern people today than primitiveonly  
> means that agricultural populations outbred hunter-gatherer populations, 
> decimated HG populations with the epidemics that result from agriculture  
> and cities, and slaughtered many of the HG survivors.

Aside from the slaughter part (which I certainly don't condone),  
"out-breed and out-live" *is* how evolution works.

> Jared Diamond, Daniel Quinn, Loren Cordain and others make a strong case
> that rather than being seen as "superior," modern civilization and modern
> people have experienced some downsides from abandoning the  
> hunter-gatherer way of life.

Oh, I agree wholeheartedly.  I just mean that the notion that primitive  
man was "superior in every way" was just a bit much.

-- 
   Robert Kesterson
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