why do you believe ?

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I don't think it's our brains that make us worry about these
things, but that we have mental capacity to spare in the
western world (otherwise we wouldn't be fiddling about on this
forum, would we? )

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Ah, but people have worried about these things long before we had much "leisure time." It was certainly on the mind of the Hebrews in Egypt--and I doubt they had much time to sit around and chew the fat.

well Myabe animals Don't know they are going to Die but they seem to know when others do..... I have observed in My Hamsters them covering the Body of there former Cagemate up. and I have also seen these Animals seem to get Depressed when this Happens. I had one that wouldn't move at all after the "friend" died IT hardly ate or did anyhting at all. a week later I got it a new "Friend" But it didn't seem to care at all it just sat. then it finally died......... also
My Cat comforts me when I am sick so its Smart enough to Know that..... do animals have more feelings then we give them credit for?[This message has been edited by DC85, 05-16-2003]

Hmm ... that's true (also I take schraf's point).

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Ah, but people have worried about these things long before we had much "leisure time."

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We tend to believe that we are rolling in leisure time compared to those 'primative' folk, ( despite complaining about having no leisure time ) but actually the reverse is true. Hunter/gatherers, nomadic herders, and simple agricultural societies all have more free time than we do. It is a function of complexity really.------------------
No webpage found at provided URL: www.hells-handmaiden.com

On the other hand, they don't have video games. I guess I'll keep my 9-to-5. No offence.

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On the other hand, they don't have video games.

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Yes. Good point.The trade off is that within complex societies you have much more opportunity to choose what you do with your time, both labor time and leisure time. Hunter/gatherer societies have pretty much one occupation-- clubbing bunnies. Entertainment pretty much equals social life-- utter hell, as far as I am concerned.------------------
No webpage found at provided URL: www.hells-handmaiden.com

I was surprised to learn that rain forest cultures and others have significantly more liesure time than western cultures, but it makes sense onece you think about it.Lots of food around...no "stuff" to buy or sell, etc.Sadly, this is starting to be impossible as subsistence groups are pushed off of the best land.

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The trade off is that within complex societies you have much more opportunity to choose what you do with your time, both labor time and leisure time. Hunter/gatherer societies have pretty much one occupation-- clubbing bunnies. Entertainment pretty much equals social life-- utter hell, as far as I am concerned.

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Yes, but I'll bet they get an awful lot more nookie than people in Western cultures.

Speak for yourself. Stands to reason, of course - there's nothing else to do, but... um, you know.

Maybe it's all about 'quality of life' then ...Perhaps people worry about death more if they are
dissatisfied with aspects of their life ... and have
the time to lament it.In the west we tend to have time to think about other stuff
while being stuck on our offices (or cars going to meetings
etc.) ... less technological cultures tend (I think) to require
full focus on tasks to get them done right, then can forget about
them entirely during rest/leisure time.Dunno ... just a thought.