1.18.2014

Minutiae / Epistemology

15. The hunter-gatherer is a generalist in life, but avoids speaking generally about his world. Meaning: his skills are broad and comprehensive he does not require others for his survival yet he sees the world specifically and does not resort to generalities about it. (E.g. the Inuit hunter has separate, unrelated names for the five species of Pacific salmon and even lacks the word "fish". He may speak of a particular polar bear he has observed acting in a particular way, but he will not speak of all polar bears acting in this way. His language and experience are incapable of generalization.)

16. Western man: a specialist with a very narrow skill set and understanding (he requires a city of other men for his survival), but who insists upon making generalizations about the world (a world he, as specialist, knows very little about and of which he has little experience).

19. Perhaps a lack of experience of the world leads to generalizing about it? Perhaps the hubris of the specialist his clear mastery of minutiae leads him to believe he knows more than he does?

24. He who generalizes is hiding something from himself.

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