"Years ago, the anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture. The student expected Mead to talk about clay pots, tools for hunting, grinding-stones, or religious artifacts."
Mead explained that in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die. You cannot run from danger, you cannot drink or hunt for food. Wounded in this way, you are meat for your predators. No creature survives a broken leg long enough for the bone to heal. You are eaten first.
A broken femur that has healed is evidence that another person has taken time to stay with the fallen, has bound up the wound, has carried the person to safety and has tended them through recovery. A healed femur indicates that someone has helped a fellow human, rather than abandoning them to save their own life.
“Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts,” Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; For, indeed, that's all who ever have.”
「多年前，一名學生問人類學家瑪格麗特·米德（Margaret Mead），她認為什麼是文明的最初標誌。學生希望米德談論魚鉤，陶罐或磨石。但不是，米德說，古代文化中文明的第一個跡象是股骨（大腿骨）被折斷，然後被治癒。米德解釋說，在動物界，如果摔斷腿，就會死亡。你無法逃避危險，不能去河邊喝水或狩獵食物。你很快會成為四處遊蕩的野獸的盤中餐。沒有動物在斷腿的過程中存活得足夠長，以至於骨頭無法癒合。
斷裂的股骨已經癒合，表明有人花了很長時間與受傷的人待在一起，綁住了傷口，將人帶到了安全地點，並讓他慢慢趨於健康。米德說，從困難中幫助別人才是文明的起點。」
真假不論。
喜歡。
梁文道·八分: 203. 人性中有善良天使吗？
人與人的關係才是文明發展的基礎