#prim

One of the problems with all of this is that not all narratives are equal. Imagine, to take a silly example, that someone told you story after story extolling the virtues of eating dog shit. You've been told these stories since you were a child. You believe them. You eat dog shit hotdogs, dog shit ice cream, General Tso's dog shit. Sooner or later, if you are exposed to some other foods, you might figure out that dog shit really doesn't taste good. Or if you cling too tightly to these stories (or if your enculturation is so strong that dog shit actually does taste good to you), the diet might make you sick or kill you. To make this example a little less silly, substitute the word pesticides for dog shit. Or, for that matter, substitute Big Mac, Whopper, or Coca Cola. ↗

— Derrick Jensen

#anarcho-primitivism #civilization #idustrialization #primitivism #diet

Can you be sure that others have not come before you and destroyed the pristine state of the native myth? Can you be sure that the natives are not humoring you or pulling your leg? Bronislaw Malinowski thought he had discovered a people in the Trobriant Islands who had not worked out the connection between sexual intercourse and childbirth. When asked how children were conceived, they supplied him with an elaborate mythic structure prominently featuring celestial intervention. Amazed, Malinowski objected that was not how it was done at all, and supplied them instead with the version so popular in the West today – including a nine-month gestation period. “Impossible,” replied the Melanesians. “Do you not see that woman over there with her six-month-old child? Her husband has been on an extended voyage to another island for two years.” Is it more likely that the Melanesians were ignorant of the begetting of children or that they were gently chiding Malinowski? If some peculiar-looking stranger came into my town and asked ME where babies came from, I’d certainly be tempted to tell him about storks and cabbages. Prescientific people are people. Individually they are as clever as we are. ↗

— Carl Sagan

#cleverness #myths #people #primitive #humor

I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them ↗

— Mark Haddon

#prime-numbers #life

Se întoarse şi îl zări pe Alex Corbu. Covorul pufos trebuie să-i fi amortizat zgomotul paşilor. Era chiar lângă ele, adresându-le ceea ce părea unul dintre cele mai cuceritoare zâmbete ale sale. Costumul negru, simplu dar din stofă de cea mai bună calitate, cădea pe corpul lui ca turnat, faţa smeadă îi era ciudat de familiară, iar Cristina îşi zise că, probabil, nu avea un aer prea inteligent cum se holba la el, într-o stare de confuzie moderată. ↗

— Stefana Cristina Czeller

#love #prima-intalnire #roman-politist #romanian-novell #urban-fantasy

Sharpton is not even on the Presidential primary ballot here in Louisiana. ↗

— Tony Brown

#even #here #louisiana #presidential #primary

Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them. ↗

— Dalai Lama

#help others #hurt #least #life #others

If people are really excited about their music, and that's their primary motivation, then that comes through in demo tapes. That's the most important ingredient. ↗

— Greg Ginn

#comes #demo #excited #important #important ingredient

The scientist is motivated primarily by curiosity and a desire for truth. ↗

— Irving Langmuir

#curiosity #desire #motivated #primarily #scientist

I was not interested in irony; I wanted to emphasize the primacy of the idea in making art. ↗

— Sol LeWitt

#emphasize #i #idea #interested #irony

Once, when a British Prime Minister sneezed, men half a world away would blow their noses. Now when a British Prime Minister sneezes nobody else will even say 'Bless You'. ↗

— Bernard Levin

#bless #blow #british #else #even