Home » Money and Investment » Running To Stand Still

Running To Stand Still

19 September 2011, 5:06 PM

In the rainforest in Brazil there is a tribe called the piraha whose language does not have a future tense. Why? Because they don't need it. They don't have to think about the future. They get up, fish, eat, play, talk and that's their life. Their technology extends mostly to rafts and spears.

Meanwhile, in the industrialised world mass production is delivering food, goods and energy at an alarming rate. Hungry? Where do you go? Normally the fridge, but in the worst case scenario you might have to skate, cycle or (God forbid) drive to the supermarket. Our machines are selflessly harvesting the land, drilling the ocean and crisscrossing the skies just so we can snack on corn chips while we watch cats doing backflips on YouTube.

So why are so many of us running to stand still?

Comment posted by: Jeff on 21/11/2011 9:13:58 PM

I listened to a story once (on ABC radio) about how civilizations in harsh conditions (think cold European) needed to farm, invent etc to survive whereas those in paradise never needed to. Was very interesting.

Comment posted by: Roger Keays on 22/11/2011 1:40:48 AM

This is exactly what I see when I travel. People from colder climates are very innovative (e.g. Japanese, British, Swedish) while those living in the tropics are more chill and laid back (Thailand, Malaysia, Ecuador).