Skip to content

Civilization and the Lies We Love

2020-10-15 · letter vlog · John · 3:58 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Philosophy & meaning (also: History & curiosities) · mode: Personal essay · tags: self correction, calendar ritual, self promotion

John debunks the viral Margaret Mead quote that a healed femur is the first sign of civilization (no evidence she said it, animals do survive broken femurs, and civilization means writing, records and state power), then argues the lie seduces because its core is true: compassion, empathy and self-sacrifice predate civilization, and protecting the vulnerable makes the human project stronger.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — A durable internet lie; Pizzamas plug; John first wrote about it for The Anthropocene Reviewed

  • ★ John has been thinking about a lie that has proven very durable online; the internet is made of lies, but he finds this one particularly interesting. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • ★★ John asks viewers to head to Pizzamas.com before all the Pizzamas stuff disappears forever. — 00:00:00 · Pizzamas
  • ★★ John wrote about this lie for his podcast The Anthropocene Reviewed, but it turns out to be even more interesting and false than he first understood. — 00:00:00 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast)

00:00:29 — The healed-femur 'Margaret Mead quote' and why it is false: no source, animals heal, civilization defined otherwise, survival rare until WWI

  • ★★★ John recounts the lie: asked by a student for the first sign of civilization, Mead supposedly named a healed broken femur, since it shows someone cared for the injured, and helping through difficulty is where civilization starts. — 00:00:29
  • ★★★ In the last six months this became probably the most famous Margaret Mead quote, though there's no evidence she said it; it has been shared millions of times, once with 'I fact-checked and it's legit'. (hedged) — 00:00:58
  • ★★★ As bioarchaeologist Stacy Hackner pointed out, animals do survive broken femurs long enough to heal; one review of primate fractures found the healed rate higher than expected. — 00:00:58
  • ★★★ Healed femoral fractures are not a marker of civilization; definitions of civilization are fraught but tend to focus on systems of writing and concentrations of state power. — 00:01:27

  • ★★ When Mead actually defined civilization, she said it means keeping accounts and records, some taxation and revenue, and a great deal of division of labor. — 00:01:27

    “she said it means keeping accounts, keeping records. It means some kind of taxation and revenue.”

  • ★★ There are many examples of healed femoral fractures among humans in non-civilizational societies. — 00:01:56

  • ★★ Surviving a femoral fracture was uncommon even in civilizations: as late as the start of World War I most victims died, and survival depended on living near a good bonesetter, an ancient role in societies with and without writing. — 00:01:56

00:02:26 — Why the lie seduces: protecting the vulnerable makes us stronger, and compassion predates civilization

  • ★★★ The whole story is a lie, but John thinks maybe it is so seductive because at its core there is something true. (hedged) — 00:02:26
  • ★★★ Many are taught that only the strong survive, the powerful doing what they want and the weak suffering what they must, as the Athenians put it; in fact the human project grows stronger by protecting the vulnerable. — 00:02:26
  • ★★★ We got good at healing femoral fractures because humans can understand that serious illness or injury does not negate the value of a human life. — 00:02:55
  • ★★ Civilization gave us writing, to compare bone-setting practices across time and space, and complex tools that help heal bones better. — 00:02:55
  • ★★★ Civilization did not give us compassion, empathy or self-sacrifice: those values predate human civilization and are not limited to humans. — 00:03:24 · empathy
  • ★★★ Maybe we need the lie that compassion and healing begin with civilization, but John finds the truth more beautiful and encouraging: all kinds of people in all times have found ways to help. — 00:03:24

In the description and comments

  • ★ The description says the whole video is a revision of The Anthropocene Reviewed episode on civilization. — video description · The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast)
  • ★ In a channel comment John highly recommends the Pizzamas hoodie, which is swaddling him as he types. (playful) — creator comment · Pizzamas
  • ★★ In a channel comment John says civilization is more a construct than a lie, though the idea that civilization is merely good news is definitely a lie. — creator comment

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: civilization · femoral fracture · Margaret Mead

Also: Projects: Pizzamas

Works: Melian Dialogue

Concepts: Division of labour · empathy · might makes right · misquotation · primate · State (polity) · tax

Events: World War I

Only in the description or credits: Stacy Hackner · The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast)

← Previous: John Predicts the Future! · Next → Still Riding a Big Wave that I Do not and Cannot Know