6 Matching Annotations
  1. Mar 2024
    1. In an unexpected development, the proprietor Lord Shaftesbury came toCulpeper’s defense. He delivered an eloquent oration before the Court ofKing’s Bench, arguing that a stable government had never legally existed inNorth Carolina. Anticipating Locke’s Two Treatises of Government,Shaftesbury concluded that the colony remained effectively in a state ofnature. Without a genuine government, there could be no rebellion.Commentary like this merely underscored northern Carolina’s outlierstatus.26

      Did some of Locke's Two Treatises of Government stem from influence of Lord Shaftesbury's argument in favor of Thomas Culpeper?

      Cross reference Dawn of Everything and "state of nature" / primitive man.

  2. Jan 2022
  3. Nov 2021
    1. The original function of consciousness was probably to direct a mobile self that was short of energy to a fresh supply of food. On the smaller scales of life, you don't need to be aware to find food. Trichopax adhaerens - one of the simplest of all animals moves around haphazardly. 00:02:54 It slows down in the presence of food, and speeds up in its absence. This is highly effective, and makes the tiny creature spend more time where there is food spend more time where there is food than where there is not. But it never moves in a particular direction towards a particular target, and there's no need for it to be conscious of its environment.

      Primitive form of consciousness - Trichopas adhaerens had consciousness but no awareness.

  4. Dec 2020
    1. The link to experimental archaeology is great. The term ‘primitive’ in Australia is problematic. I didn’t know that. It’s interesting how words have different connotations in different regions. Among the groups that practice the skills in the US, the words have nothing but the highest level of respect. It’s “primitive” as in words like prime (first) and primal (original, powerful). I don’t think those words have negative connotations among the native cultures here – at least the topic never came up when I was around.

      I like the way that Josh frames the idea of primitive here. Much better than the usual connotation of "backwards" or other variants.

  5. Apr 2017
    1. primitiveutterances

      It's interesting that "primitive" is the keyword here, we still use basic, monosyllabic commands and signals in our technological, complex society when we're in similar circumstances (for instance, signaling someone for backing up a truck with "Keep going" and "STOP"), and nowadays we have a greater presence of voice commands in technology ("Okay Google Navigate Home" "Siri Call Jenna"). But at the same time, this line really speaks to me as a teacher, when I annotate a student's paper and try not to just write "Interesting" or "Don't do that," and try to contort it into a full paragraph of advice, because that's What Advice Looks Like. Even if it's just "I laughed at your joke"

  6. Jun 2016