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Post by Joanna on Sept 23, 2014 21:22:41 GMT -5
Ancient campfires led to the rise of storytellingSometime about 400,000 years ago, humans learned to fully control fire. This breakthrough radically changed our diets because we could now cook food, but did it transform our culture as well?
A study of evening campfire conversations by the Ju/’hoan people of Namibia and Botswana suggests that by extending the day, fire allowed people to unleash their imaginations and tell stories, rather than merely focus on mundane topics.
Back in the 1970s, University of Utah anthropologist Polly Wiessner, well known for her work on the social networks of the Ju/’hoan Bushmen (also known as the !Kung), took detailed notes on 174 of their day and nighttime conversations. At that time, the Ju/’hoan still lived as hunter-gatherers, although that is no longer the case today – they now live in villages and have taken up farming.
Wiessner returned in 1998, 2005 and 2013 to discuss these old conversations with the Bushmen and get help with translating them. As she reports online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, whereas daytime talk was focused almost entirely on economic issues, land rights and complaints about other people, 81% of the firelight conversation was devoted to telling stories, including tales about people from other Ju/’hoan communities.
Wiessner suggests campfires allowed our human ancestors to expand their minds in a similar way and also solidified social networks. “Stories told by firelight placed listeners on the same emotional wavelength,” she writes in the paper, and “elicited understanding, trust and sympathy.” Wiessner adds that fire still serves that purpose today: “The power of the flame is reproduced in our homes through fireplaces and candles.”Source: Michael Balter, Science Magazine, September 22, 2014.
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Post by jane on Mar 17, 2015 20:46:37 GMT -5
The way things are going, storytelling will soon be a thing of the distant past. Back before there was radio, television and the internet, people had to create their own entertainment. I'll bet that kids don't even tell stories anymore around the campfire when they go camping or to summer camp anymore because they're too busy with their cell phones and iPads to listen to what others have to say.
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Post by aprillynn93 on Mar 18, 2015 12:53:28 GMT -5
My daughter is away at camp right now with the rest of her 6th grade class. Thankfully they did not allow anyone to bring any type of electronics, not even cameras. They had to bring film cameras if they wanted to bring a camera.
I have to admit though, I'm kinda freaking out. I've never been away from her this long without any contact. Usually we still text if we are apart.
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Post by natalie on Mar 19, 2015 16:30:02 GMT -5
I wish they'd have more of these story-telling events. It's so much fun! I cannot seem to find any though. I will see parks hosting hayrides and marshmallow roasting around Halloween, but no ghost stories or any other sort of story-telling event is offered. People will approach the fire to roast their marshmallows and then walk away and dive into their cellphone or talk with some other acquaintances. It seems there's no sense of community anymore. People used to play guitars and sing by bonfires too, I've heard, but I have never seen this myself. Maybe it's something that takes place in rural communities and not big cities.
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Post by Joanna on Apr 7, 2015 23:49:24 GMT -5
Story-telling around campfires is just another casualty of cell phones. I went on a ghost tour in Damariscotta last summer and some people were talking on cell phones during the tour. Finally, I said something and the guide asked that everyone turn off their cell phones. Now, I understand that the company that hosts the tours require that their guides tell people to turn off their cell phones at the beginning of the tour.
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Post by natalie on Apr 8, 2015 15:12:24 GMT -5
So disrespectful to use a phone while on a tour, but then again, two years ago, I went to a funeral and while they were speaking about the dead, one of the folks that attended the service was arguing loudly with her fiance on the phone. A lot of us turned around and shook our heads, some shushed her, but she didn't stop, so I am not surprised to read this.
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