Subscribe to Outside Magazine
advertisement
Survival Guru

Today's Question
How do you make primitive snowshoes? answer

What should you do if you get lost driving in a snow storm? answer

Eco Adventurer

Today's Question
What is the greenest ski and snowboard on the market? answer

Can I really damage a coral reef with sunscreen while snorkeling? answer

Videos Ask Dave
  • What kind of dog will make me look manlier? answer
  • Is there a sport that safely combines my twin passions for guns and kayaks? answer
  • How come most of the world's cultures enjoy eating goat, but Americans don't? answer

Online Favorites

Special Issues

Photo Galleries
save this page print this page email this page
  • share this page


Tim Cahill

How connected is humankind, do you think?
Question: One of my favorite photos hanging in my den is of the Earth, taken by one of the later Apollo missions. In it, I can see from the Mediterranean to Antarctica. I really get a sense of how puny we really are, and it makes me realize that there is only one environment, one people. Tim, you have had the opportunity to experience this "Oneness" first hand; how connected are we, really? Do the primitive people that you have had the privilege of meeting share this type of vision?

Ken Lowe
Calgary, Alberta

Tim: Dear Ken,

No. Not really. I'd like to say that "primitive" (I'd say pre-technological) people are wiser and deeper in touch with our humanity. They aren't. They may, in many cases, be more deeply attuned to the natural world. But they are almost always arrayed in clan or tribal groupings all set in (sometimes warring) opposition, one to the other. I hope there are exceptions to this rule — I'd like to believe that is so — but, so far, my experience has proved otherwise.


N E X T   Q U E S T I O N
Best,
Tim





©2000, Mariah Media Inc.