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Losing Religion to the Amazonian Piraha Tribe

submitted by Farhad2000

1 decade 5 years 7 months 2 weeks ago

Linguistics professor Daniel Everett explains the idea of "xibipiio," a way of life he encountered while studying the language of the Amazonian Piraha tribe. Everett, a former Christian missionary, was challenged to rethink his faith after learning the Piraha's concept of experiential liminality.

6 Comments

Related to http://www.videosift.com/video/Missionary-Linguist-Loses-Faith

The Pirahã are fascinating for so many ways. Their language is amazing: no words for colors, no numbers past 2, it can be whistled or hummed and there is some belief that their language has no recursion (which Noam Chomsky hypothesized was the essential property that enables language). They also have no gods, no spirits, they don't believe in anything they can't actually see.

So they are breaking Chomsky's theory and they destroy the (Christian) idea that we are all born with an innate need/understanding of God. Truly a fascinating people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirah%C3%A3_people#Culture

they also don't have history beyond living memory.

dear farhad,
the top two ways to seduce nerdy video watching internet chicks:
1) math talk
2) post videos about indegenious south american peoples, their language, culture, neatness
ill meet you under the bleachers today at 4. well make out.

*talks

Adding video to channels (Talks) - requested by LarsaruS.

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