Would you live in a traditional, tribal, society if you could?

[Scarim Coral]

So the scenario in that film the OP mention is kinda like that Simspon episode when Homer went away when he got chased by that TV channel group for lying about the money donation.

OT- Yes for the ideal however I am far too glue to the modern society (I need my internet)! The only chance I would go tribal/ primative is either I go completely cold turkey without my needs of tech and keeping up with today worlds or I get suck into time travel to the past or stranded on a island.

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

Hell no! The loss of all modern convenience alone makes it unpalatable as a choice as opposed to being forced to. Doesn't even have to get into potential problems with such a society

 

[FalloutJack]

I'll have to ask my distant future relative, Jack, The Chosen One...

*Communes in time with the distant Fallout 2 future*

Jack says this is alright, but really didn't help when the people in black armor came in their whirlybirds and attacked.

I, for one, wouldn't like it very much.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

As interesting as living in a tribal fashion is, and believe you me that I have thought about this very topic extensively in my younger days and even sort of had my own tribe made up of my chosen family. I am a bit too selfish to fully embrace a tribal lifestyle, only in that I value my privacy and I enjoy ownership without coveting what other people have.

If it is greedy to want to settle on a piece of land, own a domicile of my choice and enjoy my life without much outside interference, then I guess

I am that. It is a different world than when tribes of that nature existed as a dominant force. This contemporary world has no room for tribes and the mindset of people who are not born in the African jungles nor the Amazon is too ingrained with our lifestyles to truly embrace the mentality of traditional tribal living.

Sure there are some who would do it in a heartbeat because they don't fit in the majority society and I give all the possible respect for that so long as they do not press their views and lifestyle choices on me. By that I mean berating me for my own personal choices and disrespecting me, much like semi-militant vegans/atheists get whenever they encounter a carnivorous human/person that believes in a god/many gods, etc.

Its an interesting idea on paper but it is difficult to actually put into practice. Were there a worldwide disaster and the infrastructures fail, then we may have to revert to tribalism to survive. And many, many folks will surely perish because they're not able to handle the stress of a world changing event.

I also feel that said tribalism is one step away from anarchy as the OP pointed out without acknowledging it outright. People are inherently covetous, its not a trait suddenly introduced by an outside force. However when one lives a meager, bare existence, there's little to covet from a neighboring human. However introducing the idea of wealth sparks said covetous nature. It may not even need an outside force to do so. Say a tribe member finds a shiny yellow nugget in the stream. This person, male or female matters not, takes said rock home and puts it on display or just admires it. Another tribal member shows up, perhaps a sort of bully (and yes bullies did exist in tribes) sees the rock and instantly wants it for himself, because its different and special and unique.

That was just an example and more of a hypothetical story. But greed/covetous nature is seemingly hardwired into the human race. However some of us are able to knock it way down by sheer willpower. Even animals do show greed and jealousy, its not a trait that only humans have.

TL;DR - Sure in the right conditions people could live in a tribal society, and myself could as well if that was the only option of civilization. However I know that people can turn covetous with ease, and a tribal sort of loose "management" (I have a better term for that but I can't recall) can easily degenerate into anarchy.

 

[chuckman1]

If it were me as I am now? No. I would miss my creature comforts, and my freedom to travel, learn, buy what I want etc. The village would essentially be my life and death.

Although to be born as a tribal without knowledge of modern living, might be nice. Eating healthy natural food from a hunter gatherer lifestyle with plenty of free time could be considered quite an idyllic life. And you cant miss what you never knew about...

What makes you think that they'd be eating healthy, natural food? Or that you'd have free time? Hunter gatherer lifestyles are pretty hard on people.

I wouldn't want to ever do that. Give me my modern living please.

Modern hunter gatherers work less hours than us and have more sex. Natural food that you make or pick as a hunter gatherer is also way healthier on average than the frozen tv dinners and fried food common in the west.

If it weren't for disease and conquest i would've preferred a native tribe to Americas rough start.

In the modem world i love Internet too much to be a hunter gatherer and i love city life.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Ah, yes, a "return to innocence". The innocence of needing to have twelve children in the hopes that three of them will live long enough to pass on your genes. The innocence of a lifespan of forty years if you're lucky. The innocence of sickness destroying your body as ignorant "medicine men" perform meaningless rituals to appease nonexistent gods. (Oh, and don't forget those other tribes ready to come kill you and take your stuff. Yes, even then there was "private property", only then you defended it with a spear rather than a call to the police.)

Life has never, ever been without stress or worry. It's just that now we suffer from stress that's primarily existential (how do I keep from losing my job) rather than immediate (how do I keep this pack of jackals from killing and eating me).

 

[AgedGrunt]

I think it's a bit malicious to derive greed from the concept of private ownership and suggest that it keeps us from an ideal utopia. But to answer the question it really depends on the nature of things.

"Traditional"; what are the traditions?

"Tribal society"; what kind of tribal rule? What kind of society?

Self-reliance is one thing, but a traditional, tribe-like society will almost certainly need to trade. I think what you have in theory here is a bubble society, which would bring a host of societal issues.

Anyway, assuming the society wasn't a walled garden and I could see myself living happily in it, why not?

 

[DefunctTheory]

Advantages of Modern Society
---
1. Modern Medicine to fight disease
2. Extended life span
3. Free time
4. Access to good housing, including climate control to combat extreme weather
5. Access to clean water
6. Access to clean, healthy food
7. Superior hygiene
8. Access to information
9. Freedom to do what I want, move where I want, eat what I want, etc.
10. Electricity, bitches
11. Access to Computers
12. Access to high quality, high volume, extremely perverse and deviant pornopraphy, to include, but not limited to, CENSORED

Disadvantages of Modern Society
---
1. Trivial Problems

Advantages of Tribal Society
---
1. None of your problems are trivial

Disadvantages of Tribal Society
---
1. That does not mean you do not have numerous problems

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I like hot water and indoor plumbing too much.

 

[HardkorSB]

No.
I like knowledge, I like science, I like modern medicine.
I've got a bunch of mental issues (OCD, ADD, bipolar disorder etc.) which means they would probably think I'm possessed or something and sacrifice me to whatever they believe in.

 

[Frankster]

The Gods must be Crazy, lol! Oh that brings back memories, watched it in class too. Even had a sequel I think.

Anyways, the answer is no for me. I've grown way too dependent on technology and some aspects of some scall tribal life would just drive me insane. Ultimately modern city life has kinda softened me up with its conveniences and comfort, it would be an extremely rude awakening to be robbed of it

 

[Illesdan]

That ship sailed, folks, and its not coming back.

I think this whole 'Lets go back to a simpler time...' mindset is horribly over-romanticized, based on faulty information and just flat-out ignorant. Tribal life is not 'simple'. The whole tribe has to work very hard to be moderately successful, and even then that might not be enough if mother nature doesn't cooperate with you. Raids against tribes were common because one tribe would have something the other didn't, and wouldn't give up, trade, etc. So the whole notion of things being 'simple' fall apart at the seams then.

Sorry, this babble of 'Going back to a simpler time' pisses me off to no end, because there never was such a thing.

 

[lacktheknack]

I've done it before, and I'll do it again.

But the saving grace is that I can COME BACK to a more modern society after a while. A permanent move to these places isn't on my wishlist.

 

[cleric of the order]

We, currently have the best standard of living, the longest life expectancy and over all the most choice as to our employment.
As much as I pine for simpler times I know that most of us would be able to stand farm life let alone survive tribal life.
There are reasons why we advanced like we did, makes life more assured.
Now I'll admit there are down sides to it
See

 

[Foolery]

Hell, no. I'm not a fan of loincloths and easily preventable diseases. The modern world is where it's at.

 

[Phasmal]

Hahahah fuck no.
I'm pretty sure they don't have video games. Or a reliable source of chocolate and internet.

No, I like my comforts. Not to mention I'm one of those people who is always kinda sick with something or some other thing so, I'd probably not last long.
And I'm not much for being told what to do, either.

Perhaps if I'd been raised that way, but otherwise, no.

 

[maninahat]

It might be a fun temporary thing, but the lack of amenities and needless risks would get annoying after a while. People tend to romanticize tribal communities as people without strife, materialism or complications, when in fact those tend to be bigger issues for them than developed societies. Also, tribes aren't necessarily harmonious with nature or give two hoots about its preservation - its only due to the small scale of their operation that prevents them from doing lasting damage to their surroundings.

 

[sonicneedslovetoo]

This is an interesting question, I actually have the benefit of being an Alaskan Native and having visited some of the remote villages in Alaska. Here is my perspective on it: while there would be less of some things to worry about, things aren't good out there in terms of basic stuff like water quality(literally brown or black even out of the treatment plant), entertainment(most likely very few books to read), healthcare(very very poor even if they did technically have a "clinic"). All that put together and I don't think I would want to live in a tribal society.

 

[Orga777]

The backstory is my economics teacher was talking about economic system and the first one he mentioned was traditional economies. These are tiny communities that only produce and use what they need, basically tribes and villages. He then mentioned this old film called The Gods must be crazy. In the film ,the village had a simple life, basic wants and needs, basic education, and overall none of the stresses or worries of living in a developed society. This all fell apart when a foreigner introduced something to their society and they all got greedy and fought each other because they just learned the idea of private property. So, I guess if you think ignorance is bliss, would you have preferred to grow up in a small, primitive, community. I wouldn't because I aspire to make a difference in the world.

You know what is the worst part about living in a society like that cut off from the rest of the world? The moment there is some disaster, whether a drought, flood, earthquake, bad harvest, harsh winters, etc. the amount of suffering increases ten fold from normal people that are not cut off from society. It can get so bad that you would wish you were one of the poorest in an urban environment. So the answer is no, I wouldn't live in that type of environment. The thing about human culture is that life usually gets easier the more in touch they are with each other.

 

[OldNewNewOld]

I'm sorry, but I don't see how anyone who isn't blinded by the fairytale description for the tribal life would actually want to live in one. There isn't even a single benefit from that. Worse life in every aspect. Why would you chose that?

EDIT:
Also I watched that movie. A funny one. The tribe was living in harmony until dude from a plane dropped a Cola bottle and they found it. The bottle was harder than anything they had and they used it as a tool. They thought it's a gift form the Gods. Then they started fighting over who will use it since it's a better tool than their tools.
Long story short, good movie, but that's all it is. It's a idealized tribe that has no problems until the bottle drops. A tribe without problems is a clear indicator that the movie isn't showing real life nor is it trying.