Did humans use to care more?

[auroraglacialis]

Originally Posted by PunkMaister

Well actually even people in cities form what could be construed as their own tribes which are composed of their immediate family, relatives and friends, the need to divide ourselves in small nurturing groups is embedded in our genes

Exactly! But the settings we live in make it hard to form such groups and often we are members of many groups. I talked to a guy who does group mentoring and we agreed, that people can handle groups of less than 200 people well. But if we have to split this number up between family, friends, workmates, the people at the sports club, maybe even internet chats - at some point we cannot handle this and additionally by moving around, changing jobs etc - we loose chunks of our "tribe(s)" quite often. That is what I meant that our way of life hinders the formation of stable "tribal-like" connections.

Not quite didn't you ever read Lord of the flies?

Well - It is a story. It is biased. And it is from the 1950ies. It is a possibility things would evolve like that in such a situation, but it is not a recount of actual events. Oh and there is another story: Two Years' Vacation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia It is the same situation basically, but the kids deal with it much less destructive than in LOTF. More cooperation. (I have read only plot summary, not the book)

I agree however, that without a society that holds true to the morale that is within us and incorporates all generations, things go ill. Small families who move around every couple of years, loosing contact with the grandparents and even an increasing seperation between parents and children as well as children and their peers does not make it better.

Yes they do seem to be a bit of horticulturists as well.

Yes? How do you figure? I have not seen them doing any kind of planting in the movie.

Well the risk of other people taking it has always been around as there has always been people that find it easier to steal than to do the work to get it in the first place whether it was the fruits of a successful hunting party

Well - if you eat what you hunt or gather right away (and this was usually done), you do not have a lot of stocks that can be raided. Maybe a little bit for travels. Once people started to stockpile, to produce surplus, this was when the possibility to successfully stealing emerged. A different thing may be a tribe that suffers from hunger, they may be inclined to steal from someone who has even a little stockpile to survive, but as long as you live with your tribe in an area with natural resources like game to hunt and fruits to eat, there is not really a need to steal.