Hi I’ve read a bit about primitivism and I quite like it but I have one question. You always bring out that primitive people have a lot of free time. But what do they do with it? They can only talk to each other, sing and play games that don’t require things. For them that might be all they need but a modern person is used to all the fun things we can do and it’s difficult for us to enjoy boring activities.
Hey commodore, from my position, whats wrong with talking and sing (and you forgot telling stories:))? These can be really engaging activities, all the more so when you are much better and more experienced at them, skills we often lack in modern society, precisely becuase of all our toys.
On the other hand, “primitives” didn’t have x-boxes or ps3s or computers, but that doesn’t mean that they had to do without any sort of “games that require things”. They did play various types of dice games, and a “primitive” life could easily include any sort of board game that you wanted to make. Sports with various forms of equipment from lacrosse sticks to kayaks were played all around the world. Primitive people certainly didn’t have to stick to “games that don’t require things” - they had all that time to make things, after all:).
Wow. Well, let me think about this. new.organutang pretty much sums it up. If you need a more vivid version of this notion of the very unboring life of rewilded peoples, check out the Wandering Free Families.
You know, I have to say, I have a HUGE question for you. Why on earth do you want to explore rewilding if you don’t find it exciting, satisfying, exhilirating, enriching? Man, if your Wii does that better for you, why come here?
Seriously. If rewilding just sounds like a good idea, well, so did the A-bomb. I personally wouldn’t act using that kind of criteria.
Please explain!
Just thinking about rewilding brings a wealth of projects, activities, learning, games, socialising, etc to my mind. And what you can do with a little creativity and ingenuity with a few simple things might astound you. And lets not forget children. I mean, I can hardly imagine boredom.
I didn’t have a lot of ‘things’ in my childhood, except for maybe toy cars, legos, and video games, that I remember, but I always got bored of those eventually, I never got bored of playing down at the creek, catching frogs, swimming, throwing rocks at each other… just running around, playing different sports/games, etc. And you know, I still love doing all that. Screw toy cars and legos.
Oh yeah, and video games bore me for the most part nowadays too.
Yesterday I think I had more fun just splashing barefoot in the puddles watching the birds than the people who rode past me on their dirt bikes… at least I think I did.
I think primitive spare time lends itself to far more creativity than Civ spare time (not that people in Civ aren’t creative; but most certainly don’t have to rely on it). And, it probably wouldn’t seem so weird to be an adult, still playing make-believe ;D
Sorry, all this anti-technology talk made me think you would avoid building most stuff.
Who said anything about a Wii? I don’t have a console and I rarely play games on my computer. I don’t find them that interesting. I like art (for which I use my computer a lot) and sports more.
I didn’t say I don’t find rewilding exciting.
Guess I could spend my days playing sepak takraw then 
For them that might be all they need but a modern person is used to all the fun things we can do and it's difficult for us to enjoy boring activities.
This part of your post inspired my question on what attracts you to rewilding. I still don’t understand which boring activities you meant. If you find rewilding exciting, then where does boring enter into it? Could you explain more? Just curious.
[EDIT: I hope between this and my Wii quip this doesn’t sound too aggressive. I mean it kindly. If this feels like grilling you then ignore the question. ]
Some ideas:
Rubik’s Cube (Ok, not something you can make, but easily kept)
Board games
Card games
Sports (Lacrosse was invented by the Haudenosaunee, and things like archery and spear throwing take practice that easily open themselves to friendly competition)
Jewelry making
And most obviously (at least to me): MUSIC! Maybe it’s because I’m a musician, but I can do this for hours every day.
The world and people interest me much more than video games
but like they said, replace action type games with sport, adventure types with adventure, rp games with mostly verbal or live action rp, and stuff
learn to sing and play the sort of music you like so you can do it anywhere
You could also just wander off and explore for something fun to do. Maybe discover something about flora or fauna behavior that you hadn’t experienced before.
my apache grandfather had a saying that has stuck in my head for the past 40 years…when the people grow tired of buying things then they will understand a childs veiw of the world as being a place full of fun, mystery and everyday is a new adventure.
many times in my life i wondered what he ment…then i found myself broke, homeless and trying to stay alive in the wilderness outside of las vegas, nevada. the next 8 months taught me what he was talking about and inspired me to look at living in a whole new light.
i still find that toys and things only provide so much then it is up to me to make life really enjoyable.