the simple life

read the following, and tell me what you think. is it anthropological, or would it fit better under psychology, sociology, or philosophy? does it sound even vaguely interesting? has anything like it been done before?



im taking an independent study for anthropology next semester, and need to come up with a good research idea. its pretty open ended, as long as it relates to anthro in some way and my proff approves it. i figure this can be a good way to make something of my many, many philosophical quandries that i never really explore

so today, while watching The Village, i began to wonder why people choose to leave society for a simpler life. In America, there are "hippy communes", in Israel there are Kibbutzes. Yet the majority of people remain in their stressful societies, either realizing that a simpler life would be better yet never acting upon this realization, or never realizing it at all and suffering the consequences to the psyche and the body. my premise is built on the assumption that there is something inherently "better" about the simpler life, which is evidenced by:

A. The health detrements incurred by those who, for whatever reason, choose to remain in their complex, stressful lives to which they were born.

B. The speculative, though maybe obvious as well, benefits to the mind and body of those who lives simpler lives.

C. The somewhat rare, yet observable, "dropping out" of many people of complex lives to simpler ones. What drives them to do this?

What do i mean by "simpler life"? The image I have in my mind is an agricultural scene, one that by todays standards would be considered Amish , hippy, or otherwise "out-there and weird", yet has occupied virtually every person who has ever lived, in every land, save for western countries of the past half century.

i dont want to give the impression that this will be cenered on hippies and their communes. they are an interesting case study that i would probably make use of, but my purposes are not to push its ideology. they are just one example of a wholly different idea-to explore the impact that simplicity has on the body and mind.

cheers

 

that made my dome hurt

 

Ownership Bad!

I think the Enima we all need is called population decentralization...

Any city you goto your going to find the worse situation than in rural areas (crime, apathy...)

It seemed that in the past it was neccessary for people to stay near cities, which were usually near sources of resources. But with our advances in trasporting people, goods, and ideas over the past couple hundred years, I dont see a need for people living on top of each other...

As long as ur near drillable water then whats the hold up? Enegry is available anywhere the sun is shining...


Are my thoughts even in the same neighborhood as yours Sheep?

 

But then again I'm sure as hell not willing to give up my access to 3 different shopping malls within a 15 mile radius of me... And think of all the strip malls i'd miss out on

 

In my personal opinion, I believe that your subject matter relates to all four categories. I find it quite enthralling. The Village happens to be one of my favorite movies, based on both a psychological level, and the exquisite use of symbolism by M.