1. Seated at the high table of civilisation, modern man sees himself as the inheritor of history. All preceding cultures form a more or less linear trajectory that leads inexorably to himself.
2. Within his progressive teleology, whatever helps development is *good*, and whatever hinders it is *bad*. The telos of history is to 'level up.'
3. Hoelās 'gossip trap' is an analogue of BAPās longhouse/gossip village. All are what we could call āscaling trapsā - cultural prophylactics that work to prevent maximisation of select variables at the expense of others i.e. āscaling upā.
4. The progressive sees scaling traps as obstacles to be overcome, but from the viewpoint of tradition they are necessary safeguards against runaway growth and the destruction of traditional life.
5. Your view of the trap is conditioned by your view of progress. Modern man assumes that progress is good because it leads to the boons of civilisation. Primitive man guards against it so as to safeguard his tradition.
6. In the eyes of primitive man, civilisation is a state of sickness, characterised by detachment from environment and denial of reality. Primitive man does not live in denial.
7. Modern man represses negative feedback and so assumes that his sick state is healthy and normal - the default, in fact - whereas to most preceding cultures he is an aberration.
8. Clearly the story of progress can be framed in opposite ways. Because the traditional view rejects the core assumptions of progressive teleology it cannot be āincludedā within it on its own terms.
9. To suggest that primitive man āhindered progressā with his scaling traps or his sluggish rate of innovation is to fail to understand him on his own terms, and to present little more than a picture book history.
10. Iām not suggesting that we return to primitive tradition as a curative for the ills of civilisation, but I think itās important to at least recognise the assumptions that undergird our rather peculiar moment in history.
The Scaling Trap in action:
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