Discussion Item: The article makes me curious how often persons from a more industrialized region paying visit to a tribal or otherwise remote region and exposed to social elements different from that which is typically seen in their own culture judge the people whom they are visiting, or conclude that their practices are "uncivilized", "barbaric" or "disgusting" without stopping and taking the time to think critically about the economic, political and social reasons behind the practice, as well as the ramifications of changing it. The article specifically mentions a previous visit to the Tibetans by Jesuits who saw the polyandrous marriage structure and concluded that the practice had to be the result of female infanticide. In that case, the Jesuits likely sought to influence the Tibetans to abandon their no doubt "sinful" and "immoral" ways and instead, opt for the type of monogamous relationships sanctioned by their God. Supposing the Jesuits had been successful in influencing such a change without a commensurate change in farming technology, what would have happened to the quality of life and standard of living of the Tibetan people?
Discussion Item: The article makes me curious how often persons from a more industrialized region paying visit to a tribal or otherwise remote region and exposed to social elements different from that which is typically seen in their own culture judge the people whom they are visiting, or conclude that their practices are "uncivilized", "barbaric" or "disgusting" without stopping and taking the time to think critically about the economic, political and social reasons behind the practice, as well as the ramifications of changing it. The article specifically mentions a previous visit to the Tibetans by Jesuits who saw the polyandrous marriage structure and concluded that the practice had to be the result of female infanticide. In that case, the Jesuits likely sought to influence the Tibetans to abandon their no doubt "sinful" and "immoral" ways and instead, opt for the type of monogamous relationships sanctioned by their God. Supposing the Jesuits had been successful in influencing such a change without a commensurate change in farming technology, what would have happened to the quality of life and standard of living of the Tibetan people?