The multidimensional parabola

This entry was originally posted on 13 December 2004 at 12:21 p.m.

Last week i talked about a theory discussed in Marvin Harris' book Our Kind. Near the end of what was rather a longer entry than i'd hoped it would be, i asked whether his theory still holds for post-industrial societies. (Go back one and read "War and Chauvenism" if this doesn't ring a bell.)

I think i was asking the wrong question. The question isn't necessarily "does this still apply" as much as it is this: What happens when cultures change, especially with regard to their level of technology? How does the theory address changes in technology? How do the "laws" of cultural behavior change in response to massive environmental changes or technological advances?

And, equally interesting, what would happen...? What would happen in reverse--when a post-industrial culture loses, say, computers and the internet? Would human behavior eventually return to its previous state? Is there an equation, maybe some kind of multidimensional parabola, that describes the change in behavior along the continuum?

I can't believe that no one else has asked these questions already. I think i'm going to do a little digging.