Is migration our normal state as human beings?

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Qazwer
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Is migration our normal state as human beings?

Post by Qazwer »

Just read ‘The Next Migration’ by Sonia Shah

https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/mig ... migration/

Her thesis is that the natural state of all creatures on this planet including humans is migrating. There have been multiple threads discussing the trade offs in homesteading, city vs urban and developing local social capital and local agricultural knowledge. The alternative is that we assume that migration is likely and normal. This would argue that maintaining liquid capital which is generic to location may be are more normal state. She briefly mentions liquid capital (as opposed to land), skills, health and social capital of networks throughout the world. In the past few centuries, humans have created unscientific theories that argued against the natural state of our species of migrating. I am not sure how those theories will adapt over the next few centuries.

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Alphaville
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Re: Is migration our normal state as human beings?

Post by Alphaville »

yes. otherwise we'd all be still in africa. culture migrates, capital migrates... people too, obviously.

when i ordered my dad's dna test for his birthday it turned out his x and y ancestors have been all over the planet... the y side more so, hilariously (and i take after it).

timothy leary used to repeat "mobility is nobility" quite often in the 90s while he was still alive. hence, the death of the landline.

there is a reason a lot of us speak indoreuropean, and that reason is the horse :P

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Ego
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Re: Is migration our normal state as human beings?

Post by Ego »

I believe in most species there is a varying percentage of individuals who leave the herd, troop, colony, gang, flock, pack.... but most remain. I would guess that the determinants as to who goes and who stays is both genetic and cultural. So I guess the answer depends on what you mean by normal. The normal (average) person does not migrate but it is normal for humans to migrate.

ducknald_don
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Re: Is migration our normal state as human beings?

Post by ducknald_don »

The wanderlust gene, I've seen it speculated that 20% of the population have it. I suppose it makes sense from an evolutionary perspective.

I'm pretty certain I don't have it.

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Alphaville
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Re: Is migration our normal state as human beings?

Post by Alphaville »

ducknald_don wrote:
Sun Mar 28, 2021 3:12 pm
The wanderlust gene, I've seen it speculated that 20% of the population have it. I suppose it makes sense from an evolutionary perspective.

I'm pretty certain I don't have it.
i thought you were joking and i did a search

https://www.elitedaily.com/life/culture ... vel/953464

idk wth "elite daily" is but... seems legit

i *definitely* have it. it's not so much as tourism, but i have to change residence every few years.

my dad tells me when he was single he'd get bored of his apartment and get another one in the same neighborhood every year or so :lol:

Toska2
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Re: Is migration our normal state as human beings?

Post by Toska2 »

The natural state is to procreate. This leads to local resource depletion and thus migration to new areas. Humans are unique in "we" can transport resources vast distances. Therefore, the consideration of "do we move or we move stuff" depends on the cost.

I wouldn't consider individuals' needs for novelty a migration. Migration is focused effort of a community/tribe. "Finding" your tribe (of loosely grouped people) already there is not the same as moving with a tightly knit group.

7Wannabe5
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Re: Is migration our normal state as human beings?

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

Genetic studies indicate that females are more migratory than males, but likely only at the level of moving when you marry the boy 2 villages/clans over. However, even that level of exhibition of species tendency towards outbreeding can add up to significant genetic drift over time.

Western Red Cedar
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Re: Is migration our normal state as human beings?

Post by Western Red Cedar »

I read this in Sky's journal a while back and really liked it. I think it is relevant to the discussion.
sky wrote:
Thu Jan 28, 2016 5:20 pm
For millions of years human evolved and the one thing they always had was a Nomad mind, that kept them on the move with the seasons, animal migration, climate changes, population growth and many other factors.

The humans that developed a NOMAD MIND survived and thrived while those who didn't died. Evolution has selected humans to be NOMADS. Some of us moved constantly and some moved slowly--but we all moved.

Then 10,000 years ago we adapted agriculture which forced us to stay in one spot, we stopped moving. By staying on one spot we needed communities, states, governments, laws, police--all of that led to CIVILIZATION. But, our old ways of thinking and feeling no longer worked so we slowly developed a whole new mindset and worldview called the CIVILIZED MIND..

Farming meant we were no longer free to roam and travel, it meant we had to obey laws. As capitalism developed the laws of the market place became the dominate power over our lives and now it is our absolute LORD and MASTER. Society summed it up as being "Good productive members of society.) but it really meant we became:

wage slaves,
worker drones in a hive
cogs in a machine
rats in a maze
no longer human beings, simply units of production, like any other tool to be used and discarded at will

When you stop working and move into a car, van or RV everything about your life changes and you start living like a nomad again, but you still have your civilized mind that wants you to be PRODUCTIVE above all else. But nomads aren't productive, they are free and happy. Your civilized mind hates that!!!!! Every moment of your life you were told it didn't matter if you were happy, only that you were productive. Suddenly you are happy but not productive and your mind rebels at that and demands that you DO SOMETHING!!

Do anything because you are a tool, a machine and all your value comes from production. Happiness is totally irrelevant--production is all important.

You're going through that now. When you retire and move into a car van or RV the civilized mind hates it!!

But, the nomad mind is still in there, that's the reason you feel this strong urge to become a NOMAD, it's literally written into your DNA, it's your normal, natural human way of thinking!

The nomad mind is sane
The civilized mind is insane

Because it's your normal, natural mind, eventually you will regain your sanity and the insanity of civilization will slowly drop away.

For awhile it can be very difficult to make the transition and you have to be willing to go through the chaos that will reign in your heart and mind while the poison of civilization is leaving you. It's very toxic and by disobeying it and not producing but being happy instead, it will punish you and you will be miserable for awhile.

There is nothing to do but go through it and let the toxic poison of the civilized mind out of your heart and mind.

Bob Wells
cheaprvliving.com

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Ego
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Re: Is migration our normal state as human beings?

Post by Ego »

Is Bob Wells confounding nomads and migrants? They strike me as two distinct things.

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Alphaville
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Re: Is migration our normal state as human beings?

Post by Alphaville »

i don't think of rv folks as true nomads. seems to me one highway and one gas station and one rv campground is the same as another and another and another. so they move in the same space, and what looks like pretty much the same culture.

the real tasty stuff that tickles the brain is not just a different landscape but a different culture. hence star trek was never about going from one federation space station to the next one to the next one to the next one, one cargo dock and refuel after another. it was about new planets, and kirk hooking up with the green and blue and purple ladies :lol:

Western Red Cedar
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Re: Is migration our normal state as human beings?

Post by Western Red Cedar »

Ego wrote:
Tue Mar 30, 2021 12:52 pm
Is Bob Wells confounding nomads and migrants? They strike me as two distinct things.
I wonder if part of his perspective is based on the overlap of the two in the rubber tramp community. Some are nomads, some are migrants, but many are likely both. Particularly those focusing on maintaining a sense of community through events live the RTR.

@Alphaville - I think Bob Wells is a little beyond the traditional RV crowd. Boondocking is probably a much different experience than RV parks and campgrounds in National Parks. Also, lots of cultural diversity in the states. Bellingham, Birmingham, and Boston all have their unique histories and characteristics ;) .

Qazwer
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Re: Is migration our normal state as human beings?

Post by Qazwer »

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... and-canada

I do not know enough about climate science. I had never heard about ‘heat dome’ before now. I realize how little I know and how little I could know of what will be useful. Optionality of location has value in an unstable world.

white belt
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Re: Is migration our normal state as human beings?

Post by white belt »

Qazwer wrote:
Fri Jul 02, 2021 11:07 pm
Optionality of location has value in an unstable world.
Only to the extent that there is another location that will welcome you and you are one of the first movers. Otherwise you’re going to get stuck among thousands or millions of other climate refugees. See the discussion in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=11742

Qazwer
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Re: Is migration our normal state as human beings?

Post by Qazwer »

You assume there will be a choice and we can predict the future well enough to choose where to live and what communities to build.
https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2014/07/ ... e.html?m=1

The Pacific Northwest per my limited understanding was supposed to be the place to move to avoid climate issues. I am arguing that I am not smart enough to pick a location. That migration may be needed and being prepared for that is the smart play.

Freedom_2018
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Re: Is migration our normal state as human beings?

Post by Freedom_2018 »

Poor and migrating = bad (ie forced migration)

Not poor and migrating = not too bad 🙂

Source: Self over 9 years of location independence including the year of Covid madness.

However it is clear to me that majority of people are not psychologically equipped for a nomadic lifestyle....which is great because we need someone to run the trains, pay property taxes and otherwise be grounded and upstanding members of society. Also creates arbitrage opportunities.

white belt
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Re: Is migration our normal state as human beings?

Post by white belt »

Qazwer wrote:
Sat Jul 03, 2021 7:27 pm
The Pacific Northwest per my limited understanding was supposed to be the place to move to avoid climate issues. I am arguing that I am not smart enough to pick a location. That migration may be needed and being prepared for that is the smart play.
Here's a pop science summary of some of the research on ideal US locations for climate changes: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/he ... te-change/

But regardless of your location, "extreme" weather events are going to become more and more routine. The heatwave in the Pacific Northwest was one such outlier weather event. The deep freeze in Texas and blackouts that followed are another example of such weather events. These extreme weather events will manifest everywhere in different ways, even in regions that will fare best in climate change simulations (in the USA that's generally the upper midwest, but there is a ton of variation depending on time horizon and assumptions). These disruptive weather events are often hard to predict with enough foresight to be able to escape to another area.

Your best bet is to do some basic prepping and ensure you are ready to cope with a variety of outlier weather events that are likely in your area. I'm sure a lot of people learned a lesson about coping with heat during the PNW heatwave (others didn't/couldn't learn fast enough and died). These major weather events often correspond with power outages, so for a heatwave it isn't necessarily as simple as just relying on air conditioning. An ERE lifestyle should already make you much more resilient towards a variety of disruptions.

Jacob said something similar here: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=11967&p=244974&hilit=texas#p244974

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