Folks in all likelihood faked illness to get out of work even in the hunter-gatherer era.
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A writer and traveler who visited many tribes in the World, gave a lecture and one of his experiences stuck with me. One tribe, I think Pigmies, didn’t have any crime at all. Nothing. They were the most honest people to walk the face of this planet. They wouldn’t steal or do a...
That seems like such bullshit
Well, was he waiting for a traveler to come to his tribe to commit a crime? The was he there documenting their behavior since "the dawn of time." This story is nothing more than a fable. Like the Lafontaine's. The chances of that occurring just when a traveler was there are a...
Could you recommend any books that talk about tribe culture like this?? I’m interested in these social agreements that are less punitive and competitive than modern life.
It’s very possible that some version of that happened. Humans have probably always tried to avoid unpleasant or exhausting tasks when they could.
It’s called religion. At some point someone figured out they could spin a tale about gods and prophecy, interpret leaves or whatever, and they would be allowed to stay back from the hunt and still share in the spoils (as well as access to all the women). It’s the world’s old...
I seriously doubt humans were ever the type that love to be active by default. Literally all primates enjoy chilling.
Not tonight, I have a headache.
I'm not sure about hunter-gatherers, but we do have attendance records from the workers building the pyramids. Some of their reasons for skipping work sound remarkably similar to present day excuses.
Worth noting that "hunter-gatherer era" is kind of a misnomer. There were hunter-gatherers when the pyramids were being built. There are hunter-gatherers even today.
What were some of the reasons ?
Maybe. But probably not... as a hunter/gatherer, you don't work, you don't eat.
actually there are instances where paleontologists believe early hominids actually cared for each other when sick or injured.
That's just not true. Humans have been looking out for the sick, old and injured for 100s of thousands of years. It's probably more likely that back in our roaming days, we weren't depressed, work was enjoyable, and work was literally only a few hours a day.
You assume that they had to hunt and gather every day...they didn't.
Faking illness regularly would make you outcast, left alone to fend in wild.
People back then probably had no concept of what makes an illness fake. Or how long an illness should last. They all experienced off days.
Yeah at some point it's about whether you want to eat tonight, or if the rest of the tribe is going to resent you for not doing your share.
So...homeless. There's nothing new under the sun lol
You missing hunt again , you need doctors note A what?
Shaman's note
Hunter Gatherer era wasn’t really “work”, it was just life. They didn’t have sick hours, vacation pay, benefits, etc. so missing a day had more negative effects to the people than the benefits of faking sick. They also didn’t have many “luxury” items. So staying in camp wa...
People "worked" a lot less back then, compared to what we do now. Though obviously the smaller amounts of work they did were significantly more vital to survival. The idea of repetitive daily wage-work was not the norm before the industrial revolution.
Correct. Saying hunter/gatherers worked is the wrong way to look at it. It's like saying birds work everyday to eat. They don't they just eat. Or saying that wolves work to eat, again they don't, they see, hear, or smell pray, and they just go after it. You can define this as ...
> The idea of repetitive daily wage-work was not the norm before the industrial revolution. lol
People used to believe menstruating women were unclean and couldn’t touch anything and had to live in a hut outside the village until she was done menstruating. I KNOW women started this idea. “Sorry, can’t clean or cook or skin animals or deal with your stupid crap for a few...
This isn’t a super serious comment i know, but this would have been post-gender hierarchy and organized religion, so closer to our mandate-based labor culture than it sounds
This comment reads like a 6000 year old cope
"Hey Ooga, Booga is feeling sick today. He's got Covid -97,000. Can you cover for him? He's got sabertooth duty today."
Love covid -97,000 here
“Could you ask Unga? I am very busy with cave painting today.”
They probably did but also remember hunter gathers didn’t work as insanely as modern humans do. They had more leisure time and interpersonal interactions. Roughly 40 hours a week on all survival activities and the rest of the time on personal time. So roughly 60% of their t...
Isn't the average work hours now adays literally 40hrs a week? So exactly the same as before
Faking illness to get out of work is a modern thing. Hunter-gatherers felt a sense of connectedness to themselves and their work because all the work they do is for the tribe. Applying the idiotic conditions we live in now-a-days to tribalism doesn't work
The ability to dick around is mankind's greatest accomplishment. Can you imagine what it was like for the first human to say "meh, i can eat tomorrow."
I think if they did that, they probably died.
depends on when they lived and what specific group they lived for. there is a belief that some homo species cared for the sick/wounded.
Yeah probably not honestly. They probably didn't force themselves to work sick like we do, but if they didn't "work" they didn't live lol. If you want to have dinner you have to get it one way or another.
Actually, if you live in a community, you don't need to work every day. You only need to work as much as everyone else. And, when most of your work gain isn't going to someone outside the community there is MUCH less work that needs to be done per day for the group to survive.
some guy 30,000 years ago watching everyone leave for the mammoth hunt: yeah my back has been really bad lately, you guys go ahead
Weren’t there old ledger tablets from back when we used to etch words into stone where someone recorded the various excuses people would give for not coming into work? Or was that bogus?
The one from ancient Egypt? Yeah, that one included reasons such as busy brewing beer or because of their wife's period for not coming into work.
Nah what most people don't understand about hunter gatherers is it isn't the being one with nature, living off the land, romanticized simple life like it's portrayed in media. It's trying not to starve every single day of your life. Go on a hunting trip and you'll get some per...
Modern work has only one ancient equivalent, and that's slavery. I dunno if any slaves would have the audacity.... I don't think anyone had to fake not wanting to hunt. The other hunters probably felt bad for anyone who couldn't join, and had no need to excuse someone who had...
I feel like the inverse of this was likely more an issue; people with real illnesses that are invisible who didn't have the language to explain or even understand what was going on
I think back then if you got sick you just died
IDK, if you seemed like dead weight your tribe might just leave you to die or worse, euthanize you.
Maybe even have you for dinner
I live by myself and fake illness to get out of housework sometime.
Probably not. If you didn’t hunt/gather you didn’t eat. No reason to fake, there were plenty of reasons to be sick in those times. And what would you do if you did fake it? There’s no “price is right” to watch.
Take a nap
Not really, most tribes hunted in shifts, not everyone at once and not every member was a hunter. There were always camp chores to do, kids to raise, etc. One day off was probably fine.
Back then weren't any police. You'd get shamed, maybe even linched if it came out your skipping work just because.
Deception is a popular strategy in many animal and plant species. So it's likely that illness is not the only thing hunter-gatherers faked.
Maybe but you think the peer pressure is bad now it would have been abysmal back then. Because you would absolutely fucking up the colony/hamlet/cabal. Also, don't know if you've ever felt this but, if all you have to think about is: ill or mild walk and carry back, it sudd...
"I don't wana go to work today" [Tribe starves]
well, you could as a hunter-gatherer....but then you starve, there's no paid sickleave or PTO in that world.
Tribe gathering able bodied men and boys to war with a rival tribe, some fat guy "But I have bone spurs!"
“Grok, I no feel good today. Belly ache!” “Ok Hurg. I hunt without you. Feel better.” “Thx Grok. Oh, if you can. Bring me a big piece of mastodon for lunch?” “……”
I don’t think so, they didn’t work for money, they worked so they could eat that day. If they missed out then they go to bed hungry
One of my professors told us about an archeological dig of a site where people would hunt mammoths in a canyon. They found weapons, tools, bones etc. They also found a hidden spot part way up the canyon where someone had holed up and whittle little pieces of wood into toot...
"Thok can't hunt today, ate some bad mammoth last night"
Sounds like a [Firebringer](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B2EI65ZEqYQ) reference.
In those times, being ill probably meant you’d be dead soon
I remember some tablets in the Mesopotamia section at the Louvre, in cuneiform script, and I read all the notecards. Way more exciting than everyone trying to see the Mona Lisa. The tablets had all sorts of things, like business records, money owed, etc, but I was surprised th...
Well, there won't be any berries in the fruit salad now, so we all lose
I doubt it. If you couldn't "work" you wouldn't eat most of the time. Also if you got sick, you'd die most of the time.
sorry, grog, can't hunt mammoth today ... got note from shaman
When your only job is survival, calling out is dying.
Probably, were the same humans as them. The oldest writing we've been able to find was an ancient cuneiform tablet that was a complaint from a purchaser to whoever sold him bad quality copper. There's also an envelope (like a clay pot containing a tablet I think?) that's tho...
And don’t forget our boy Onfim (relatively much more recent) that was doodling away on his homework
"Ate a red berry yesterday, can't gather today sorry."
From what we know, people from this era always had their place. Strong men and women would hunt, able bodied, but not so strong or fast individuals would gather, and the older or weaker members would care for children and prepare tools and such. You wouldn't have to play sick....
/u/littleproducer has flaired this post as a **speculation**. Speculations should prompt people to consider interesting premises that cannot be reliably verified or falsified. If this post is poorly written, unoriginal, or rule-breaking, please report it. Otherwise, please ...
I’m sure they did Someone somewhere at one time must have played sick so they wouldn’t have to go do their hunter gather duties for a day
And now I fake being sick so I CAN go hunting….
You just find a hole and sleep in it. What are they gonna do text you?
I never thought of that. Good Shower thought.
Probably not. Faking illness as a hunter gatherer probably made you animal food.
Sounds like the Jack Black and Michael Cera in the movie they had that’s was I guess in the Bronze Age. Don’t remember the name of it
Year One
No, in those days if you skipped out on work that needed to be done, you didn’t eat
As long as you aren’t interested in eating you can skip work as much as you want.
I don't really wanna do the work today I don't really wanna do the work today *I don't really wanna do the work today* I don't wanna do the work today
They wouldn't need to fake! If you don't pull your weight, you're out of the tribe & you suffer the impacts.
[I don't really want to do the work today](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhYWNPzBuiM)
I just figured out how to move, how to sing, how to groove
There was nothing to do back then they stayed busy and couldn't risk something like that for their survival, the hunter gatherers were also constantly moving, it wouldn't have even entered their minds. They didn't even need to, when you look at tribal groups they take their t...
Source: Reddit https://share.google/NROROcwznm6LeRSam
And then they died. The law was usually communist in that you only get back what you provide. So, no hunt equals no eat.
They just moved you out of the fire circle
Guys i hurt my neck pretty badly at that rock concert last night. You guys really oonga hard in that boonga. I don't think I'll make it to the giant sloth hunt today. Sorry.
'sorry chief, my leg feels weird today. can't chase the mammoth. maybe tomorrow.' some things never change.
Most definitely could see this happening with mischievous na’vi
When it comes to survival its not work anymore
Imagine someone trying to fake a sprained ankle just to avoid hunting. It's wild to think about how long those "sick days" have been around!
This will only happen if you are working for someone else, typically farmers never take leave.
A great point, much more digestible than most of the counterpoints I've seen.
So. As someone with invisible illnesses that had to miss a lot of school and work in my life, I think the whole concept of “playing hooky” is awfully damaging. I’m sure many people have faked being sick to get out of things, but the fact is that playing hooky is our default ...
Practically everyone I’ve ever met has faked illness to get out of work or school before.
Yes but people (like those who do the same today) get iced out by their respective groups. However, getting iced out, isnt fatal in the modern era like it was back in prehistory and instead they can become burdens on society as unemployed welfare recipients.
Nope. People wanted to work since they had 1/3 of the year off due to weather. They only took time off if they needed it. Peasants in the medieval times had more time off than us. https://www.google.com/search?q=midevel+peasants+time+off&client=ms-android-telus-ca-rvc3&...
I raise you a [historical essay with citations](https://acoup.blog/2025/08/22/collections-life-work-death-and-the-peasant-part-iva-subsistence-and-a-little-more/) against your google link: > Part of the reason I wanted to write this series was to debunk the utterly silly ...
No one ever fakes an illness. But faking an illness is also a type of illness. Although central sensitivation, which makes a small illness feel even worse than it objectively should be, is much more common illness than true blatant faking.
And probably people hunting and gathering more than they needed and making someone else feel they couldn't hunt and gather because they couldn't do it like them.
If you didn't work you didn't eat back in the day. We soft out here with all the technological advances.
Many of our technological advances are used to create more ‘work’ (fake work) bc we no longer work to survive but rather as part of a system of mandated work time. Eg. Email, phones, computers, etc etc, we apply technology hierarchically. Even the cotton gin, removing the need...
Probably not as there was no protection. Your boss and coworkers could just physically force you to work.