On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 00:14:03 -0700, Steve Brust <skzb at dreamcafe.com> wrote: > The American Heritage dictionary says: 1. The cultivation of the soil; > tillage. 2. The breeding of animals or growing of plants, especially to > produce improved stock. 3. (biology, skipped) 4. Social and > intellectual formation. 5. The totality of of socially transmitted > behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products > of human work and thought characteristic of a community or population. It is awfully fun to look at a concept from a different POV. The whole concept of culture being the opposite of nature is worth exploring - especially with our newfound appreciation of nature. Historically nature hasn't been appreciated much - The Grand Canyon was described as an obstacle. Things that isolated us from nature were valued. "High culture" was more removed from nature than "low culture", and appreciated by those who didn't need to dirty their hands with living. Our fiction tends to agree with our current sensibilities. People in primitive societies don't fight nature so much. "Natural" isn't a dirty word. (I know I am exaggerating some - but not much). -- Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/