{"product":{"product_id":"0307386120","title":"Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle (Vintage Departures)","price":"18.0","image_url":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/517ASvzRXNL._SL500_.jpg","url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/0307386120"},"comments":[{"body":"[Don't Sleep There are Snakes](https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=don%27t+sleep+there+are+snakes\u0026amp;qid=1553950163\u0026amp;s=books\u0026amp;sr=1-1) by Daniel Everett\r\n\r\nDr. Everett went to the Amazon jungle in the 1970's to learn the language of the Piraha people in order to put their language into writing and then translate the Bible into that language. He eventually got his PhD in linguistics. \r\n\r\nThe Piraha people have so sense of time - no past or future. They only use \"within our senses\" or \"not within our senses\". If something is not within their sight or sound or smell, it doesn't exist for all intents and purposes. \r\n\r\nDr. Everett may be a good place to find more information for your research. \r\n\r\nedit: spelling","subreddit_name":"AcademicBiblical","author":"MyDogFanny"},{"body":"And there was also a US Christian missionary who renounced his religion after seeing an Amazon hunting party suffocate a newborn child cause they didn't have enough food for him, making him question what is moral and what not (he thought in this case he couldn't use his Christian morality for example).\r\n\r\nthat's one of the many books I have read for my hypothesis.. the guy's name is Daniel Everett: https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120","subreddit_name":"infp","author":"ahlearning"},{"body":"I'm also from the Comp. Sci. guild \u0026amp; studied Chomsky Normal Form during my automata \u0026amp; grammar course. I also find natural languages fascinating. I've also read [a book](https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120) that inadvertently destabilizes Chomsky's Universal Grammar theory.\r\n\r\nBesides for Hebrew have you studied any other languages?","subreddit_name":"Judaism","author":"n_ullman176"},{"body":"No its not. Your cynicism is blinding you to the value cultures like these have, that our modern cultures are desperately lacking. Of course they had their shortcomings and some were even violent by our standards, but their cultural pathos pale in comparison to ours. You should check out \"Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes\" by Daniel Everett. It's a first hand account of a missionary in the Amazon who ends up abandoning his Western beliefs for a much simpler way of life. It's a fascinating story and in this ever advancing world, one that is becoming harder and harder to tell. Please don't throw what we could learn from them under the bus because of their shortcomings.  \r\n\r\n\r\nhttp://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120 - Here's the Amazon link, its a great book, you won't regret it!\r\n\r\n","subreddit_name":"AnarchistNews","author":"Ajuvix"},{"body":"Great question! I haven't seen it come up as an answer yet, so I hope I'm providing new information here. \r\n\r\nThere is indeed a peculiar tribe in the Amazon that is known for its almost total lack of rituals or traditions. \r\n\r\nThis is the only source I could find real quick on the Pirahas and [burials.](https://books.google.de/books?id=EoXbmMb6rVYC\u0026amp;pg=PT573\u0026amp;lpg=PT573\u0026amp;dq=piraha+death+ritual\u0026amp;source=bl\u0026amp;ots=VJPbeikYhv\u0026amp;sig=R8u-Mt6Nr8qF_IS9DninokEfhkk\u0026amp;hl=en\u0026amp;sa=X\u0026amp;ved=0ahUKEwjrkK_Sn7bSAhXMPRQKHVYsDMEQ6AEILjAE#v=onepage\u0026amp;q=piraha%20death%20ritual\u0026amp;f=false)\r\n\r\n\r\nWith that said, I'll give my two-cents on them and hope that someone here can back me up. \r\n\r\nThroughout the 70s and 80s, a Christian missionary was assigned to the Pirahas to (1) convert them to Christianity, and (2) learn their language and culture. \r\n\r\nHe wasn't successful with (1) BECAUSE of (2). During his time with the Pirahas, he came to the conclusion that they are a people without rituals, gods, myths, and therefore could not be converted.\r\n\r\nI'd highly recommend his book if you're looking for something about peoples with \"non-cultures.\" It has the perfect mix of linguistics, anthropology and personal accounts of his time with the Pirahas.\r\n\r\n[Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes](https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120)","subreddit_name":"askscience","author":"purplepill"},{"body":"Yes, if I remember correctly, this is noticeable in the Pirahã community, which you can read about through Daniel Everett's research. The following book is a good entry point, but you'll have to search around for the bit where he discusses how the community treats children as independent adults, with little to no protective behaviour.\r\n\r\n[https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120](https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120)","subreddit_name":"AskSocialScience","author":"Outside-Space6629"},{"body":"Daniel Everett also wrote a book, not an academic study, more of a memoir. [Amazon](http://www.amazon.ca/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120)\r\n\r\nAnd [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad6V9AKt24U) is a talk he gave to the FFRF (Freedon from religion foundation) on the subject.\r\n","subreddit_name":"Documentaries","author":"Omnistegan"},{"body":"Thanks for the response - and sounds like you have thought about this alot. Without really getting too much into the legal side of things i'm pretty sure most countries enforce a de-facto relationship status anyway which is legally identical to a civil marriage. But yes i agree that marriage does simplify things a bit by making things official which can be good. I think you both just need to find out what works for you.\r\n\r\nAs far as the social construct - don't think you think the whole concept of financial assets and ownerships is part of that? There are still remote tribes today in the Amazon for example that have no concept of financial ownership or inheritance - their languages lack the words to even have a conversation about such things including numbers and quantities...   \r\n[https://www.amazon.com.au/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120](https://www.amazon.com.au/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120)  \r\nAs an aside there's a book about this subject from a former missionary who visited tribes in the Amazon but later deconverted when he realised his christian belief system offered nothing to the people he was trying to convert.\r\n\r\n*Daniel Everett arrived among the Pirahã with his wife and three young children hoping to convert the tribe to Christianity. Everett quickly became obsessed with their language and its cultural and linguistic implications. The Pirahã have no counting system, no fixed terms for color, no concept of war, and no personal property. Everett was so impressed with their peaceful way of life that he eventually lost faith in the God he'd hoped to introduce to them, and instead devoted his life to the science of linguistics.*\r\n\r\nOur society is very much based on the idea of growing and accumulating wealth and that is something that also existed in Roman times - christianity was a just a religion that grew up in that environment and 'borrowed' that framework. So yes marriage is definitely a system that is designed to secure and transfer wealth. I just wanted to point that out because a lot of people on this forum who are still 'deconstructing' religion are grappling with things they've been taught their entire life so I'm not saying you need to be a hippy or a Piraha but personally for me I find it fascinating to think about how we inherit ideas and values from our culture :D\r\n\r\n\u0026amp;#x200B;\r\n\r\nAs for your father being an alcoholic and a religious fanatic - sorry to hear and that is a difficult circumstance to be in. Some of the others here might have more insight into handling that then me; I know some people swear by the 'gray rock' method as a way of slowly disengaging from a toxic relationship.","subreddit_name":"exchristian","author":"Redaxe77"},{"body":"\u0026gt;so apparently he's in contact with another never-a-JW who is also working on your JW's critical thinking skills? That's GREAT news!\r\n\r\nWell, as I said before, I know he knows other non-JW people, mainly fellow artists, even though most probably not too close. So I'm not surprised he knows this guy, too. But it's so strange that he writes that kind of stuff now. It seems more like provocation to me, at the moment. He recently still wrote about that \"serving God\" stuff (and God won't judge him for his personality disorder, because it's not his fault etc.), while at the same time criticizing a few things the WT teaches. It was in that context when he was offended when I suspected him of having used a certain situation to \"preach\" (and report the time) and said, he's not the JWs' idiot. So my impression is rather that he tries to demonstrate how open-minded and free and independent he is, while still being a JW. \r\n\r\n(this is the book he says he read: [https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120/ref=sr\\_1\\_2?\\_\\_mk\\_de\\_DE=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91\u0026amp;crid=2PPSB0VSY4AWS\u0026amp;keywords=Daniel+Everett\u0026amp;qid=1644007474\u0026amp;sprefix=daniel+everett%2Caps%2C168\u0026amp;sr=8-2](https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120/ref=sr_1_2?__mk_de_DE=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91\u0026amp;crid=2PPSB0VSY4AWS\u0026amp;keywords=Daniel+Everett\u0026amp;qid=1644007474\u0026amp;sprefix=daniel+everett%2Caps%2C168\u0026amp;sr=8-2))\r\n\r\nI don't know...","subreddit_name":"exjw","author":"Skibir"},{"body":"Check out [Don't sleep, there are snakes by Daniel Everett](https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120) , a fascinating look at another culture with a language so different to what we consider the norm. \r\n\r\nHere is a [video snippet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKqxnU5P1Yc)","subreddit_name":"linguistics","author":"_yourekidding"},{"body":"[Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes](http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120)","subreddit_name":"booksuggestions","author":"admorobo"},{"body":"\"Don't sleep there are snakes\" by Dan Everett.  Non fiction story of how he learns the language and culture of a Brazilian forest people. Fascinating. \r\nhttp://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120","subreddit_name":"booksuggestions","author":"dannywalk"},{"body":"interesting book on the subject:http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120","subreddit_name":"NoStupidQuestions","author":"52358"},{"body":"\u0026gt; But it does just demonstrate to me that he was a terrible evangelist and missionary worker, and had a very weak faith himself if he couldn't relate their lives and desires to the gospel message.\r\n\r\nWell his entire talk was precisely about how not only he but other, previous, missionaries couldn't relate to these people because they are very much empirical, skeptical people without traditions of creation myths, or strong beliefs in the supernatural. *That's entirely the point.*\r\n\r\nEverett's goal was to find that Trojan horse that God supposedly has placed in every culture to allow missionaries to spread the good news as it were, but because these people are consummate empiricists, no such thing seems to exist. Everett also made the point that he doesn't think these people are unique, which is precisely why I shared the video.\r\n\r\nI don't think the strength of his faith had anything to do with his failure to convert these people. He became an expert in understanding this culture and the language and realised that they were simply not open to being taught stories about people no modern person or anyone in recent memory had ever met. I would argue that it takes quite a strong and determined faith to keep a missionary away from his extended family and friends for years at a time in pursuit of converting these people.\r\n\r\n\u0026gt; In what he explained I can see expressions of the gospel already, it was just a matter of showing them how they correlated, and the value of being mindful of Jesus.\r\n\r\nI hope you watched the whole video, because it becomes abundantly clear that these people really didn't take to *any* stories about people they didn't know or their previous generation didn't know. Simply saying he didn't try hard enough is to completely underestimate and misunderstand the interesting and seemingly unique qualities of the Pirahã.\r\n\r\nFor you or for anyone else reading this comment, I'll point out that Everett recounts his stories in his book [Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes](http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120).\r\n","subreddit_name":"DebateReligion","author":"astroNerf"},{"body":"I would love a [Daniel Everett](http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120) AMA.  I also recommend that book to anyone.","subreddit_name":"IAmA","author":"ajkkjjk52"}]}