By Barnes Mawrie
Anthropologists and Sociologists are familiar with the terms “primitive culture” and “advanced culture”. However, there is a serious flaw in the usage of these terms as they are in their present avatars. The basic flaw rests on a “prejudiced perception” of human culture when comparison is being made between two or more cultures. As of now, the so called “primitive culture” which includes “tribal culture”, is considered by anthropologists and sociologists as a less developed culture characterized by superstitions and strange practices. On the other hand the so called “advanced culture” is a culture characterized by intellectual complexity, technical advancement, economic progress etc. The question we need to ask here is “can we say a culture is advanced or superior because of the above factors”? Or is a culture “primitive” because it lacks these distinguishing factors? If we consider man as an intellectual, moral and religious being then judging the quality of his culture purely by intellectual and technical variables, is to run short of the truth. Since the sciences of Anthropology and Sociology as of other sciences, originated and developed in the West, particularly in Europe, the colonial mentality, namely, the superiority complex, has undoubtedly affected the perceptions of social scientists. Just think of the titles of some of the works of great anthropologists like Primitive Culture of E. B. Tylor, The Savage Mind of Claude Levi-Strauss or come closer to Northeast India, The Naked Nagas of Haimendorf. These researched works are indicative of the prejudiced mind of the western scholars. Of course, Tylor affirmed that the intellectual capacity of persons of all cultures (primitive and advanced) is fundamentally equal, but he admits that through education one culture supersedes the other. In saying this, Tylor has narrowed down the concept of education. He has failed to recognize the numerous forms and fora of education that a primitive society possesses.
There is a traditional oral transmission of cultural, moral and religious values to the younger generations in the homes or even in some cultural institutions like the Morung of the Nagas or the Nokpante of the Garos etc. These are effective ways of education which guarantee a holistic formation of the person and ensure the identity and integrity of society. These are the valuable educational practices which the “advanced” culture has no idea of. The formal education of the advanced cultures today is proving to be less effective in forming “good human beings”. If we judge the superiority of a culture by its technical advancement then we have to see its negative impact as well. Just think of agricultural practices. In the primitive society agriculture is done by manual labour but it is organic and pure. In the advanced society agriculture is done with machines and to increase productivity they use chemicals and engineered seeds but this is proving to be more destructive not only to the soil but to human health as well. Primitive man travels on foot or on horse backs or in carriages but he is healthy and free from any form of pollution. A person living in an advanced society travels on cars, trains or aeroplanes, but he/she is a constant victim of every type of pollution (air, noise etc) and is prone to more accidental deaths.
Now the question arises: what is better, primitive and or advanced culture? Coming to a more fundamental aspect of culture, namely, the ethical and spiritual values, we realize that primitive culture is far superior to the so called advanced culture in these matters. For example, the Khasi society of 100 years ago was definitely far better in terms of ethical and spiritual soundness than the Khasi society today. The practice of the religious code “tipbriew-tipblei”, of the social code “tipkur-tipkha” and of the ethical code “kamai ia ka hok” was conscientiously followed and crimes of any sort were almost unheard of. Today with the influence of the western or so called “advanced” culture, even the Khasis like other groups in the world, have lost most of those traditional values. Values have been replaced by vices of all forms. The “advanced” culture of the west is a culture that has lost most of its human, moral and spiritual temper and in their places vices like individualism, consumerism, secularism, relativism and agnosticism have emerged.
While I was in Europe I was told by some old people about the “good old days” before the advent of the so called “age of advancement”, when the sense of justice, righteousness and solidarity was very distinct among people. Today Europe has lost much of those traditional positive values they had. The negative perception of Indian people towards “tribal” reality as something inferior or uncivilized, is a display of total ignorance. It is a judgment grounded on prejudice and false pride inherited by many from our colonial masters. Tribal culture is by far superior to the “advanced” culture in terms of socio-cultural, moral and religious values. There are many enlightened sociologists who opine that the best way to save humanity or modern society from its self-destruction is to go back to our “primitive” or “tribal” values.
The conclusion I wish to draw here is that the comparison between “primitive” and “advanced” cultures is rather absurd if not contemptible. To make a fair comparison between cultures one needs to take into consideration all the aspects of culture: socio-cultural, moral, religious and spiritual. For example, today few people believe in Intelligence Quotient (IQ) test to measure a person’s superior ability. In fact, psychologists and educationists today speak of other Quotients like EQ (Emotion Quotient), AQ (Aptitude Quotient) etc besides the IQ in order to fairly compare between individuals. In doing this we will realize that if A has a high IQ, he may fare badly in EQ or AQ and so on. While B who is low on IQ may score high in EQ and AQ. Consequently, we will realize that A is not superior to B and vice versa. While A excels in one, B excels in the other. This is very much in keeping with today’s perception of the handicapped persons. They are no longer called handicapped but “differently abled”. When we begin to compare cultures keeping in mind these various aspects, we will be convinced that there is no such thing as a “primitive” or “advanced” culture. In fact the correct terms of positing these two would be “primitive” against “decadent” culture and between them many people would prefer a “primitive” to a “decadent” culture.