relationships
Facebook and the Buid: A Christmas Meditation
I recently became aware of the fact that someone I deeply respect, who friended me on Facebook a couple years ago, has unfriended me. I have no idea why. Perhaps I said something offensive in one of these news posts—I’m clueless. But in the spirit of the holiday season, I’m stepping back from my lingering […]
Laughing with the Batek
The Batek firmly oppose laughter yet they sometimes laugh together anyway, feeling guilty about engaging in the forbidden activity. Their prohibition against laughing is an important part of a complex of beliefs regarding the natural and supernatural agents that surround them in their Malaysian forest homes. Alice Rudge, an anthropologist who is employed by the […]