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Dear palaeoanthropologists/archaeologists:
Please stop using the word "primitive".
Please stop using the word "primitive".
You might think you& #39;re doing well by avoiding jargon. But here& #39;s the deal: while you & your peers might understand that you& #39;re replacing "plesiomorphic" or "basal trait" with something easy to understand, "primitive" already has a layperson meaning - and it& #39;s NOT good.
At its best, "primitive" invokes a concept or orthogenesis (directionality) to evolution, the concept of "higher" and "lower" organisms, the idea of a "chain of being".
At its worst, "primitive" is a stand-in for "less than" or "unfinished". Because - if you have primitive, then you have to have advanced, right?
Primitive traits... primitive organisms... primitive cultures and people. And the flip-side: advanced organisms, cultures, people...
Primitive traits... primitive organisms... primitive cultures and people. And the flip-side: advanced organisms, cultures, people...
And we know that& #39;s not how evolution works. That& #39;s also not how we should view others, be they plants, animals... or peoples.
By avoiding the jargon, you& #39;re propagating a hideously loaded and problematic concept.
Find a better way; explain what you mean.
Maybe "ancestral condition" is better.
I dunno.
But "primitive" is not the way to go.
Maybe "ancestral condition" is better.
I dunno.
But "primitive" is not the way to go.
