eohippus        all contents copyright 2007 max carmichael				why eohippus?         bio         contact
	pictures of knowledge: work in progress				back         next
	Birdseye View of Homeland This represents the territory of a human community which provides all its basic needs from local natural resources, farming, tending livestock, and fishing. Their homeland is located in the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere. The outer boundary is the "sensory horizon" beyond which they have no shared firsthand knowledge. Orientation is shown by the rising sun at right, setting sun at left, etc. The actual settlement is shown at center, connected by paths to other places they visit and interact with to obtain resources. The paths are shown by the footprint symbol to indicate explicitly that there is effort or energy used in moving between them. The question mark is included to indicate explicitly that there is much we don't know, can't predict, don't understand, even in our own backyard. Notice how this looks like a game board! Games are one of the most fundamental and important universal forms of culture, because they reflect both our ecology and our social interactions, promoting teamwork, normalizing our relationships with other cultures and other organisms, ritualizing mystery and chance, and mitigating the hoarding of resources.