Years ago, I remember a friend of mines old Grandpa said “The trouble these days is people used to go OUT to cr@p and come IN to eat. Now they go OUT to eat and come IN to cr@p. No wonder things is all messed up now!” He was quite the character but he made sense in a lot of ways!
One of the things I tell students on the first day of a civilization course is that there is no one accepted definition of civilization. There are three approaches: it is a single discovery which dramatically changes how humans live (what discovery?), it is the gradual accumulation of several inventions/discoveries (and they are?), or it is a bogus concept to justify why it’s okay for us to enslave you and steal your resources (because we’re civilized and you’re not). Some textbooks explain what they mean by civilization. Some just assume it means literacy and don’t provide details.
I’d sometimes ask students to define civilization and defend/explain their definition. They could use any of the three approaches. A definition is only meaningful if it tells us something. “If you can talk you’re civilized” means every human has been civilized for 40,000 years and means nothing. “When everyone loves each other and treats others with respect” means no one is civilized. One defined civilization as starting with flush toilets. Brilliant essay, well defended, got 100% for showing understanding of the issues.
“Anthropologist Margaret Mead said the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture is a femur that had been broken and then healed. She theorized that in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die because you are unable to run from danger, hunt, and survive. But a healed thigh bone is a sign that someone has taken time to care for the injured.” ( statement might or might not be accurate quote from M Mead).
I think these guys were probably already at least partly civilized, because shoemaking is a kind of specialized talent that not just anybody can perform, so they were already on their way to division of labor.
Useless information. Toilet comes from the French word for the personal cloth they used instead of paper and some Islanders used clam shells. Ain’t google wonderful.
As the new boy, my first assignment at the field camp was to create the toilet: Dig the pit, cut the posts and drive them into the ground, find some driftwood for splinter-free seating, and make a plastic tee-pee to keep most of the bugs off.
Asharah 9 months ago
I’m pretty sure caveman went outside the cave anyway
GreasyOldTam 9 months ago
He’s invented the women’s outhouse to give women a place to stand in line. (Men’s outhouses had a sun symbol.)
sirbadger 9 months ago
Have we lost a certain amount of freedom by having to go someplace to go to the bathroom?
enigmamz 9 months ago
Can you make one for boys, as well?
keenanthelibrarian 9 months ago
Did the guy who built the privy did the sh#t pit, too?
Charliegirl Premium Member 9 months ago
Yea? And who’s gonna clean it out? And you’d better move it further way, too.
Charliegirl Premium Member 9 months ago
Anyone notice the Wiley Bear lurking around the corner?
hubbard3188 9 months ago
I like the bear back there. But ya’ know what HE’S doing in the woods.
some idiot from R'lyeh Premium Member 9 months ago
It’s as good a starting point as any.
Cornelius Noodleman 9 months ago
Now they need to invent toilet paper.
Walrus Gumbo Premium Member 9 months ago
So, he’s the one responsible for civilization!?? Boooo, hissss!
lalapalooza Premium Member 9 months ago
why is the Bear grinning?
mbakerbr549 9 months ago
Years ago, I remember a friend of mines old Grandpa said “The trouble these days is people used to go OUT to cr@p and come IN to eat. Now they go OUT to eat and come IN to cr@p. No wonder things is all messed up now!” He was quite the character but he made sense in a lot of ways!
Isenthor1978 9 months ago
And soon it was the only place anyone could read a newspaper in peace…when newspapers were invented 10,000 years later.
LawrenceS 9 months ago
One of the things I tell students on the first day of a civilization course is that there is no one accepted definition of civilization. There are three approaches: it is a single discovery which dramatically changes how humans live (what discovery?), it is the gradual accumulation of several inventions/discoveries (and they are?), or it is a bogus concept to justify why it’s okay for us to enslave you and steal your resources (because we’re civilized and you’re not). Some textbooks explain what they mean by civilization. Some just assume it means literacy and don’t provide details.
I’d sometimes ask students to define civilization and defend/explain their definition. They could use any of the three approaches. A definition is only meaningful if it tells us something. “If you can talk you’re civilized” means every human has been civilized for 40,000 years and means nothing. “When everyone loves each other and treats others with respect” means no one is civilized. One defined civilization as starting with flush toilets. Brilliant essay, well defended, got 100% for showing understanding of the issues.
mrwiskers 9 months ago
Wiley Bear calls it a larder.
nosirrom 9 months ago
The next thing you know there will be a traffic jam.
.Com/article/portable-toilet-falls-of-truck-on-massachusetts-turnpike-delays/45555734
Dobby53 Premium Member 9 months ago
“Anthropologist Margaret Mead said the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture is a femur that had been broken and then healed. She theorized that in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die because you are unable to run from danger, hunt, and survive. But a healed thigh bone is a sign that someone has taken time to care for the injured.” ( statement might or might not be accurate quote from M Mead).
Teresa Burritt (Frog Applause) creator 9 months ago
Why is that bear so gosh-darn happy?
Bilan 9 months ago
Apparently, the Wiley bear doesn’t — in the woods anymore, he uses the caveman’s outhouse.
Zebrastripes 9 months ago
Ooooh what a relief it is!
bbbmorrell 9 months ago
civilization was not real till toilet paper came along.
scote1379 Premium Member 9 months ago
Invent the Bidet then you’ve earned a pat on the back!
JoeStoppinghem Premium Member 9 months ago
Just realized what outhouses do to the local water table.
Webby_dog 9 months ago
Dot lose yourself
sandpiper 9 months ago
The source of many a great idea and invention. Also a good place for bears to pick up fresh meat.
Slowly, he turned... 9 months ago
And then someone invented the “two holer” and social awareness became an issue.
vaughnrl2003 Premium Member 9 months ago
I suppose true freedom and happiness includes not have to watch where you walk, …in the livingroom.
mindjob 9 months ago
The new meeting room for house republicans
poppacapsmokeblower 9 months ago
Think outside the box. P00p outside the cave.
Can't Sleep 9 months ago
One small step for man…
Richard S Russell Premium Member 9 months ago
I think these guys were probably already at least partly civilized, because shoemaking is a kind of specialized talent that not just anybody can perform, so they were already on their way to division of labor.
oakie817 9 months ago
i used one of those every summer when i was growing up, and a pump for drinking water…sigh…those were the days
dadlivonia 9 months ago
so does a bear use it? no trees
monya_43 9 months ago
Invention of the chimney was a large factor in advancement of civilization. You could then safely bring fire indoors to heat and cook.
holdenrex 9 months ago
And the comic strip world would later work itself into a tizzy when a caveman uses the facility and says “Is it just me or does it stink in here?”
Daltongang Premium Member 9 months ago
I just want to know who takes care of it when the "SH!TTER’S FULL?
marilynnbyerly 9 months ago
You forgot to invent beer and sports.
Buckeye67 9 months ago
I’ll bet the idiot didn’t include a hole with that outhouse.
ravenoverthegreen 9 months ago
Taxidea taxus!
walstib Premium Member 9 months ago
At Boy Scout summer camp, one kid peed out of the back of the tent. It got pretty ripe after a week.
Kabana_Bhoy 9 months ago
That’s where I learned to read a box score, before using it for another purpose!
Mike Baldwin creator 9 months ago
First they want to tell you where to poop …
leemorse9777 9 months ago
Useless information. Toilet comes from the French word for the personal cloth they used instead of paper and some Islanders used clam shells. Ain’t google wonderful.
Geophyzz 9 months ago
As the new boy, my first assignment at the field camp was to create the toilet: Dig the pit, cut the posts and drive them into the ground, find some driftwood for splinter-free seating, and make a plastic tee-pee to keep most of the bugs off.
6turtle9 9 months ago
Everybody loves a good poop joke.
eddi-TBH 9 months ago
From indoors to outdoors and then back to indoors. All progress runs in circles.
jfthomas70 9 months ago
I prefer it to lack of sanitation, re civil war era.
bakana 9 months ago
Something on this page shut my computer down the first 2 times I opened it.
Withan 9 months ago
Freedom from Cholera
[Unnamed Reader - 14b4ce] 8 months ago
I call it rural tennessee