CHAPTER 6
The Force of Habit
Reinventing the Rules
A story began circulating among anthropology departments at major universities some 50 years ago. Eventually it went viral, spreading through pop culture and ending up on the pages of the magazine Psychology Today. Like all cultural memes, the story has never stopped morphing. In the version we heard, a young anthropologist was watching a villager prepare lunch in her kitchen deep in the Brazilian jungle. Let’s call them “Cheryl” and “Miranda,” step back, and watch the action unfold.
Miranda, wielding a sharp machete as if it were a meat cleaver, whacked off the ends of a pork roast, placed it ...
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