The Pirahã, a remote Amazonian tribe with little outside contact, have attracted the attention of mainstream media, scientists, zen buddhists, professors of religion, mathematicians, philosophers and others because of their unusual confluence of values, language, and culture.

Now, after 20 years of high intellectual and physical adventure living among them, Dan Everett proposes a revolution in anthropology and linguistics: culture profoundly shapes language, even at the most fundamental level. What happens when a languageculture pairing like the Pirahãs' is lost?

The Pirahãs are not alone in their lessons and knowledge for all of us there are hundreds of endangered languages in the world but their example provides a remarkably clear example of alternative knowledge and ways of talking of importance to all of us as we ponder how we should try to build future lives.

Everett is author of "Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazon Jungle" (02008): http://www.amazon.com/DontSleepTher... and is Chair of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Illinois State University.

"Endangered languages, lost knowledge and the future" was given on March 20, 02009 as part of Long Now's Seminar series. The series was started in 02003 to build a compelling body of ideas about longterm thinking from some of the world's leading thinkers. The Seminars take place in San Francisco and are curated and hosted by Stewart Brand. To follow the talks, you can:

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