Ecological and cosmological coexistence thinking in a hypervariable environment: causal models of economic success and failure among farmers, foragers, and fishermen of southwestern Madagascar.

摘要: A fact of life for farmers, hunter-gatherers, and fishermen in the rural parts world are that crops fail, wild resources become scarce, winds discourage fishing. In this article we approach subsistence risk from perspective "coexistence thinking," simultaneous application natural supernatural causal models to explain success failure. southwestern Madagascar, ecological is characterized by extreme variability unpredictability, cosmological anxiety about dangers. Ecological causes seem point different minimizing strategies: avoid losses drought, flood, or heavy winds, one should diversify activities be flexible; but caused disrespected spirits narrow one's range behaviors follow code taboos offerings. We address paradox investigating whether Malagasy understand as occupying separate, contradictory explanatory systems (target dependence), they make no categorical distinction between forces combine them within a single system (synthetic thinking), have separate categories integrated into so drive (integrative thinking). Results three field studies suggest (a) informants why crops, prey, market succeed fail with reference like rainfall pests, (b) individual persons experience failure primarily factors God ancestors, (c) driving forces, ecology cosmology represent distinct sets framework. expect future cross-cultural analyses may find form "integrative thinking" common unpredictable environments cognitive strategy accompanies economic diversification.