weird with a captial weird

read this article today about why westerners are weirdos. (everyone is weird)
but references to the Machiguenga tribe fascinate me. i learned about them first in an essay on language and cognition in the best of science and nature writings 2008 which caroline and i sat reading aloud on the bookstore floor. that's when she told me about how they count 'one, two, many' and something else about how they don't reference objects not present within the immeadiate environment. mmmm. i wish i had that book to jog my memory. but yeah, machiguengans seem to exude the charmingly pragmatic hunter-gatherer lifestyles i've always fetishized, but shouldn't really speak to as i sit on sipping a glass of uv filtered water. in any case, today's article notes that the Machiguengans think it's absurd to turn down any amount of money offered to you. of course. i'm proud to share this sensibility. today i was offered a honey straw by a stranger. i accepted because it would be absurd not to.

further reading:
link to the Brain and Behavioral Sciences journal article online

(willed myself not to make an ikat/cat pun. you're welcome.) image from Brea Souders