“Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts”

Reframe Your Brain with Keridwyn
1 min readMar 30, 2020

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Posted by Catherine Deveny on her Facebook page:

“Years ago, anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture. The student expected Mead to talk about fishhooks or clay pots or grinding stones.

But no. Mead said that the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture was a femur (thighbone) that had been broken and then healed. Mead explained that in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die. You cannot run from danger, get to the river for a drink or hunt for food. You are meat for prowling beasts. No animal survives a broken leg long enough for the bone to heal.

A broken femur that has healed is evidence that someone has taken time to stay with the one who fell, has bound up the wound, has carried the person to safety and has tended the person through recovery. Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts, Mead said.”

Painting by Allison Adams of Groundbreaking Girls

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Reframe Your Brain with Keridwyn
Reframe Your Brain with Keridwyn

Written by Reframe Your Brain with Keridwyn

Hypnotherapist. Helping folks decrease worry/stress/anxiety, change habits, & shift unhelpful mindsets. linktr.ee/keridwyn & www.keridwyn.com