ABSTRACT
Thesignificanceofgivenenvironmentalfeatures,aswellastheirweightuponaculture, iscontingentonthatculture.HereisapoliticallydevelopedAsiaticSocietyrelyingupon intensivedouble-cropagriculture.Subjectedto ashorteningofsummerseasonsbyfivedays, itmaybeundercriticalselection.Acertain isothermbecomesathresholdbeyondwhichthe systemasconstitutedcannotbemaintained.Yet thesameclimaticshiftmeanslittleornothingto afishingtribe;itsnicheisgovernedbythe conditionsthatdirectlyconcernthefishing.Similarly,coalisarelevantresourceofanindustrial technology,anditsdistributionintheground affectsthedesign,theexternalrelations,eventhe historicfateofanindustrialnation.Buttoa hunting-and-gatheringpeople,toAustralianaborigines,say,coaliscompletelyirrelevant:in thegroundorno,itisnotpartoftheirenvironment;ithasnoselectiveimpactonthem, unless
AUSTRALIANABORIGINESHITITRICH SpecialtotheD e t r o i t N e w s
Canberra,April17[1963]-0neoftheworld's mostprimitivepeople-scientistssaytheyarejust passingthroughtheirstoneage-willgetamultimilliondollarrake-offfromabigAustralianmine project.
