mainstays even of oppressed cultures. Shamans, magicians, and theologians are highly skilled in their intricate and arcane arts. No, the impediment is political and hierarchical. In those cultures lacking unfamiliar challenges, external or internal, where fundamental change is unneeded, novel ideas need not be encouraged. Indeed, heresies can be declared dangerous; thinking can be rigidified; and sanctions against impermissible ideas can be enforced—all without much harm. But under varied and changing environmental or biological or political circumstances, simply copying the old ways no longer
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