Starvation also turns out to be rare in preagricultural societies because hunter-gatherers live in tiny populations within enormous territories, they are not dependent on crops that can fail, and when times are tough, they move to find food. Decades of research show that hunter-gatherers generally manage to avoid starvation and maintain about the same weight throughout the year.18 That doesn’t mean hunter-gatherers don’t face tough times. They do. In fact, they frequently complain of being hungry. But one of the ways hunter-gatherers survive is by not foolishly squandering scarce calories on
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