The Savage Mind

The Savage Mind, a concept by anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, explores how different cultures structure their knowledge and problem-solving through often overlooked, intuitive ways of thinking. It highlights that "savage" or indigenous societies use complex mental processes—like categorization and analogy—similar to those in modern science or philosophy, but in more flexible, context-driven manners. This perspective challenges the idea that only Western culture has "rational" thought, showing instead that diverse ways of understanding the world are equally sophisticated and meaningful.