Expert: Ralph Salier - 3/19/2004

Question
How do societies without access to text decide what are good and bad sources of information?  

I guess they make a lot of use of elders as information sources, but do the physically disabled also have a role?

Answer
I am assuming that you mean by " with out access to text" as preliterate societies.  One such society would be the !Kung San!  bushmen of the Kalihari.  In this society, there are story tellers who basically know the history of the people (or given group). These peoples also care for their elderly after their ability to hunt comes to an end.  There are often people with injuries, blindness and other disabilities recieved over a long life in the bush.  These elderly people often have an important role for the children not yet old enough to hunt and they impart a lot of the tribal knowledge to these youngsters as they grow up.    

For most preliterate societies, this is the case.  There are a few where the infirm just simply can not keep up as the rest of the people move on.  These societies are often nomadic in nature such as the Mongols or the Lapps.  But even here, it is not uncommon for a young person to stay behind with the elderly infirm person to act as a care taker until this person passes on.  Then the young person catches up to the rest of the group if they can or waits until their return.  

So there are multiple stratgies used by different societies but for most, the elderly are important sources of information and teaching weather they are heathy or physically disabled.