On Humanity’s Earliest Attempts to Make a Home

In 1753, the Jesuit priest Marc-Antoine Laugier described the origin of dwelling by imagining a lone “savage” troubled by nature’s extremes. This “primitive man,” seeking refuge from scorching heat and torrential rain, initially fled to a cave but found it too dark and filled with “foul air.” Upon leaving the cave, he embarks on a mission. “Resolved to make good by his ingenuity the careless neglect of nature,” Laugier writes, “he wants to make himself a dwelling.”Article continues after advertisement As Laugier’s story continues, the man wanders through a forest, stumbles upon fallen branches, and has an epiphany.

…

Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Literary Hub.