What made us this way? Foundations of the Russian mentality. What are the features of the psychology of a Russian person

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

We have already raised the topic of why the Russian people with, frankly speaking, specific archetypes live in a country with the largest territory, and at the same time, for centuries, does not concede such a sweet piece of land to enemies. You can see unusual examples of Russian archetypes in our telegram channel, and in this video we will talk about another, no less important factor that influences the way of life and thoughts of a Russian person. It's about the harsh winter and what she taught us.

To do this, let's look into the distant past and trace how our ancestors learned to survive in the harshest natural conditions of the temperate climatic zone, on which most of our vast country is spread.

The temperate climatic zone includes coniferous, mixed and deciduous forests. These are forest-steppes full of animals and birds. These are fields and meadows covered with berries and mushrooms. Lakes and rivers teeming with fish. People living in these latitudes have been hunting, fishing and gathering throughout their history. So many resources - I don’t want to take it! Almost a heavenly place!

However, there is one problem. All these riches are available to a person only 6, well, a maximum of 8 months a year. The rest of the time is a real survival marathon. After all, we want to eat every day, but Mother Nature did not reward us with the ability to store fat as, for example, a bear does.

When the cold comes to the temperate climatic zone, the birds fly away to warmer regions. Many animals also go in search of a warm wintering place. And those who remain are no longer so accessible, because it is much harder for a person to hunt and move in deep snow. The fish also either falls asleep or hides under a thick layer of ice. There is nothing to say about berries and mushrooms.

It should also be borne in mind that the further to the north, the longer the period of cold weather. That is, the usual forms of food extraction are no longer so effective and it becomes an unbearable task to feed yourself and your family. What if it's a small community? How then to feed?

The choice was limited. Go for potential food in warm areas or store supplies while staying in place. Both of these methods have shown their effectiveness, however, in different conditions, and most importantly, they became the impetus for the further progress of our people.

Why this is so, now we will explain to you in a popular way.

The fact is that forests, rivers, hills and lakes became the main natural barriers to active movement. Therefore, only those who lived in an open area, that is, in the steppe, could go after the animals. To survive in the steppe in winter was also another task. But the absence of natural obstacles made it possible to gradually move southward.

The main difficulty here was the speed of movement. Even a grown man cannot run as fast as a deer or a wild boar. What can we say about small children, women and old people. Yes, and belongings, weapons, too, had to be moved somehow.

The solution to the problem was the domestication of horses, as well as sheep and cows. And if cows and sheep immediately became a source of food and clothing, then people quickly began to use horses as a means of transportation.

So the inhabitants of the steppes were able to roam after wild animals, having already acquired their own herds. Later, hunting ceased to be the main source of food, and the transition from place to place was necessary so that already their own livestock could feed and survive the winter. After all, most of the vegetation in the steppe also dries up in winter, the ground freezes and the first green sprouts creep out only in spring.

Winter in the steppe is still a pleasure. Constant piercing winds, which sometimes do not even allow to kindle a fire. And from packs of hungry wolves neither hide nor hide. So heading south was the only way out.

But those who were not allowed to travel south had to look for other ways to adapt. In areas covered with forests, with a large number of rivers and lakes, the only option to survive was a sedentary life and the preparation of supplies. Otherwise, death from hunger and cold was guaranteed.

Procurement and storage of supplies was also not an easy task. It was necessary to understand what and how to procure, and where to store it all. It is easy to guess that such problems put our ancestors in front of the need to come up with something new, more progressive at that time.