thanks man, i check it out. this canetti book is wild. he talks about the psychology of eating, what it means to be an eater. its crazy shit and you can see it all around you today > he actual incorporation of the prey begins in the mouth. from hand to mouth is the route followed by everything which can be eaten. among the many creatures which have no arms for grasping, the process is initiated by the mouth itself, by the teeth or by a beak protruding from it. the most striking natural instrument of power in man and in many animals is the teeth. the way they are arranged in rows and their shining smoothness are quite different from anything else belonging to the body. one feels tempted to call them the very first manifestation of order and one so striking that it almost shouts for recognition. it is an order which operates as a threat to the world outside, not always visible, but visible whenever the mouth opens, which is often. the substance of the teeth differs from that of all the other visible parts of the body and would be impressive even if people only had two teeth. they are smooth, hard and unyielding and can be clenched without any change of shape ; they make the same effect as well polished and firmly set stones. from a very early stage man used all kinds of stones as weapons and tools, but it was a long time before he learnt to polish them to the smoothness of teeth. it is probable that his teeth served him as a model for the improvement of his tools. the teeth of all kinds of large animals had always been useful to him; he might have captured them at the risk of his life and some of the power of the animal which had threatened him still seemed to him to be contained in them. he wore them as trophies and talismans to pass on to others the terror they had once aroused in him. he proudly displayed on his body the scars they had caused ; these ranked as badges of honour and were so much desired that they were often artificially produced.
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