Often his ways appear incredibly crude to us moderns

[keannu]

1. Why does primitive man's ways appear "crude" compared to modern man?
2. What does this "like" mean"? Similar to what?

mo3-33
ex)Life is full of hazards. Disease, enemies and starvation are always menacing primitive man. Experience teaches him that medicinal herbs, valor, the most strenuous labor, often come to naught, yet normally he wants to survive and enjoy the good things of existence. Faced with this problem, he takes to any method that seems adapted to his ends. Often his ways appear incredibly crude to us moderns until we remember how our next-door neighbor acts in like emergencies. When medical science pronounces him incurable, he will not resign himself to fate but runs to the nearest quack who holds out hope of recovery. His urge for self-preservation will not down, nor will that of the illiterate peoples of the world, and in that overpowering will to live is anchored the belief in supernaturalism, which is absolutely universal among known peoples, past and present.

 

[keannu]

I may be asking a stupid question, but I can't understand "until" here. This says that his ways- primitive man's ways - appear crude(not skilled) until we find our next-door neighbor's similar behavior(bloodletting as you quoted).
Is it saying the two behaviors are similar to each other or the latter is better than the former?

Often his ways appear incredibly crude to us moderns until we remember how our next-door neighbor acts in like emergencies.