#1 2009-11-08 18:11:21
A seven year old, long web-inaccessible story but well worth a read.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200203/mann
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#2 2009-11-08 18:49:21
One of my favourite books!
D
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#3 2009-11-08 19:13:12
You have made mah brain hurt.
Nobody I know thinks this way. The only comparable story I have ever heard is one about Australian aboriginies setting brush fires to flush out game.
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#4 2009-11-08 19:26:45
Of course they don't think this way. Who wants to think that their ancestors incursions into new lands caused the death of 92-95% of the people living there? Dig deep enough in most indigenous peoples tales from the "new world" and this die off certainly crops up.
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#5 2009-11-08 20:35:09
Fascinating reading but, perhaps I'm a little unclear. Does the article imply I am not entitled to everything around me? I mean, why is this even in dispute?
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#6 2009-11-08 22:08:43
Dmtdust wrote:
Of course they don't think this way. Who wants to think that their ancestors incursions into new lands caused the death of 92-95% of the people living there? Dig deep enough in most indigenous peoples tales from the "new world" and this die off certainly crops up.
It isn't even the plague numbers that freak me out--it's the notion that the Amazon rain forest, the American prairie and possibly other large chunks of geography were engineered by human beings.
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#7 2009-11-08 22:55:51
Dmtdust wrote:
One of my favourite books!
D
I've been recommending it for years. Can't believe I found it at Costco, of all places!
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#8 2009-11-08 23:11:42
George Orr wrote:
Dmtdust wrote:
Of course they don't think this way. Who wants to think that their ancestors incursions into new lands caused the death of 92-95% of the people living there? Dig deep enough in most indigenous peoples tales from the "new world" and this die off certainly crops up.
It isn't even the plague numbers that freak me out--it's the notion that the Amazon rain forest, the American prairie and possibly other large chunks of geography were engineered by human beings.
Manual labor was much less expensive back then, so those sorts of things were really quite common.
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#9 2009-11-08 23:56:50
Also Guns, Germs, and Steel.
Last edited by sigmoid freud (2009-11-08 23:57:12)
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#10 2009-11-09 00:39:02
sigmoid freud wrote:
Also Guns, Germs, and Steel.
Many in the archaeological community feels this one is off kilter. Archaeology Magazine held a conference a couple years back with *lots* of dissenting opinions from the profession.
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#11 2009-11-09 11:21:56
Dmtdust wrote:
sigmoid freud wrote:
Also Guns, Germs, and Steel.
Many in the archaeological community feels this one is off kilter. Archaeology Magazine held a conference a couple years back with *lots* of dissenting opinions from the profession.
Well of course, who wants to embrace the concept that their entire life's work has been based on an incorrect assumption... so they approach the arguement intent on disproving rather than with an open mind.
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#12 2009-11-09 17:53:54
Emmeran wrote:
Dmtdust wrote:
sigmoid freud wrote:
Also Guns, Germs, and Steel.
Many in the archaeological community feels this one is off kilter. Archaeology Magazine held a conference a couple years back with *lots* of dissenting opinions from the profession.
Well of course, who wants to embrace the concept that their entire life's work has been based on an incorrect assumption... so they approach the arguement intent on disproving rather than with an open mind.
Reminds me of all those poor Mormon scholars, valiantly struggling to prove the roots of their religion can be traced back to every insignificant archaeological discovery in Mexico and Central America. That's gotta be a frustrating line of work.
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