<<OK. Let's have it your way. Any ole ape can make a flute. And all beings
who do not share with us our superior creativity and our superior technology
are not human. >>
Well, if were gonna have it my way, let's not change the subject. The post was
not about flutes (that's why I put that part in a parenthesis, like this!) but
about the way you use evidence.
Every time you point to a datum as evidence of full humanity, you are
contradicting the experts you cite. They all believe in incipient humanity.
They see this stuff as ascending in complexity. And the record, of course,
backs them up on this. Why are Acheulian tools less complex than Mousterian
flake tools, Glenn? Is that what your theory predicts?
This is, as I see it, the black hole in the Mortonian corpus. The criticisms
of sloppy science, especially vis-a-vis geology, are all good. But the fully
human homo erectus, etc., is just not supportable.
Now, let's talk about the "stone age" people you're so fond of. Your argument
appears to be something like this: "Look! They are living simple lives! With
simple language! So I guess you don't think they're human, right? You wanna
put them in zoos?"
That old Mortonian understatement again. The flaw in your argument, of course,
is the confusion of capacity with practice. Any one of these fully human
beings has the capacity to move beyond their tribal restrictions. They've done
it. The most famous example, of course, was Ishi. Surely you've read about
him.
Could homo erectus be equally engaged? Hardly. Didn't have the brain capacity,
the physical apparatus, etc. But suppose you want to argue the point (would I
be surprised?)...you CAN'T! Your theory demands that they already exercised
that capacity, IN PRACTICE. So for you to use the "stone age" people example
is actually an argument against yourself.
So, you're welcome to it. Keep it up.
But in the meantime, as I pointed out about a week ago, you have NO EVIDENCE
of your full humanity theory. It is based upon ABSENT or HIDDEN evidence. Any
evidence you do use all falls into the incipient category.
To paraphrase the great Sam Goldwyn, "You've gone where the hand of man has
never set foot."
Jim