Re: JOHANSEN ON PBS
Phil Nicholls (pnich@globalone.net)
Mon, 24 Jul 1995 00:44:47 GMT
ann.nunn@sstar.com wrote:
>NE>From: pnich@globalone.net (Phil Nicholls)
>NE>Lot's of shots of Johanson driving in San Francisco and Afar, though.
>What was that he was driving anyway? Maybe the auto manufacturers are
>picking up some of the tab! <g> Those shots of him driving made me
>nervous because he was paying attention to talking into the camera and
>not to his driving (a very bad example for kids!), but I guess we did
>get the symbolism that Johansen is in the driver's seat right now. ;)
>NE>The only point where views got any indication that there was a debate
>NE>in paleoanthropology was the discussion of the Origin of Modern Homo
>NE>sapiens. Interestingly in this debate, Milford Wolpoff was not
>NE>mentioned or shown.
>Perhaps he refused?
You don't know Milford Wolpoff. Basically anyone who holds an opinion
about human evolution that clashes with Johanson's was not on that
program at all.
>NE>To me, Johanson represents much of what I think is wrong with
>NE>paleoanthropology. There is too much adovocacy. Too much politics
>NE>in terms of who has access to fossils for study. To much "Look at me,
>NE>I'm Mr. Bigshot Anthropologist" in the NOVA series, which is I believe
>NE>one of the reasons Johanson's Institute for Human Origins lost a lot
>NE>of funding.
>Getting funding is the name of the game, isn't it? And Johansen cuts a
>handsome figure on TV, so I suspect more funding will be forthcoming.
No, funding is not the name of the game. Good science is the name of
the game and while funding is need to do good science funding doesn't
guarantee good science. There is a lot of good research being done by
people who are just not self promoters.
>Ann
>---
> OLX 2.1 TD I hate four letter words: cook, dust, iron, wash, diet.
Phil Nicholls (pnich@globalone.net)
"To ask a question you must first know most of the answer."
- Robert Sheckley
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