Re: Modern Neanderthals?
Chuck Stembridge (rogerdodger@triax.com)
03 Nov 96 10:46:37 -700
Roger Dodger has this to say about that-
>mscob@aol.com (MSCob) wrote:
>>Oh come on, what is this nonsense about how practically everybody is
>>horrified at having black ancestors? A few people, perhaps, people whose
>>parents felt that way, may feel that way sometimes. I had a friend whose
>>parents were extremely racist; she was taught as a child that Africans
>>were inferior mentally and morally! She says she still has thoughts like
>>that sometimes. She doesn't believe it, but the thought is there somehow.
>> But that is the exception. Let's talk about evidence and hypotheses and
>>stop this sleazy political ad hominem backstabbing
>Any one who thinks that bigotry, racial or otherwise, is the exception,
>has a very narrow circle of acquaintances. It isn't limited to white
>verus black or black verus white but Us verus Them. Look at Rwanda or
>Bosnia. No matter how much you try to deny it, bigotry is a fundamental
>characteristic of humans, and it is a major factor in shapeing our view
>of the past, includeing who we think of as ancestors.
>Lorenzo L. Love
>lllove@snowcrest.net
Good answer Lorenzo. I'm sure that you are aware that the first Neanderthal
skull was found about 1860, and for years 'Everyone' thought it was a deformed
Cossak, who was in a constant habit of frowning. It wasn't until the 1930s or
40s that this creature was considered to be some kind of relation to us
(Homo neanderthalinsis, later H.s.n.).
Such an aversion to H.s.n. (racial bigotry) may be part of the explaination to
what happened to the Neanderthals. They were possibly bumped off by the early
moderns, because such a creature must be some sort of animal, and not human at
all.
Man needs little excuse to eliminate his mates, and every excuse has been used
throughout history. One of the best, I think, is the old 'My God is better than
your God' excuse, and has caused more suffering and slaughter than any other
excuse. It holds true for the Iraqis vs. the Iranians (Shiite vs. Sunni), Croats
vs Boznians (Muslim vs Christian), The Nazis (Christians vs the Jews), The
Crusades, the IRA vs the Brits (Catholic vs Protestant) and on and on.
Roger Dodger
from the City-State of the Invincible Overlord
Blow up your car. It's really fun.
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