Jim McGinn
Guest
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 Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2003 2:41 am Post subject: Review of Jim Moore>s Anti AAT Website |
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A brief critique of Morgan>s latest, her 1997 book,
The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis
http://aquaticape.topcities.com/aahbook.html
I took a look at this site. It certainly is comprehensive.
It squashed AAT (AAH) and completely discredits Elaine Morgan.
But it>s kind of like, so what. AAT is so inept and always has
been that it seems like overkill.
The biggest shortcoming of this site is the fact that it glosses
over the fact that conventional theory really doesn>t offer us
any kind of viable alternative. The author, Jim Moore, seems to
be less than forthright in this respect. For example, he states
the following: "The AAT is a theory which seeks to replace well
founded and well argued theoretical views which have been made
for many years." What he fails to bring to the reader>s
attention is that these, "well founded and well argued
theoretical views," have not fared any better than AAT when put
under the bright light of scientific scrutiny. Or so we are left
to assume in that he fails to make any specific mention of what
these, "well founded and well argued theoretical views,"
actually are.
He also glosses over the fact that the consensus in PA has
begrudgingly made a dramatic shift to now accept that
the original hominids (A>piths, Sahalenthropus, Orrorin)
continued to reside in treed habitat for upwards of millions of
years. And he is very careful to not draw attention to the fact
that one result of this shift has been that the traditional models
(might these be the above mentioned, "well founded and well
argued theoretical views?") have been discarded. Like a lot of
the pretenders on this NG (Rick Wagler take note) he suggests
that since it is possible to define a savanna as being, in part,
treed that, therefore, the traditional models persist.
Ironically, the net effect leaves one with the distinct impression
that he is employing the same obfuscation and political tactics
that he, rightly, accuses Elaine Morgan of employing.
IMO, if conventional theorists want to be taken seriously and
not be dismissed the same way they have dismissed AAT they
have to stop employing the evasive tactics of pretending not
to notice that they currently have no, "well founded and well
argued theoretical views," and haven>t had any for quite some
time now.
Jim |
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Marc Verhaegen
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2003 2:49 am Post subject: Re: Review of Jim Moore>s Anti AAT Website |
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"Jim McGinn" <jimmcginn@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:ac6a5059.0308241341.233d6173@posting.google.com...
[quote]A brief critique of Morgan>s latest, her 1997 book, The Aquatic Ape
Hypothesis http://aquaticape.topcities.com/aahbook.html[/quote]
Moore>s so-called "critique"(??) of AAT is of course completely irrelevant.
Alister Hardy asked "Was Man more aquatic in the past?" (NS 1960). He
described how a sea-side life - wading, swimming, collecting coconuts,
shellfish, turtles & turtle eggs, bird eggs, crabs, seaweeds etc. - explains
many human traits (absent in our nearest relatives the chimps) a lot better
than dry savanna scenarios do: very large brain (but reduced olfactory
bulb), greater breathing control, well-developed vocality, extreme handiness
& tool use, reduction of climbing skills, reduction of fur, more
subcutaneous fat, very long legs, more linear body build, high needs of
iodine, sodium & poly-unsaturated fatty acids etc. Hardy was only wrong in
thinking his seaside phase happened c.10 Ma. More likely it happened during
the Ice Ages: early Pleistocene Homo fossils or tools have been found in
Israel, Algeria, Kenya, Georgia, Java. When sea levels dropped, H.ergaster
followed the Mediterranean (pre-antecessor-neandertals) & Indian Ocean
coasts (erectus). Pleistocene coasts during the glacial periods were some
120 m below the present sea level, so many fossil & archeological finds show
the inland Homo populations that entered the continents along the rivers &
wetlands. In spite of this, Homo remains (but not australopithecine) have
frequently been found amid shells, corals, barnacles etc., throughout the
Pleistocene, in coasts all over the Old World (eg, Mojokerto, Terra Amata,
Table Bay, Eritrea), even on islands that could only be reached by sea
(Flores 0.8 Ma). So far, no good arguments against these ideas have been
forwarded.
Marc Verhaegen http://www.onelist.com/community/AAT
http://allserv.rug.ac.be/~mvaneech/Verhaegen.html |
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