The Wayfinders Chapter Notes

The Wayfinders Chapter One – Season of the Brown Hyena (1-34)  Mentions lectures, book comprised of his lectures?  Davis is a social anthropologist (nurture opposed to nature) pg. 10  Emphasizes the importance of language Quoting Ken Hale: “when you lose a language, you lose a culture, intellectual wealth, a work of art.” (5)  “A number of books over recent years have paid homage to the global sweep of technology and modernity, suggesting that the world is flat, that one does not have to emigrate to innovate, that we are fusing into a single reality, dominated by a specific model of economics, that the future is to be found everywhere and all at once.” – other writers consider the world to have become a horrible place, and Davis opposes that – he is optimistic, sees the good “When I read these books…” (Page 6)  Spencer Wells (Davis’ colleague) is studying the “primordial journey of humanity” – “By studying not the similarities but the differences in the DNA between individuals, by tracking the appearance of markers, through time, and by looking at thousands of markers, the lineages of descent can be determined. Two entwined evolutionary trees are being constructed, one through fathers and sons, the other through mothers and daughters, and the entire journey of humanity both in time and space brought into remarkably precise focus” (page 8)  Review page 9 where marked  Africans began the colonization of the world … goes onto discuss world colonization and genetics (pg. 9-10) -> important because it’s the “foundation for all the themes/issues discussed in the lectures” “Nothing that has emerged from the science in my lifetime, save perhaps the vision of the Earth from space brought home by Apollo, has done more to liberate the human spirit from the parochial tyrannies that have haunted us since the birth of memory” (page 10)  Review: “Anthropologists became servants of the crown…” (Page 11)  “Victorian rectitude that advanced societies had an obligation to assist the backward, to civilize the savage, a moral duty that again played well into the needs of the empire” (page 11) …” – history repeats itself? Course material?  Discusses an onset of racism that has occurred throughout centuries – page 10  1920’s the holocaust – justified by selective breeding – “eliminate from the stock elements deemed to be undesirable” (page 15)  “Given the sordid history, the ludicrous ambitions of phrenology, the murderous consequences of eugenics, the perennial confidence and hubris of the scientific community even when promoting the most dubious of claims, it is no wonder that many people, notably those from non-Western traditions, remain deeply skeptical of any sweeping theory of human origins and migration” (15) & “Indigenous peoples, in particular, are deeply offended by the suggestion that their homelands, enshrined in narrative and myth, may have not been inhabited by their ancestors since the dawn of time. There have been accusations that the recent scientific revelations about our genetic heritage may prompt open conflict and the forced removal of tribal peoples from lands that they have in fact occupied for all living memory.” (15) … Theorists believe that this will harm humanity, although author opposes this “quite certain these fears are unfounded.” “Knowledge poses no threat to culture” “science is the only one way of knowing, and its purpose is not to generate absolute truths, but rather to inspire better and better ways of thinking about phenomena” (16)  “The real threat to humanity comes from totalizing ideologies and the denial of human rights, rather than curiosity about nature and nurture” – Quoting Pinker (16)  “The political and technological dominance of Europeans, Coon [president of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, a full professor at the U. of Pennsylvania, and curator of ethnology at the university’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology] suggested, was a natural consequence of their evolved genetic superiority. He even asserted that “racial intermixture can upset the genetic as well as the social equilibrium of a group” (17)  Calls out authors to differentiate between what is right/wrong (page 17) – compares Carleton Coon to Linnaeus  No sharp genetic differences among populations (17)  “We are all literally brothers and sisters, we are all cut from the same genetic cloth” (18)

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Combines science with anthropology and philosophy Promotes equality amongst people Found myself waiting for the author to make a point, questioned “so what” Reader allows you to experience a journey throughout history and across the world: “eating wild melon under the beating sun in Botswana, Namibia” (page 20) The San Story: 19-26 The San make due with what they have – an innovative, technological group (24) Author Questions: “how can we reach back in time to touch the essence of these earth wanderers, these ancestral beings who found their way to every habitable place on the planet? What did they know? How did they think? What inspired them, beyond the raw challenges of staying alive?” (Pg. 26-27) Clayton Eshleman – studying cave art for 30+ years (page 29) The way he incorporates other view points and sides to his story allow it to reach out to a larger audience – and relate with the author on a deeper level I developed a greater love for the earth, other cultures, and history “Our entire existential experience as a species over the past 50,000 years may be distilled into two words: how and why. These are the departure points for all inquiry, the slivers of insight around which cultures have crystallized.” (31) “All people face the same adaptive imperatives; follow the 10 commandments; outlaw murder/thievery; create traditions; honor its dead” (31) Review page 31-34 The point: “there is a fire burning over the earth, taking with it plants and animals, ancient skills, and visionary wisdom. At risk is a vast archive of knowledge and expertise, a catalogue of the imagination, an oral and written language composed of the memories of countless elders and healers, warriors, farmers, fishermen, midwives, poets, and saints – in the short, the artistic, intellectual, and spiritual expression of the full complexity and diversity of the human experience. Quelling this flame, this spreading inferno, and rediscovering a new appreciation for the diversity of the human spirit as expressed by culture, is among the central challenges of our times.” (34) Is this book a warning or mourning the negative effects we as humankind have caused? From the beginning of time, people have attempted to create a superiority system within their civilizations. Discriminatory factors have been used as justification to create a divide between the dominant and subdominant group. This began in the “Victorian rectitude that advanced societies had an obligation to assist the backward, to civilize the savage” (11) to Linnaeus’ questionable classification that distinguished give subspecies (13), to Thomas Whiffen who categorized the Bora and Huitoto Indians as “innately cruel” (13) and enforced the idea that armed protection was needed when facing these people. This did not stop as the outsiders were subjected to humiliation, desecration, and the killings of countless innocent people in genocides, holocausts, wars, etc.” Swept away with his choice of wording, although in some parts found myself reading paragraphs numerous times to make sense of it – passionate about what he is writing Although as the author elegantly described the simple lives of The San, questioning the relevance of this pulsed through my mind. Most of the book is comprised of factual banter that leads me to question what the main point of this book is (in the beginning of the novel) The story of our existence is scattered amongst these pages, unfolding as the book continues.

Chapter Two – The Wayfinders (35-78)