June 14, 2003
There’s stuff going on at a variety of other blogs that I’d just love to get into with more adamancy, but I’m leaving on Monday for a week’s vacation, and I’ve got lots to do before then.
Because I think it’s such interesting stuff, however, I’m going to point to them here and hope that some discussions take off while I’m away.
First, there’s this Dutch guy, Niek Hockx, whose link seems to be showing up on all kinds of blogs. I wish I had found this quote from him when I was being interviewed by the Chicago Tribune, because it’s pretty much what I was trying to say.
Let's face it: most blogging is just Cyberbabble. Yes, also much of my own. Just a bunch of Netizens thinking out loud and talking to themselves most of the time. And that in itself ain't a bad thing, but why do these selfproclaimed weblog gods have to make such a big deal out of it? Thinking out loud is not THAT new and revolutionary!
Niek shows up over at Jeneane’s, where, on another issue, I found this quote from her.
Against my better judgment, I go back to this, and point you to this new article, which declares Ethiopians are our shared ancestors. The writing is all over the place, and evolutionary scientists can't even agree on what it means, but I liked two quotes.
This one: "We can conclusively say that Neanderthals had nothing to do with modern humans." - Dr. Berhane Asfaw, a co-leader of the discovery team from the Rift Valley Research in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.
And this one: "The team concluded, 'In this sense, we are all African.'".
I wonder what she’s going to think of the Discovery Channel program, Walking with Cavemen that premieres on Sunday, June 15, at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The Discovery Channel website has this to say about the program:
Much of what scientists know about human evolution has come from only a literal handful of major fossil finds. Meet the pre-parents.
Enter a Neanderthal Cave. Some human relatives really did live in caves. Take an interactive step back 50,000 years into the lair of a Neanderthal.
Personally, I believe in evolution, and I believe that the cradle of humanity evolved somewhere along the African banks of the Red Sea. I don’t know why those two beliefs have to be mutually exclusive.
Finally, on Blog Sisters, my apprentice Crone Andrea James points to a book that I’ve just got to read: Leaving Mother Lake: A Girlhood at the Edge of the World.
It was interesting to see Andrea’s post followed by one that wonders where are all the women in Boston’s world of talk radio and another about a court case where the judge had an obvious bias against the value of “women’s work.”
For me, all of these blog bits are related to the fact that the world-at-large, which is largely dominated by traditional males and the values that they impose on the rest of us, does not really value the kinds of women’s voices, women’s work, and women’s perspectives that are different from (and are – or certainly should be -- equal to) theirs.
[Addendum: for a less brutal and more female perspective on evolution, check out Elaine Morgan's The Descent of Woman and The Scars of Evolution.]
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Old Comments (1)
Kate S. on 15 Jun 2003
Elaine, this is my first look at Niek Hockx (I just read his entire post) and I must say: although there are bits and pieces I reluctantly agree with, most of what he wrote made my hackles rise--why?--is it possible that this man hasn't yet run across anything of interest, humor, intelligence or originality that might pique HIS interest?
I am constantly amazed every single day by new nuggets I mine from the blogisphere. I wish I had 6 more pairs of eyeballs with which to read all the lists I've already got going "to do" someday, since I started in blogging in March! There are so many talented writers out there, with varied styles, centers of interest, and wide-ranging voices (perspectives in song,) I can't imagine anyone being so bored that they lump it all into a giant bouillabaisse called "cyberbabble."
Hockx, Dude! Just skip those boring blogs and get onto the fascinating, inspiring, tickling, thought-provoking writers! Stop wasting your time and start challenging yourself so that you too, can drop your jaw onto your desk on a daily basis like the rest of us who feel lucky enough to be here!