[identity profile] velvetpage.livejournal.com 2006-12-04 06:28 pm (UTC)(link)
I found the link through the blog of the lady who wrote the Prairie Muffin Manifesto, who pointed to another article which claimed that this device proved that evolution was wrong, because ancient man shouldn't have been that smart, right? I commented on her blog and told her that the premise of the article was all wrong, because in geological terms, "modern" man was at least 50 000 years old, and the increases in intelligence since then have been minimal. I'm wondering if she'll reply. :)

[identity profile] dagoski.livejournal.com 2006-12-04 06:35 pm (UTC)(link)
So, like, she's saying that the ancients could put together, and memorize poems like Iliad and write allegorical works like the ones in Old Testament, but couldn't put together bronze devices? Man, what fruitcake. And, wasn't the Zohar, the book of the Kaballah written in this time as well? If I got the book right, that is. From what I understand, there's pretty subtle math in that one. Seems to me that the ancients tended to disseminate knowledge through initiation in which you had to prove to some master that you were smart enough to figure it out anyway. I digress. My key point is that ancient man was damned smart, but they had to start from scratch every time.

[identity profile] velvetpage.livejournal.com 2006-12-04 06:37 pm (UTC)(link)
My comment is awaiting moderation. Wanna lay a bet that it will be rejected as unworthy of her site?