Re: News (not good) for Glenn

Brian D. Harper (harper.10@osu.edu)
Fri, 24 Jan 1997 00:02:58 -0500

At 11:22 AM 1/23/97 EST, Jim Bell wrote:

[...]

>
>This is not good news for Glenn's theory. As the story notes:
>
><<Surprisingly, these earliest toolmakers were slow to improve on their
>invention, making the same tools virtually unchanged for almost a million
>years.>>
>
>It's not surprising to me. Modern humanity is a record of inexorable, rapid,
>ever upward artistic and technological advancement.

I'm really having a hard time understanding your criteria for humanness.
You mention "modern humanity" above. Except for the last few hundred
years I don't think you have characterized human history very well at
all. What about non modern humans, were they human? And what about
civilizations that do not display these characteristics, are they human?

>But the stone tool
>industry is striking evidence of lackluster stagnation.

Some (not me) might say the Amish are also a striking example of
lackluster stagnation.

Brian Harper
Associate Professor
Applied Mechanics
Ohio State University