If I'm grasping this thread correctly, it seems there are many separate
but related questions being asked/debated here. Conceptualize them
(correctly or incorrectly) as concentric circles, with the largest listed
first:
Q1: What are the necessary and sufficient conditions for a group
to be considered human?
Q2: Is one of those conditions "civilization?"
Q3: What are the necessary and sufficient conditions for a group to
be considered as constitutive of "civilization?"
Q4: Is one of the conditions of civilization "innovation?"
Q5: What are the necessary and sufficient conditions for an artifact to
be considered "shaman art?"
Q6: Given that agreement on the answer to Q5 is reached, If the answer
to Q2 and Q4 is "yes," is "shaman art" a
necessary and sufficient condition for a group to be considered "human?"
Q7: If the answer to Q2 or Q4 is "no," is the value of "shaman art" merely
inconclusive as a necessary and sufficient condition of a group's being
considered "human?"
I don't have sufficient expertise to reach a conclusion on these matters,
but it seemed that the key questions needed to be laid out. The playful
banter is entertaining, but the length of the arguments can be dizzying
when one tries to reach the core issues in this thread.
I welcome your responses to Q1-Q7.
Dennis Durst