Not only did he forget a line in the script, but he wrote a totally idiotic script that speaks as though the only point of growing a cob of corn is to eat the kernels. There are 101 uses for any corn plant, and 1,001 of them were known to the Native Americans! What a dope.
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Sure they’re not thistles? Was a pretty popular design element in the old world. Just wondering.
Yeah. They are pineapples. Very common in the older and posher houses on the East Coast.
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There is a huge similarity. Both result in genetic modification of the subject to advance our own interests. While the mechanism may be different, the results are similar.
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Ok, so I admit I stopped watching this after he said that the Europeans learned to cultivate corn… so I didn’t get to the bit where he made the claims about Pineapples not existing in colonial times (if in fact that’s what he said).
My cursory research suggests that (like corn) Pineapple cultivation went way back to pre-columbian times.
So is he just systemically erasing the contributions of non-European cultures to plant cultivation?
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We’re crossing semantic wires a bit, but these aren’t mutually exclusive ideas. Adaptation is both spontaneous via mutations that promote survival as well as a reaction to environmental conditions, including predators. Adaptation is an intrinsic component of “artificial“ selection and there isn’t a fundamental difference between it and selective breeding. A gazelle learns to run faster in response to the cheetah learning to run faster.
We use the term “selective” to denote direction via cognizance that we recognize as distinctly human, but there are mountains of evidence that many creatures coerce their environment to fit their needs and desires. Adaptation to these new conditions and opportunities for propagation is entirely “natural”, but so is all of human endeavor. The conceit that man is above or in any way segregated from the natural world is largely a product of monotheistic religion and, profoundly destructive. This is why I use scare quotes for the term “artificial” as used in this context; there’s nothing artificial about it.
The evolution of canines is a perfect example of this. Current thinking posits that dogs and humans were evolutionary partners. Both parties are recipients of this beneficent relationship, yet we don’t generally consider this relationship or co-evolution “unnatural”. Yet, exactly the same relationship exists between man and corn and koalas and eucalyptus.
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This.
This, I think, is the source of way too much dimwittery in the (otherwise admirable and necessary) environmental movement.
Humanity is part of nature, not separate from it. Environmentalism is important in order to keep the environment healthy for humans by recognizing that we’re an intimately interrelated part of nature; not separate from it.
Ultimately, our health is interdependent with the health of the environment. Fucking up the environment is not bad because it “destroys nature”, but because it fouls our nest — which is part of nature.
And one of the most important parts, to us.
It’s enlightened self-interest.
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Which in turn depends if they were towed beyond the environment.
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That’s why I have Triple A.
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SMDH:
I missed a line in my script when filming this, corn was bred from a grass to a cob by Native Americans but spread across the world after the cultivation by Europeans.
No, that’s not missing a line. That’s completely redacting the original statement. That’s getting something so fundamental to understanding the history of a food that was revered throughout Native America so completely and utterly WRONG.
I don’t mean to say the guy’s a fucking idiot, because the language is a bit boorish and uncivil … but … well, quite frankly, yes.
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it’s clear from this video that the main objective in producing these isn’t educating folks, but making money. They stole their “script” from other sources. They disseminated bullshit false info and erased the very real contributions of indigenous Americans. Why Mark, why? I’ve watched far more informative and far less racist/colonial erasure-full videos on this topic.
I appreciate that you shared something that was cool to you (because it’s cool to me too!) but hey, cishet white man, please do better on the due diligence. Thanks.
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“If it’s possible, then it’s natural.” - Savage Sisters, an otherwise unremarkable movie that didn’t deserve to have such and awesome line in it.
That’s too bad because you missed a truly stunning pronunciation of “Oaxaca.”
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Nah, he’s the Classical Primordial Titan, Africa (Epimetheus? nah;) never mind that he predates animal, human and other Greek intellect plus has to crawl on all fours across the Earth’s circumference every day, the algorithms are styling uh…them, while providing contact with sous-screenwriters and maybe rushing formation of aspirations over the (Canon) millenia. #ANC_on_spec
Cambrian plants weren’t particularly small, were they? It’s all completely natural retcon action by pollinator species remembering 700’ palms sideways, not extinct indians who sailed freshwater oceans in their sodium mangosteen powered boats.
I’d like my postdoc in Decisions now? Found someone on neurosci twitter asking for one. OMG of course that’s a thing.
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blah blah blah the point here is that yet again Native Americans have been erased and ignored. Focus on that, thanks.
Yup, lazy clickbait promulgating misinformation.
And not very good sources either.
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My introduction to the concept came via E. O. Wilson (I think), who was instrumental in helping coalesce the environmental movement. I honestly think it’s fairly natural to consider ourselves separate from nature because we can’t readily see any other earth beings that seem to share our consciousness. The moment humankind thought “I”, god and a sense of separation from our environment were natural extensions of it. The concept of god follows as humankind realizes that the logic and reason they are capable of exercising also seem unique. The brutal reality of this begs for justice. Sure, animals can murder each other, but there must be some purpose in humankind possessing the powers of abstraction and so there must be some mechanism for true justice that is hidden to us.
I honestly believe that our ability to overcome archaic concepts about god is intrinsically tied to our ability to see ourselves as a component of earth’s evolution. We are stewards of the earth either as ambassadors of a higher power or the most complex evolution of earth itself (or both!). Either of these concepts lead to only one logical place; conservation and preservation not just of our “home”, but of the very being we are a co-evolution of.
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ALL viruses are
Virus vaccinate thyself…
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