How is it possible that traditional paleo-anthropologists are so completely & inexcusably wrong??

Darwin already reasoned: chimps & gorillas live in Africa -> humans also came from Africa. Hence the Out-of-Africa slogans.
But pongids live in SE.Asia, hylobatids too, and the earliest Homo fossils came from Java...

PAs say all Afr.hominid fossils are "hominin" (a superfluous & confusing term, in fact!). Miraculously they can't find fossil relatives of Pan or Gorilla... We have chimps, bonobos, low+highland gorillas only in Africa, but 0 fossils!?
But we don't descend from chimps! Can't PAs understand that Pan ancestors could have had Homo-like traits??

Etc.

Some of them will never learn.
We saw comparable problems e.g. with the delayed acceptance of plate tectonics.

PAs say: humans are the only BP primates, IOW, every fossil with indications of BPity is a human ancestor or close relative...
But hylobatids are still vertical (brachiating), and lowland gorillas, bonobos & orangs wade BPly.

littor...@gmail.com wrote:

> How is it possible that traditional paleo-anthropologists are so completely
> & inexcusably wrong??

#1. Academia.

They way you succeed in academia, get good grades, is by regurgitating
what you are told and what you read in that $500 pamphlet they call a
"Text book."

#2. Authoritarianism.

The lesson of Piltdown Man was that things get stupid when it's position,
status that everyone pays attention to, and not evidence. SCIENCE WAS
CREATED TO REMOVE THE HUMAN ELEMENT! That is literally the purpose
of science. You don't take it on authority. You don't accept "Everyone knows"
or even "It's probably." You challenge, you test. But, paleo anthropology is
not and never has been a real science.

Look at Mr. Naledi himself, Lee Berger! Time Magazine called him one of
the 100 most influential people on earth! He's got a VERY long reach, his
word is law. And he's also adept in sculpting the narrative... his narrative.

#3. The Lucky Sperm Club.

To succeed in paleo anthropology you need to either excel in politics, be
rich, be very well connected, be extremely lucky or all of the above.

There's no jobs in paleo anthropology, outside of academia, and those
almost never open. Professors haunt their lecture halls for GENERATIONS!
The turnover is quite small. Field work in some sites does last a very long
time, but the lifestyles has limited appeal.

So, who can even be a paleo anthropologist?

No, not who can earn a degree in paleo anthropology but who can be one?
Who can make a living at it? Mainly the Lucky Sperm Club. People with
family connections so they can "Get in," get the position. People who can
afford to invest the time and effort into something that Bank of America
or Fidelity isn't looking to hire tomorrow: No ready career path.

Oh, if you're excellent at navigating politics, you have a much better than
average chance of succeeding at paleo anthropology. You can use your
skills to compensate for your lake of pedigree, maybe, not to mention
the research grant thing.

Or you can just be lucky! Maybe you just happen to go to the right school,
or might that one right person or maybe you are at the right place at the
right time, and get the position... you're able to eat, pay for a home, support
a family doing paleo anthropology work...

Know what I didn't say? Know what's not important? Your "Brilliance" at
paleo anthropology. Your skills, your insights, your competence AS A PALEO
ANTHROPOLOGIST literally means nothing. It gets you nowhere. But, being
the best AMONGST THE WELL CONNECTED helps. Being the best is
worthless, being the best amongst those whom can ask daddy to call about
a position, on the other hand, does make a difference. So what's critical
here? What matters? Being well connected.

Or being rich so you can stick it out while others have to go get a "Real job."

Or people politically astute so you can play academia and/or get the grants.

Or just being a lucky son of a bitch.

Skills? Nah. Those are worthless. If you're not one of the above then you
just plain don't have permission to be a paleo anthropologist.

> Darwin already reasoned: chimps & gorillas live in Africa -> humans also
> came from Africa. Hence the Out-of-Africa slogans.

Well Darwin was a freaking idiot. Dishonest. Stupid. He was the furthest
thing from a scientist. His one and only "Theory" was Pangenesis, and it
was not only utter rubbish but exactly what people who REJECTED
evolution took up instead.

For real. The communist world, for example, rejected evolution. But they
had no problem with Darwin's "Theory!"

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littor...@gmail.com wrote:

> How is it possible that traditional paleo-anthropologists are so completely
> & inexcusably wrong??

You have to be a member of the cult in order to have permission to speak.

What is one of the most common attacks on you?

"You're not a paleo anthropologist!"

What are they NOT saying:

"Aquatic Ape doesn't explain the dispersal of Homo better than savanna
idiocy because..."

It's not about opinions. It's not about facts, observations. It's about who
is allowed to speak.

It's also probably why all the real innovation, the best ideas come from
outsiders. Herd animals instinctively stay close for safety. Straying
from the herd means death.

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