Sapiens Flashcards
physics
the science of matter (that which has mass and occupies space) and energy and their interactions.
“ABOUT 13.5 BILLION YEARS AGO, MATTER, energy, time and space came into being in what is known as the Big Bang. The story of these fundamental features of our universe is called physics.”
chemistry
The science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions. “About 300,000 years after their appearance, matter and energy started to coalesce into complex structures, called atoms, which then combined into molecules. The story of atoms, molecules and their interactions is called chemistry.”
biology
About 3.8 billion years ago, on a planet called Earth, certain molecules combined to form particularly large and intricate structures called organisms. The story of organisms is called biology. About 70,000 years ago, organisms belonging to the species Homo sapiens started to form even more elaborate structures called cultures. The subsequent development of these human cultures is called history. MD - fossilized microorganisms found in hydrothermal vent precipitates 3.77 million years ago.
history
About 3.8 billion years ago, on a planet called Earth, certain molecules combined to form particularly large and intricate structures called organisms. The story of organisms is called biology. About 70,000 years ago, organisms belonging to the species Homo sapiens started to form even more elaborate structures called cultures. The subsequent development of these human cultures is called history. MD 13.5 billion years ago - big bang - physics 300,000 years later - molecules and energy - chemistry coalesced 3.8 billion - biology 70,000 years ago - homo sapiens began to form cultures - history.
Time of cognitive revolution, agricultural revolution, and scientific Revolution
cognititive revolution - 70,000 years ago agricultural revolution - 12,000 years ago scientific revolution - 500 years ago Three important revolutions shaped the course of history: the Cognitive Revolution kick-started history about 70,000 years ago. The Agricultural Revolution sped it up about 12,000 years ago. The Scientific Revolution, which got under way only 500 years ago, may well end history and start something completely different. This book tells the story of how these three revolutions have affected humans and their fellow organisms. MD - cognitive revolution - massive human brain allowed sapiens to be the dominant species in the genus - signal to other sapiens about the world and gossip about social relationships. and + the ability to create fiction. watch out for that lion watch out for conrade you can’t lend him money, and joseph conrade - fiction. - agricultural revolution - grain cultivation (barley) and domestic pigs - scientific revolution Cognitive revolution - sound for 7 agricultural revolution - 12,000 years ago - tin hoe 500 years ago - scientific revolution (around 1519?) Law - like the natural laws Isaac Newton
archaic
- of a much earlier time 2. having the character or characteristics of a much earlier time These archaic humans loved, played, formed close friendships and competed for status and power, but so did chimpanzees, baboons and elephants. There was nothing special about humans. Nobody, least of all humans themselves, had any inkling that their descendants would one day walk on the moon, split the atom, fathom the genetic code and write history books. The most important thing to know about prehistoric humans is that they were insignificant animals with no more impact on their environment than gorillas, fireflies or jellyfish. MD - archaeology strives to understand archaic past by uncovering artifacts. indiana jones holding an artifcact - the golden idol - belonging to the Chachapoyas for Peru (Warriors of the Clouds) a culture of the Andes living in the cloudforest of Peru who were conquered by the Incas who shorlty after were conquered by the Spanish conquest in the 16th century.
what does belonging to the same species.mean?
Animals are said to belong to the same species if they tend to mate with each other, giving birth to fertile offspring. Biologists classify organisms into species. Animals are said to belong to the same species if they tend to mate with each other, giving birth to fertile offspring. Horses and donkeys have a recent common ancestor and share many physical traits. But they show little sexual interest in one another. they will mate if induced to do so - but their offspring, called mules, are sterile. Mutations in donkey DNA can therefore not cross over to horses, or vice versa. The two types of animals are consequently considered two distinct species, moving along separate evolutionary paths.” (loc 116) MD - Horse and Donkey mating and creating a mule which is sterile. show mutations from horse and mutations from donkey not able to cross over, a stop sign in between.
genus
“Species that evolved from a common ancestor are bunched together under the heading ‘genus’ (plural genera). Lions, tigers, leopards and jaguars are different species within the genus Panthera. Biologists label organisms with a two0part Latin name, genus followed by species. Lions, for example, are called Panthera leo, the species leo of the genus Panthera. Presumably, everyone reading this book is a Homo sapiens - the species sapiens (wise) of the genus Homo (man).” MD - cats - family (lions, cheetas, house cats) Panthera - outlines of lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars followed by species - panthera leo being the lion
family
genera in their turn are grouped into families, such as cats (lions, cheetas, house cats), the dogs (wolves, foxes, jackals) and the lephants (elephants, mammoths, mastodons). All members of a family trace their lineage back to a founding matriarch or patriarch. All cats, for example, from the smallest house kitten to the most ferocious lion, share a common feline ancestor who lived about 25 million years ago.” (loc 123) MD -
ape (hominoid - member of the superfamily Hominoidea: extant members are the gibbons (lesser apes, family Hylobatidae) and the hominids. A hominid is a member of the family Hominidae, the great apes: orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans.)
any of various large tailless semi-erect primates of Africa and southeastern Asia (such as the chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan, or gibbon) “Just 6 million years ago, a single female ape had two daughters. One became the ancestor of all chimpanzees, the other is our own grandmother.” Location 133 MD - ape apple no tail can draw an apple that is tilted (semi-erect) big to
homo
any of a genus (Homo) of hominids that includes modern humans (H. sapiens) and several extinct related species (such as H. erectus and H. habilis)
any living or extinct member of the family Hominidae characterized by superior intelligence, articulate speech, and erect carriage. “Yet the real meaning of the word human is ‘an animal belonging to the genus Homo’, and there used to be many other species of this genus besides Homo sapiens. Moreover, as we shall see in the last chapter of the book, in the not so distant future we might again have to contend with non-sapiens humans. To clarify this point, I will often use the term ‘Sapiens’ to denote members of the species Homo sapiens, while reserving the term ‘human’ to refer to all members of the genus Homo.” MD - human - belonging to the genus homo “any living or extinct member of the family Hominidae characterized by superior intelligence, articulate speech, and erect carriage. apple that is fully erect with Hume’s face”” ““A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence. Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/david_hume”” superior intelligence - Hume - philosopher - ironic because he restricted human knowledge to the 5 senses articulate speech man bathroom sign - erect carriage “
homo erectus
the oldest known early humans. they were around for 2 million years whereas homo sapiens were only around for 200,000 years “The more eastern regions of Asia were populated by Homo erectus, ‘Upright Man’, who survived there for close to 2 million years, making it the most durable human species ever. This record is unlikely to be broken even by our own species. It is doubtful whether Homo sapiens will still be around a thousand years from now, so 2 million years is really out of our league.” MD - the oldest known early humans name erectus - this is what separated humans from the semi - erect apes.
We’ve only lived for 10 percent of the time homo erectus lived.
homonidae
a taxonomic family (/hɒˈmɪnɪdiː/), whose members are known as great apes[note 1] or hominids, are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: Pongo, the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan; Gorilla, the eastern and western gorilla; Pan, the common chimpanzee and the bonobo; and Homo, which includes modern humans and its extinct relatives (e.g., the Neanderthal), and ancestors, such as Homo erectus.[1] homonidae - family great apes as opposed to lesser apes - called great because of their larger bodies and brains. orangutan gorilla, chimpanzee and bonobo, homo,
insular dwarfism
is the process and condition of large animals having a reduced body size when their population’s range is limited to a small environment, primarily islands. “Humans first reached Flores (island in the eastern part of Indonesia) when the sea level was exceptionally low, and the island was easily accessible from the mainland. When the seas rose again, some people were trapped on the island, which was poor in resources. Big people, who need a lot of food, died first. Smaller fellows survived much better. Over the generations, the people of Flores became dwarves. This unique species, known by scientists as Homo floresiensis, reached a maximum height of only 3.5 feet and weighed no more than fifty-five pounds. They were nevertheless able to produce stone tools, and even managed occasionally to hunt down some of the island’s elephants – though, to be fair, the elephants were a dwarf species as well.” insular - island - limited resources (think of survivor island in china which only had rats and snakes
why sapiens are born prematurely
natural selection favored childbirth at an earlier stage of fetal development to accommodate selection for both large brain size and upright locomotion—defining characteristics of the human lineage. “And, indeed, compared to other animals, humans are born prematurely, when many of their vital systems are still under-developed. A colt can trot shortly after birth; a kitten leaves its mother to forage on its own when it is just a few weeks old. Human babies are helpless, dependent for many years on their elders for sustenance, protection and education.” “Early birth was an adaption to expanding brain and narrowing hips” MD - narrow hips and growing brain, big brain can’t make it out of the canal at 18 - 21 monhts, but 9 month smaller underdeveloped human brain can make it out. human fetus would have to undergo a gestation period of 18 to 21 months instead of the usual nine to be born at a neurological and cognitive development stage comparable to that of a chimpanzee newborn. short gestation period narrow hips and big brain
bone marrow
Bone marrow is the spongy tissue inside your bones. It’s home to blood vessels and stem cells that help produce: red and white blood cells. “One of the most common uses of early stone tools was to crack open bones in order to get to the marrow. Some researchers believe this was our original niche. Just as woodpeckers”
banana republic
In political science, the term banana republic describes a politically unstable country with an economy dependent upon the exportation of a limited-resource product, such as bananas or minerals. In 1901, the American author O. Henry coined the term to describe Honduras and neighboring countries under economic exploitation by U.S. corporations, such as the United Fruit Company.
“As lions became deadlier, so gazelles evolved to run faster, hyenas to cooperate better, and rhinoceroses to be more bad tempered. In contrast, humankind ascended to the top so quickly that the ecosystem was not given time to adjust. Moreover, humans themselves failed to adjust. Most top predators of the planet are majesctic creatures. Millions of years of dominion have filled them with self-confidence. Sapiens by contrast is more like a banana republic dictator. Having so recently been one of the underdogs of the savannah, we are full of fears and anxieties over our position, which makes us doubly cruel and dangerous. Many historical calamities, from deadly wars to ecological catastrophes, have resulted from this over-hasty jump.” MD Politically unstable - a banana is likely going to be peeled (it’s unstable) banana - the one export product
advantages of cooking food
The advent of cooking enabled humans to eat more kinds of food, to devote less time to eating, and to make do with smaller teeth and shorter intestines. But the best thing fire did was cook. Foods that humans cannot digest in their natural forms – such as wheat, rice and potatoes – became staples of our diet thanks to cooking. Fire not only changed food’s chemistry, it changed its biology as well. Cooking killed germs and parasites that infested food. Humans also had a far easier time chewing and digesting old favourites such as fruits, nuts, insects and carrion if they were cooked. Whereas chimpanzees spend five hours a day chewing raw food, a single hour suffices for people eating cooked food. The advent of cooking enabled humans to eat more kinds of food, to devote less time to eating, and to make do with smaller teeth and shorter intestines. Some scholars believe there is a direct link between the advent of cooking, the shortening of the human intestinal track, and the growth of the human brain. Since long intestines and large brains are both massive energy consumers, it’s hard to have both. By shortening the intestines and decreasing their energy consumption, cooking inadvertently opened the way to the jumbo brains of Neanderthals and Sapiens. MD cooking - potatoes - are indegestible - increases the food we can eat through the upper intestine with little change. They arrive in the lower intestine largely intact, where they begin to ferment under the influence of intestinal bacteria. The result of this fermentation is the production of gas, which can cause bloating, cramping and flatulence. Although none of these effects are a threat to health, they are uncomfortable and inconvenient. - reduces the chewing and digestion time carrion - a dead gazelle - chimp teeth and intestines versus human teeth and intestines - it allows the fibrous fruits, stems, and leaves to be digested (i.e., fermented by gut bacteria) for a longer period of time.
supple
a. moving and bending with ease b. readily adaptable or responsive to new situations “The most common answer is that our language is amazingly supple. We can connect a limited number of sounds and signs to produce an infinite number of sentences, each with a distinct meaning.” Webster - ELASTIC, RESILIENT, SPRINGY, FLEXIBLE, SUPPLE mean able to endure strain without being permanently injured. SUPPLE applies to something that can be readily bent, twisted, or folded without any sign of injury. MD - a sup pole (supper pole) that moves and bends with ease the sup pole moving and bending with eas through different restaurant dores. and is readily adaptable and responsive to new situations, it can make supper in any type of restaurant. pic - sup pole in german restaurant with pretzel, in japanese restaurant with sushi.
theory on why language evolved (not about the world around us, about….
language evolved as a way of conveying information about humans. “A second theory agrees that our unique language evolved as a means of sharing information about the world. But the most important information that needed to be conveyed was about humans, not about lions and bison. Our language evolved as a way of gossiping. According to this theory Homo sapiens is primarily a social animal. Social cooperation is our key for survival and reproduction. It is not enough for individual men and women to know the whereabouts of lions and bison. It’s much more important for them to know who in their band hates whom, who is sleeping with whom, who is honest, and who is a cheat. MD - Russel - tribal council in survivor. ability to get along, manipulate, and strategize with people is most important. Old school new school.
maligned
spoken unfavorably about Neanderthals and archaic Homo sapiens probably also had a hard time talking behind each other’s backs, a much maligned ability which is in fact essential for cooperation in large numbers. MD - maligned - the body will speak unfavorably about a
Max size of a group bonded by gossip
150 “Under natural conditions, a typical chimpanzee troop consists of about twenty to fifty individuals…..Sociological research has shown that the maximum ‘natural’ size of a group bonded by gossip is about 150 individuals. Most people can neither intimately know, nor gossip effectively about, more than 150 human beings.”
incarnated
embody or represent (a deity or spirit) in human form: • put (an idea or other abstract concept) into concrete form: a desire to make things which will incarnate their personality. • (of a person) be the living embodiment of (a quality): the man who incarnates the suffering which has affected every single Mozambican. “Any large-scale human cooperation - whether a modern state, a medieval church, an ancient city or an archaic tribe - is rooted in common myths that exist only in people’s collective imagination. Churches are rooted in common religious myths. Two Catholics who have never met can nevertheless go together on crusade or pool funds to build a hospital because they both believe that God was incarnated in human flesh and allowed Himself to be crucified to redeem our sins.” (28) MD - carne asada - GOD incarnates himself as the living embodiment of man grilling a carne asada which is deliciousness (an idea or abstract concept) incarnate. and the man that God is the emobidment of manliness (quality)
Hominoidea: extant members are the gibbons (lesser apes, family Hylobatidae) and the hominids. A hominid is a member of the family Hominidae
MD see mammal apes lesser apes (gibbons). and great apes (hominids) . see card
primates
a mammal of an order that includes the lemurs, bushbabies, tarsiers, marmosets, monkeys, apes, and humans. They are distinguished by having hands, handlike feet, and forward-facing eyes, and, with the exception of humans, are typically agile tree-dwellers. MD -
mammal
Mammals are members of class Mammalia, air-breathing vertebrate animals characterized by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young. MD - class - mammal order - primates family - homonoidea (lesser apes, smaller in size) and hominidae (great apes) genus - homo (for humans) ; pan (for chimps and bonobos)
original human niche (some researchers believe)
would take the left over bones from carrion taken down by higher order consumers and extract the marrow using stone tools. “One of the most common uses of early stone tools was to crack open bones in order to get to the marrow. Some researchers believe this was our original niche. Just as woodpeckers”
prodigious
remarkably or impressively great in extent, size, or degree: the stove consumed a prodigious amount of fuel.
“We can thereby ingest, store and communicate a prodigious amount of information about the surrounding world. A green monkey can yell to its comrades, ‘Careful! A lion!’ But a modern human can tell her friends that this morning, near the bend in the river, she saw a lion tracking a herd of bison. She can then describe the exact location, including the different paths leading to the area. With this information, the members of her band can put their heads together and discuss whether they should approach the river, chase away the lion and hunt the bison.
what makes sapiens unique
contrast, ever since the Cognitive Revolution, Sapiens have been able to change their behaviour quickly, transmitting new behaviours to future generations without any need of genetic or environmental change.
“Male chimps cannot gather in a constitutional assembly to abolish the office of alpha male and declare that from here on out all chimps are to be treated as equals. Such dramatic changes in behaviour would occur only if something changed in the chimpanzee’s DNA.” (35) “As long as Homo erectus did not undergo further genetic alterations, its stone tools remained roughly the same - for close to 2 million years! In contrast, ever since the Cognitive Revolution, Sapiens have been able to change their behaviour quickly, transmitting new behaviours to future generations without any need of genetic or environmental change. Sapiens could transform their social structures, the nature of their interpersonal relations, their economic activities and a host of other behaviours within a decade or two. (37)
Weimar Republic + Nazi Third Reich + Communist East Germany
The Weimar Republic was Germany’s first experiment in democracy. It was founded after the aftermath of the German defeat in World War I. The Republic faced many challenges during its short life. It was undermined by right and left wing extremists and the military. Many have seen the fall of the Weimar Republic as inevitable. However, it could have succeeded but for the economic calamity of the ‘Great Depression’. Third Reich, official Nazi designation for the regime in Germany from January 1933 to May 1945, as the presumed successor of the medieval and early modern Holy Roman Empire of 800 to 1806 (the First Reich) and the German Empire of 1871 to 1918 (the Second Reich). 1949 to 1990, when the eastern portion of Germany was part of the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. It “Weimar Republic, the Nazi Third Reich and Communist East Germany; and she died a citizen of a democratic and reunified Germany. She had managed to be a part of five very different sociopolitical systems, though her DNA remained exactly the same.” (37)
stone age
The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools and weapons. The period lasted roughly 3.4 million years and ended between 8700 BCE and 2000 BCE with the advent of metalworking. “access to only one type of sweet food ‘ripe fruit.’ If a Stone Age woman came across a tree groaning with figs, the most sensible thing to do was to eat as many of them as she could on the spot, before the local baboon band picked the tree bare. The instinct to gorge on high-calorie food was hard-wired into our genes. Today we may be living in high-rise apartments with over-stuffed refrigerators, but our DNA still thinks we are in the savannah. That’s what makes some of us spoon down an entire tub of Ben & Jerry’s when we find one in the freezer and wash it down with a jumbo Coke.” (46) MD - 3.4 million years MaR think of the mar maniuplating the stones.
nuclear
a family group that consists only of parents and children “The proponents of this ancient community theory argue that the frequent infidelities that characterize modern marriages, and the high rates of divorce, not to mention the cornucopia of psychological complexes from which both children and adults suffer, all result from forcing humans to live in nuclear families and monogamous relationships that are incompatible with our biological software.” MD - nucleus of a cell being mom, dad, sister, and brother. outside that are other organelles (relatives) grandfather would be the golgi aparatus think of pop pop packaging lunch.
Sapiens were hunter gatherer’s. Which activity did they do more of?
gathering “In most habitats, Sapiens bands fed themselves in an elastic and opportunistic fashion. They scrounged for termites, picked berries, dug for roots, stalked rabbits and hunted bison and mammoth. Notwithstanding the popular image of ‘man the hunter,’ gathering was Sapien’s main activity, and it provided most of their calories, as well as raw materials such as flint, wood and bamboo.” MD - Gathering 75% 25% rabbitt 75% carrots. pellets like food.
Some evidence suggest that since the age of foraging, the sapien brain has _______________.
decreased There is some evidence that the size of the average Sapiens brain has actually decreased since the age of foraging.5 Survival in that era required superb mental abilities from everyone. When agriculture and industry came along people could increasingly rely on the skills of others for survival, and new niches for imbeciles were opened up. You could survive and pass your unremarkable genes to the next generation by working as a water carrier or an assembly-line worker. MD crops like wheat and potatoes - leading to sapien couch potatoes
diprotodon
a monotypic genus of Australian Pleistocene herbivorous marsupials related to the kangaroos, resembling a rhinoceros in size, and walking on four legs. The last one ran from about 75,000 to 15,000 years ago. Not unusually severe for an ice age, it had twin peaks, the first about 70,000 years ago and the second at about 20,000 years ago. The giant diprotodon appeared in Australia more than 1.5 million years ago and successfully weathered at least ten previous ice ages. It also survived the first peak of the last ice age, around 70,000 years ago. Why, then, did it disappear 45,000 years ago? Of course, if diprotodons had been the only large animal to disappear at this time, it might have been just a fluke. But more than 90 per cent of Australia’s megafauna disappeared along with the diprotodon. The evidence is circumstantial, but it’s hard to imagine that Sapiens, just by coincidence, arrived in Australia at the precise point that all these animals were dropping dead of the chills.
Bering Land Bridge
large, currently submerged region between present-day North America (Alaska) and Asia (Siberia) that has been partly or wholly above sea level at multiple times in the past when sea levels were lower “Bering Land Bridge. North America and Asia are separated today by a narrow ocean channel called the Bering Strait. But during the ice age, when much of the earth’s water supply was locked in glacial ice, sea levels worldwide dropped and a land bridge emerged from the sea and connected the two continents.” “The first Americans arrived on foot, which they could do because, at the time, sea levels were low enough that a land bridge connected north-eastern Siberia with north-western Alaska”
What effect did the agricultural revolution have on the human body?
studies of ancient bodies show that the agricultural revolution brought on a plethora of physical ailments such as slipped discs, arthritis, and hernias.
“The body of Homo sapiens had not evolved for such tasks. It was adapted to climbing apple trees and running after gazelles, not to clearing rocks and carrying water buckets. Human spines, knees, necks and arches paid the price. Studies of ancient skeletons indicate that the transition to agriculture brought about a plethora of ailments, such as slipped discs, arthritis and hernias.” (80)
MD - hunter gather actities chasing animals and climbing trees (was like a gym work out), versus more strenuous activities like carrying heavy water buckets - slipped disks, and arthritis in the joints, and clearing rocks - hernia. water making the discs slippery heavy water making the cartilage between joints where down (bone on bone) causing arthritis
When did the genus homo come into existence?
The genus is taken to emerge with the appearance of Homohabilis, just over two million years ago. Genus Homo, together with the genus Paranthropus is probably sister to A. africanus in the genus Australopithecus, which itself had previously split from the lineage of Pan, the chimpanzees.
Homo (Latin: homō, “human being”) is the genus which emerged in the otherwise extinct genus Australopithecus that encompasses the extant species Homo sapiens (modern humans), plus several extinct species classified as either ancestral to or closely related to modern humans (depending on a species), most notably Homo erectus and Homo neanderthalensis. The genus is taken to emerge with the appearance of Homo habilis, just over two million years ago.[2] Genus Homo, together with the genus Paranthropus is probably sister to A. africanus in the genus Australopithecus, which itself had previously split from the lineage of Pan, the chimpanzees.[3][4]
MD - handyman
homo habilis
an extinct hominid of the genus Homo (H. habilis) that is known from sub-Saharan fossil remains associated with crude stone tools, is estimated to have flourished 1.6 to 2 million years ago, and is believed to be the predecessor of Homo erectus
skillful human
Homo habilis, although a scavenger rather than a master hunter, is thought to have mastered the Lower Paleolithic Olduwan tool set which utilized stone flakes. These stone flakes were more advanced than any tools previously used, and gave Homo habilis the edge it needed to prosper in hostile environments previously too formidable for primates.
base 10 (decimal)
In base-10, each digit in a position of a number can have an integer value ranging from 0 to 9 (10 possibilities). The places or positions of the numbers are based on powers of 10. Each number is 10times the value to the right of it, hence the term base-10.Jan
“(The Sumerians used a combination of base-6 and base-10 numeral systems. Their base-6 system bestowed on us several important legacies, such as the division of the day into twenty-four hours and of the circle into 360 degrees.) The other type of signs represented people, animals, merchandise, territories, dates and so forth. By combining both types of signs the Sumerians were able to preserve far more data than any human brain could remember or any DNA chain could encode.”
“ten signs, representing the numbers from 0 to 9. Confusingly, these signs are known as Arabic numerals even though they were first invented by the Hindus (even more confusingly, modern Arabs use a set of digits that look quite different from Western ones). But the Arabs get the credit because when they invaded India they encountered the system, understood its usefulness, refined it, and spread it through the Middle East and then to Europe. When several other signs were later added to the Arab numerals (such as the signs for addition, subtraction and multiplication), the basis of modern mathematical notation came into being.” (130)
MD - use picture
base 6 (heximal)
Briefly, base six (or “heximal”) is a number system that uses the number symbols 0 through 5 in each digit rather than 0 through 9. So the number that would be expressed as 6 in base ten is expressed as 10 in base six. We count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 20, and so on.
MD - draw the Khan academy setup
base 2 (binary)
Briefly, base 2 (or “binary”) is a number system that uses the number symbols 0 through 1 in each digit rather than 0 through 9. So the number that would be expressed as 2 in base ten is expressed as 10 in base 2. We count 1, 10, 11, 100, 101, 1000, 1001
humdrum
not interesting : dull, boring, and ordinary
“They are humdrum economic documents, recording the payment of taxes, the accumulation of debts and the ownership of property. Partial script cannot express the entire spectrum of a spoken language, but it can express things that fall outside the scope of spoken language. Partial scripts such as the Sumerian and mathematical scripts cannot be used to write poetry, but they can keep tax accounts very effectively. Only one other type of text survived from these ancient days, and it is even less exciting: lists of words, copied over and over again by apprentice scribes as training exercises. Even had a bored student wanted to write out some of his poems instead of copy a bill of sale, he could not have done so. The earliest Sumerian writing was a partial rather than a full script. Full script is a system of material signs that can represent spoken language more or less completely. It can therefore express everything people can say, including poetry. Partial script, on the other hand, is a system of material signs that can represent only particular types of information, belonging to a limited field of activity. Latin script, ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and Braille are full scripts. You can use them to write tax registers, love poems, history books, food recipes and business law. In contrast, the earliest Sumerian script, like modern mathematical symbols and musical notation, are partial scripts. You can use mathematical script to make calculations, but you cannot use it to write love poems.”
MD - people hum or drum when something is dull, boring, not interesting, or ordinary - dave chase drumming and humming
partial writing system
a partial writing system is limited in what it can visually represent what is expressed in the spoken language.
They are humdrum economic documents, recording the payment of taxes, the accumulation of debts and the ownership of property. Partial script cannot express the entire spectrum of a spoken language, but it can express things that fall outside the scope of spoken language. Partial scripts such as the Sumerian and mathematical scripts cannot be used to write poetry, but they can keep tax accounts very effectively. Only one other type of text survived from these ancient days, and it is even less exciting: lists of words, copied over and over again by apprentice scribes as training exercises. Even had a bored student wanted to write out some of his poems instead of copy a bill of sale, he could not have done so. The earliest Sumerian writing was a partial rather than a full script. Full script is a system of material signs that can represent spoken language more or less completely. It can therefore express everything people can say, including poetry. Partial script, on the other hand, is a system of material signs that can represent only particular types of information, belonging to a limited field of activity. Latin script, ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and Braille are full scripts. You can use them to write tax registers, love poems, history books, food recipes and business law. In contrast, the earliest Sumerian script, like modern mathematical symbols and musical notation, are partial scripts. You can use mathematical script to make calculations, but you cannot use it to write love poems.
MD - Sumerian writing I traded 10 sheep (check)
no way to convey i love my 10 sheep (x)
full script
can visually represent all that may be expressed in the spoken language.
“They are humdrum economic documents, recording the payment of taxes, the accumulation of debts and the ownership of property. Partial script cannot express the entire spectrum of a spoken language, but it can express things that fall outside the scope of spoken language. Partial scripts such as the Sumerian and mathematical scripts cannot be used to write poetry, but they can keep tax accounts very effectively. Only one other type of text survived from these ancient days, and it is even less exciting: lists of words, copied over and over again by apprentice scribes as training exercises. Even had a bored student wanted to write out some of his poems instead of copy a bill of sale, he could not have done so. The earliest Sumerian writing was a partial rather than a full script. Full script is a system of material signs that can represent spoken language more or less completely. It can therefore express everything people can say, including poetry. Partial script, on the other hand, is a system of material signs that can represent only particular types of information, belonging to a limited field of activity. Latin script, ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and Braille are full scripts. You can use them to write tax registers, love poems, history books, food recipes and business law. In contrast, the earliest Sumerian script, like modern mathematical symbols and musical notation, are partial scripts. You can use mathematical script to make calculations, but you cannot use it to write love poems.”
Romeo and Juliet - Shakespear was able to write everything that is captured in spoken language.
algorithim (computer)
a set of steps for a computer program to accomplish a task
That requires methods of organisation like catalogues, methods of reproduction like photocopy machines, methods of rapid and accurate retrieval like computer algorithms, and pedantic (but hopefully cheerful) librarians who know how to use these tools.
MD - how does google maps figure out how to get from houston, texas to orlando, florida. They use a route finding algorithm. Type in al gore on a google search engine uses its a trademarked algorithm called PageRank, which assigns each Web page a relevancy score. Task - information about al gore, page rank the steps that rank all the information for you to view with most relevant at the top. when you type in al gore, you don’t get information about pineapples. Google’s steps negate this because it is irrelevant. www.algore.com at the top and www.pineapple.com at the bottom
indolence
inclination to laziness
“Nature, it was claimed, rewarded merit with wealth while penalising indolence.” (134)
disavows
- to deny responsibility for
- to refuse to acknowledge or accept
“Yet it is an iron rule of history that every imagined hierarchy disavows its fictional origins and claims to be natural and inevitable. For instance, many people who have viewed the hierarchy of free persons and slaves as natural and correct have argued that slavery is not a human invention. Hammurabi saw it as ordained by the gods.” (134)
MD - avow - to assert or confess openly. pic of woman dog priest
- The priest disavowed (deny responsibility) his role in marrying the woman to her dog and the woman’s family disavowed (refuse to acknowledge or accept) the marriage
innate
belonging to the essential nature of something : INHERENT.
“Aristotle argued that slaves have a ‘slavish nature’ whereas free people have a ‘free nature’. Their status in society is merely a reflection of their innate nature.” (134)
MD - INNATE, INBORN, INBRED, CONGENITAL, HEREDITARY mean not acquired after birth. INNATE applies to qualities or characteristics that are part of one’s inner essential nature. an innate sense of fair play INBORN suggests a quality or tendency either actually present at birth or so marked and deep-seated as to seem so. her inborn love of nature INBRED suggests something either acquired from parents by heredity or so deeply rooted and ingrained as to seem acquired in that way. inbred political loyalties CONGENITAL and HEREDITARY refer to what is acquired before or at birth, the former to things acquired during fetal development and the latter to things transmitted from one’s ancestors. a congenital heart murmur eye color is hereditary
for food to be ATE, it must go IN - the taking in of food to be digested is a quality belonging to the essential nature of almost everything
hone
1 [with object] sharpen (a blade): he was carefully honing the curved blade. 2 [with object] refine or perfect (something) over a period of time: (as adjective, with submodifier honed) : a finely honed performance | she has taken numerous workshops to hone her skills over the years. • give greater strength or firmness to (the body or a part of the body): she has been working hard to hone her physique | abdominal strength training willhone your abs.
“Talent wll remain latent unless given the opportunity to hone.” (137)
MD - from old english han - which means stone. and the h can look like a knife. hone (stone) think of as sharpen. hone sounds like stone. whetstones are used to sharpen
Paradoxically, genetic ________________ (in terms of immunity) translated into social ___________________: precisely because Africans were fitter in tropical climates than Europeans, they ended up as the slaves of European masters!
superiority, inferiority
“Africans had acquired over the generations a partial genetic immunity to these diseases, whereas Europeans were totally defenceless and died in droves. It was consequently wiser for a plantation owner to invest his money in an African slave than in a European slave or indentured labourer. Paradoxically, genetic superiority (in terms of immunity) translated into social inferiority: precisely because Africans were fitter in tropical climates than Europeans, they ended up as the slaves of European masters! Due to these circumstantial factors, the burgeoning new societies of America were to be divided into a ruling caste of white Europeans and a subjugated caste of black Africans.”
MD - african slave over white slave price for both one is dead one is able to survive. working under virginia climate
Ham (son of Noah in relation to slavery)
a son of Noah held to be the progenitor of the Egyptians, Nubians, and Canaanites
economically successful but also as pious, just and objective. Religious and scientific myths were pressed into service to justify this division. Theologians argued that Africans descend from Ham, son of Noah, saddled by his father with a curse that his offspring would be slaves. Biologists argued that blacks are less intelligent than whites and their moral sense less developed. Doctors alleged that blacks live in filth and spread diseases – in other words, they are a source of pollution. These myths struck a chord in American culture, and in Western culture generally. They continued to exert their influence long after the conditions that created slavery had disappeared. In the early nineteenth century imperial Britain outlawed slavery and stopped the Atlantic slave trade, and in the decades that followed slavery was gradually outlawed throughout the American continent. Notably, this was the first and only time in history that a large number of slaveholding societies voluntarily abolished slavery. But, even though the slaves were freed, the racist myths that justified slavery persisted. Separation of the races was maintained by racist legislation and social custom.
MD - Not long after, Noah planted a vineyard, overindulged in the fruit of his labor, got drunk, and “lay uncovered in his tent.” His son Ham, the father of Canaan, “saw the nakedness of his father,” and told his brothers, who respectfully covered their father. When Noah woke up from his stupor, he condemned Ham’s bad behavior, saying, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers” (Gen. 9:25 ESV).
MD - Ham saw his father Noah’s hams (upper legs) b/c Noah was naked and then was cursed.
paucity
smallness of number
“You might think that people would gradually understand that these stigmas were myth rather than fact and that blacks would be able, over time, to prove themselves just as competent, law-abiding and clean as whites. In fact, the opposite happened – these prejudices became more and more entrenched as time went by. Since all the best jobs were held by whites, it became easier to believe that blacks really are inferior. ‘Look,’ said the average white citizen, ‘blacks have been free for generations, yet there are almost no black professors, lawyers, doctors or even bank tellers. Isn’t that proof that blacks are simply less intelligent and hard-working?’ Trapped in this vicious circle, blacks were not hired for white-collar jobs because they were deemed unintelligent, and the proof of their inferiority was the paucity of blacks in white-collar jobs.” (142)
MD - there is no paucity of paws in paucity, on the contrary it is congested with paws.
Clennon King
1920 - 2000 Was the first African-American man to run for president and was put in a mental asylum when he applied to the University of Mississippi in 1958.
“By the mid-twentieth century, segregation in the former Confederate states was probably worse than in the late nineteenth century. Clennon King, a black student who applied to the University of Mississippi in 1958, was forcefully committed to a mental asylum. The presiding judge ruled that a black person must surely be insane to think that he could be admitted to the University of Mississippi.” (142)
MD - Clennon wanted to be King of U.S. first black man to run for president and he was non-admitted (denies admission to University of Mississippi and put in an insane assylum.
why studying history is useful for understanding imagined hierarchies
Since most sociopolitical hierarchies lack a logical or biological basis, history helps us understand how figments of imagination have shaped our society.
“Most sociopolitical hierarchies lack a logical or biological basis – they are nothing but the perpetuation of chance events supported by myths. That is one good reason to study history. If the division into blacks and whites or Brahmins and Shudras was grounded in biological realities – that is, if Brahmins really had better brains than Shudras – biology would be sufficient for understanding human society. Since the biological distinctions between different groups of Homo sapiens are, in fact, negligible, biology can’t explain the intricacies of Indian society or American racial dynamics. We can only understand those phenomena by studying the events, circumstances, and power relations that transformed figments of imagination into cruel – and very real – social structures.
MD a man holding a His Story Book - history - story fiction - his story, meaning figments of imagination (sexist ideology - women are not equal o men) have shaped our society.
