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==== Pigeonholes and continuums ==== |
==== Pigeonholes and continuums ==== |
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* [[Michael Shermer]] states that using racial [[Taxonomy (general)|taxonomy]] in order to make abstract observations of racial superiority is another expression of ethnocentrism.<ref name="Shermer">{{cite book|last=Shermer|first=Michael|title=Why People Believe Weird Things|origyear=1997|year=2002|publisher=St. Martin's Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8050-7089-7}}</ref>{{rp|248}} He asks, "how can we 'pigeonhole' blacks as permissive or whites as intelligent when such categories...are actually best described as a continuum?"<ref = |
* [[Michael Shermer]] states that using racial [[Taxonomy (general)|taxonomy]] in order to make abstract observations of racial superiority is another expression of ethnocentrism.<ref name= "Shermer" >{{cite book|last=Shermer|first=Michael|title=Why People Believe Weird Things|origyear=1997|year=2002|publisher=St. Martin's Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8050-7089-7}}</ref>{{rp|248}} He asks, "how can we 'pigeonhole' blacks as permissive or whites as intelligent when such categories...are actually best described as a continuum?"<ref ="Shermer"/>{{rp|250}} Shermer claims that the belief that one race and/or culture is superior to another defeats the purpose of cultural evolution, and that we cannot dismiss evidence of [[blending inheritance]] among all cultures.<ref ="Shermer"/>{{rp|247-51}} Shermer uses [[The Bell Curve]] by [[Richard Herrnstein]] and [[Charles Murray (political scientist)|Charles Murray]] as an example of [[pigeonholing]]; Herrnstein and Murray tried to pigeonhole civilization into racial categories based on flawed measures of intelligence.<ref ="Shermer"/>{{rp|242-44}} |
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===[[Pseudoarchaeology]]=== |
===[[Pseudoarchaeology]]=== |
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==== [[Ideology]] ==== |
==== [[Ideology]] ==== |
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* [[Alice Beck Kehoe]] says that diffusionism is a "grossly racist ideology".<ref>{{cite book|last=Kehoe|first=Alice Beck|title=Controversies in Archaeology|year=2008|publisher=Left Coast Press, INC|location=California|isbn=978-1-59874-062-2|pages=140–172}}</ref>{{rp|144}} Although she agrees that diffusion of culture can occur through contact and trading, she disagrees with the theory that all civilization came from one superior ancient society.<ref name="Kehoe"/>{{rp|148}} Kehoe explores the "independent invention" of works and techniques using the example of boats. Ancient peoples could have used their boat technology to make contact with new civilizations and exchange ideas. Moreover, the use of boats is a testable theory, which can be evaluated by recreating voyages in certain kinds of vessels, unlike hyperdiffusionism.<ref name="Kehoe"/>{{rp|158}} Kehoe concludes with the theory of transoceanic contact and makes clear that her argument is not claiming an ancient theory for how cultures diffused and blended, but an argument against the possibility that hyperdiffusionism took place due to alternative testable theories, such as independent inventions and boats.<ref name="Kehoe"/>{{rp|169}} |
* [[Alice Beck Kehoe]] says that diffusionism is a "grossly racist ideology".<ref name = "Kehoe">{{cite book|last=Kehoe|first=Alice Beck|title=Controversies in Archaeology|year=2008|publisher=Left Coast Press, INC|location=California|isbn=978-1-59874-062-2|pages=140–172}}</ref>{{rp|144}} Although she agrees that diffusion of culture can occur through contact and trading, she disagrees with the theory that all civilization came from one superior ancient society.<ref name="Kehoe"/>{{rp|148}} Kehoe explores the "independent invention" of works and techniques using the example of boats. Ancient peoples could have used their boat technology to make contact with new civilizations and exchange ideas. Moreover, the use of boats is a testable theory, which can be evaluated by recreating voyages in certain kinds of vessels, unlike hyperdiffusionism.<ref name="Kehoe"/>{{rp|158}} Kehoe concludes with the theory of transoceanic contact and makes clear that her argument is not claiming an ancient theory for how cultures diffused and blended, but an argument against the possibility that hyperdiffusionism took place due to alternative testable theories, such as independent inventions and boats.<ref name="Kehoe"/>{{rp|169}} |
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===[[Culture]]=== |
===[[Culture]]=== |
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* [[Stephen Williams (archeologist)|Stephen Williams]] in his chapter "Across The Sea They Came" introduced a few hyperdiffusionists, their discoveries, and how they "tested" artifacts, beginning with [[Harold S. Gladwin]] who made his "fantastic" discoveries at an Arizona Pueblo site, [[Gila Pueblo Archaeological Foundation]]. Gladwin favored the diffusion theories which later influenced his methodologies for dating the artifacts at the site. Consequently, this caused him to legitimately ignore the data that was found at the [[Folsom Site]] in his chronology as it made his "Man descended from Asia into the New World" theory impossible.<ref name="Williams"/>{{rp|230}} |
* [[Stephen Williams (archeologist)|Stephen Williams]] in his chapter "Across The Sea They Came" introduced a few hyperdiffusionists, their discoveries, and how they "tested" artifacts, beginning with [[Harold S. Gladwin]] who made his "fantastic" discoveries at an Arizona Pueblo site, [[Gila Pueblo Archaeological Foundation]]. Gladwin favored the diffusion theories which later influenced his methodologies for dating the artifacts at the site. Consequently, this caused him to legitimately ignore the data that was found at the [[Folsom Site]] in his chronology as it made his "Man descended from Asia into the New World" theory impossible.<ref name="Williams"/>{{rp|230}} |
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* The section continues with Cyclone Covey and Thomas W. Bent, specifically their publications on the [[Tucson Artifacts]] and Romans traveling to Arizona via hyperdiffusionism theory. Williams pokes fun at this theory in his book ''Fantastic Archaeology'' but does state that Covey and Bent failed at hypothesizing exactly how and why these artifacts were found in Arizona; rather, they focused their attention on the artifacts themselves and what makes them like true Roman artifacts.<ref name="Williams"/>{{rp|240}} This gives way to Michael Shermer's fallacy Theory Influences Observation in his book [[Why People Believe Weird Things]] and how "theory in part constructs the reality and the reality exists independent of the observer".<ref = |
* The section continues with Cyclone Covey and Thomas W. Bent, specifically their publications on the [[Tucson Artifacts]] and Romans traveling to Arizona via hyperdiffusionism theory. Williams pokes fun at this theory in his book ''Fantastic Archaeology'' but does state that Covey and Bent failed at hypothesizing exactly how and why these artifacts were found in Arizona; rather, they focused their attention on the artifacts themselves and what makes them like true Roman artifacts.<ref name="Williams"/>{{rp|240}} This gives way to Michael Shermer's fallacy Theory Influences Observation in his book [[Why People Believe Weird Things]] and how "theory in part constructs the reality and the reality exists independent of the observer".<ref ="Shermer"/>{{rp|46}} |
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* Concluding, Williams points out in the chapter how hyperdiffusionists fail to recognize solid archaeological research methods and/or ignore conflicting data and contextual evidence. They are "tailoring their finds with any similar chronology or in-depth linguistic analysis that fits into their scenarios".<ref name="Williams"/>{{rp|255-56}} |
* Concluding, Williams points out in the chapter how hyperdiffusionists fail to recognize solid archaeological research methods and/or ignore conflicting data and contextual evidence. They are "tailoring their finds with any similar chronology or in-depth linguistic analysis that fits into their scenarios".<ref name="Williams"/>{{rp|255-56}} |
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Hyperdiffusionism refers to hypotheses suggesting that certain historical technologies or ideas originated with a single people or civilization before their adoption by other cultures. Thus, all great civilizations that share similar cultural practices, such as construction of pyramids, derived them from a single common progenitor.[1] According to its proponents, examples of hyperdiffusion can be found in religious practices, cultural technologies, megalithic monuments, and lost ancient civilizations.
The idea of hyperdiffusionism differs in several ways from trans-cultural diffusion, one being that hyperdiffusionism is usually not testable due to its pseudo-scientific nature.[2]: 255–56 Additionally, unlike trans-cultural diffusion, hyperdiffusionism does not use trading and cultural networks to explain the expansion of a society within a single culture; instead, hyperdiffusionists claim that all major cultural innovations and societies derive from one (usually lost) ancient civilization.[2]: 224–32 Ergo, the Tucson artifacts derive from Ancient Rome, carried by the "Romans who came across the Atlantic and then overland to Arizona;" this is believed because the artifacts resembled known ancient Roman artifacts.[2]: 246
These three authors describe hyperdiffusionism as the driving force behind the apparent cultural similarities and population distribution among all civilizations. Hapgood's hypothesis states that one specific civilization is responsible for similar cultural practices in all other civilizations. Smith says that religions are proof of hyperdiffusionism, as similar worship ceremonies and symbols recur in geographically separated societies. Also, Smith believes that the Earth's population is made up of six types of humans, who diffused across the Earth's continents by virtue of their skin color.[5]: 47–48 Finally, Fell asserts that ancient mariners, such as Druids and Phoenicians, traveled from Europe and comprised the early population of ancient America.
Carl Whiting Bishop in the 1930s and the 1940s produced a series of articles arguing hyperdiffusionism in explaining the expansion of technology into China. Among the scholars influenced by Bishop were Owen Lattimore, who was intrigued by Bishop's emphasis on geography as a shaping factor in Chinese civilization and his emphasis on field work rather than library research.[7]
<ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name (see the help page).: 250 Shermer claims that the belief that one race and/or culture is superior to another defeats the purpose of cultural evolution, and that we cannot dismiss evidence of blending inheritance among all cultures.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name (see the help page).: 247–51 Shermer uses The Bell CurvebyRichard Herrnstein and Charles Murray as an example of pigeonholing; Herrnstein and Murray tried to pigeonhole civilization into racial categories based on flawed measures of intelligence.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name (see the help page).: 242–44 <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).: 198 <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name (see the help page).: 46 
