Once Again, Scientist Baffled By New Discovery About Human Existence On This Planet


Selene

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My question is, why would a scientist, searching for truth be baffled?

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The mismatch between the anatomical and genetic evidence surprised the scientists, who are now rethinking human evolution over the past few hundred thousand years. It is possible, for example, that there are many extinct human populations that scientists have yet to discover. They might have interbred, swapping DNA. Scientists hope that further studies of extremely ancient human DNA will clarify the mystery.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/05/science/at-400000-years-oldest-human-dna-yet-found-raises-new-mysteries.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0

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I don't see that there is anything baffling about what they are finding. Enough time passed for there to be multiple human groups spread all over. Likely a dozen or more groups remain undiscovered.

Dennis

Exactly. It always astonishes me how alleged "scientists" are baffled when their tight little belief systems get shattered by facts.

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I don't see that there is anything baffling about what they are finding. Enough time passed for there to be multiple human groups spread all over. Likely a dozen or more groups remain undiscovered.

Dennis

Exactly. It always astonishes me how alleged "scientists" are baffled when their tight little belief systems get shattered by facts.

You have been watching too many "documentaries" on t.v. perhaps.

The new stuff is duly published in the professional journals and the people who put their findings into print are generally on their best behavior.

Have you talked personally with any such scientist and determine how "shocked" he really was. Or are you just assimilating the gee whiz presentations that are so common on t.v.

Ba'al Chatzaf

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I don't see that there is anything baffling about what they are finding. Enough time passed for there to be multiple human groups spread all over. Likely a dozen or more groups remain undiscovered.

Dennis

Exactly. It always astonishes me how alleged "scientists" are baffled when their tight little belief systems get shattered by facts.

You have been watching too many "documentaries" on t.v. perhaps.

The new stuff is duly published in the professional journals and the people who put their findings into print are generally on their best behavior.

Have you talked personally with any such scientist and determine how "shocked" he really was. Or are you just assimilating the gee whiz presentations that are so common on t.v.

Ba'al Chatzaf

I don't "watch tv."

I get it from reading or hearing the scientist expressing how "unexpected" "baffled" etc. the "scientist" is which may be what gets through the media filters,

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The artist’s rendition of this group of pre-humans gives them a more simian look, but what if they were clothed and barbered more like contemporary humans? I think they might look more like us. Neanderthal’s IQ was estimated to be in the 60’s.

In four billion years it is possible there have been prior civilizations on earth or Mars that were not populated by primates. One Scifi story I read had a very different, composite mold type species that reached a minor industrial stage but it was wiped out by an asteroid strike. That could happen to human’s but I think our structures might leave a few more clues for future archeologists to find. I sincerely hope our knowledge will not be lost.

I have asked this before but has anyone heard of any “serious” experiments to raise IQ’s in humans? We are certainly connecting and augmenting humans at a fast pace. The sale of PC’s is projected to drop dramatically in the next few years, but I think “thumb texting” will tend to dumb down the conversation and communications.

It is 66 degrees here!

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It is 66 degrees here!

We used to call it weather.

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I get it from reading or hearing the scientist expressing how "unexpected" "baffled" etc. the "scientist" is which may be what gets through the media filters,

Right regarding the "media filters" and even actual distortions in what's quoted. Not wise to assume that a scientist being quoted necessarily said what he/she is quoted as having said.

I personally know of numerous cases, including ones when my husband was interviewed, in which misleading alterations have been made.

Ellen

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One of my cases made national headlines a while back and was even picked up in the New York Times. This is a case I have worked on for 4 years plus. It was a very complex case, maybe as complex as the topic of evolution, at least to an outsider. What was so strange about the write ups was how the press stories were--even when technically correct--didn't tell the true story of the case. The story told was really just a shadow of the story I knew and had lived for so long. That was a real lesson to me about the power of the press to distort, even when not specifically "wrong" about something.

I suspect this happens a lot with scientists, and scientific theories.

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Agree with the three of you.

Whenever I have been interviewed by a print reporter, I ask the reporter to sign a statement that states that they will submit the article to me for review/correction before we continue.

Boy does that cut down on the interviews..

I have participated in TV interviews and was astounded/baffled by the lack of ability or integrity of the "media."

A...

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Since I saw it firsthand beginning in childhood I have never taken the media or authority figures at face value. I remember thinking my teachers were borderline idiots starting in 5th grade, the media was dead to me by 6th grade, even science teachers were idiots by 9th grade, university professors in physics were dolts by 11th grade. I've been ruined from the start and I've only gotten worse with age.

My father was a science teacher and I used to go to the science club meetings where we did high school experiments [which were equal to many college experiments now]. I lived that from 2nd-6th grade and never felt out of place among high school age kids. Even in kindergarten and 1st grade I got to go to college biology labs and see everything they had.

The media is at best populated by the low end of what passes for an education.

Dennis

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It's a safe bet that any headline that contains the phrase "scientists baffled" is a lead-in to pure bullshit.

Which is part of the larger principle that any header which presumes to report on the emotional state of an entire demographic is probably a lead-in to complete bullshit.

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It's a safe bet that any headline that contains the phrase "scientists baffled" is a lead-in to pure bullshit.

Which is part of the larger principle that any header which presumes to report on the emotional state of an entire demographic is probably a lead-in to complete bullshit.

Possibly.

However, at least in the "paper" news business, the "headline" writer is not the article writer.

The aricle is rather interesting though.

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"However, at least in the "paper" news business, the "headline" writer is not the article writer."

Didn't know that. Learned something today!

I skimmed the article. It is interesting indeed... just goes to validate the scientific principle that all models are subject to revision pending further discovery. As should be all knowledge.

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I skimmed the article. It is interesting indeed... just goes to validate the scientific principle that all models are subject to revision pending further discovery. As should be all knowledge.

Precisely.

Now try talking a global cooling global warming climate change individual off that high ledge of "nature theology!"

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The media is at best populated by the low end of what passes for an education.

Dennis

The slimy scuzzy stuff found at the bottom of barrels.

My brother in law was a reporter and correspondent for Reuters (he started his career at UP). He was a sweet guy but a total ignoramus in matters of science.

Ba'al Chatzaf

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I have three relatives in journalism related areas - one has a physics degree and is a photographer for a large newspaper in Raleigh-Durham NC. He started because of an intense 2nd generation physics optics background. Someone had to pay for those ten-fifty thousand dollar cameras.

Another relative was top of his class in journalism but went advertising and stayed there till this day. He was the photographer for the college newspaper as his last journalism gig.

Another relative is an artist-illustrator for a large newspaper in Missouri.

All are nice journalism related people but none are reporters. 2 of 3 have traveled the world doing their craft.

My brother used to report the news on a local radio station as part of his job and worked with both radio and TV news personalities on the radio but it required no special skill or training other than a good speaking voice and technical knowledge of how to operate the broadcasts.

I don't know of any science reporters that stand out in my mind. I worked with a woman [AF Officer] who had a Masters degree in the History of Physics from Harvard so I guess she had the creds to speak on background for science reporting. I suspect there are only a handful of qualified science journalists in the country.

Dennis

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I don't know of any science reporters that stand out in my mind. I worked with a woman [AF Officer] who had a Masters degree in the History of Physics from Harvard so I guess she had the creds to speak on background for science reporting. I suspect there are only a handful of qualified science journalists in the country.

Dennis

I would guess fewer than 1000 and many of them do not show what they know in the newspaper articles or the science documentaries that appear on the Discovery Channel on the cable.

The level of comprehension of matters scientific and mathematical is so low that I truly dread the future of the Republic. This country is in deep shit.

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