An updated take on Easter Island, + considering one's Mindscape :-)

Humanism
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This is from the refreshingly interesting series “Fall of Civilizations*, Easter Island”.

I read Jared Diamonds book long ago and you can imagine it resonated with me and influenced my understanding/opinion/perspective on Easter Island.

Since then his scholarship and evidence has been called into question and turns out lots of his details, some big were well off the mark and don’t hold up any more. We shouldn’t be too harsh, he was doing the best with what he had (Well he also had a career to nurture and family to support, so . . . ) - Still he did get a lot of outlines correct, so at least he was pointing in the correct direction.

More evidence produces more details and richer understandings. I learned about the walking stones when first publicized, but never digested it enough to think about the cascading consequences of that realization to the greater understanding of the culture’s history.

In any event, this show does a wonderful job of assembling old and new evidence to tells a much more detailed and realistic history of Easter Island than I’d ever imagined. Corrects much misunderstanding and proposes a much more objective and fact based perspective.

 

Guess this sort of thing is one of the reasons I love science. I first learning about these things decades ago, long before Diamond, so been wondering about it and watching the march of discoveries, better observation/sensing/instruments discover so much that could only be guessed at earlier, we can understand and interpret today.

A digression considering one’s personal Mindscape.

Having a part of one’s Mindscape actively engaged with understanding these places and their stories. I’ve thought about that a lot lately, all this fascination and all the learning and what’s it good for?

What good is it? Consider our personal (as opposed to ‘collective’) Mindscapes sort of like your home and you fill it with memories and projects and people and jobs and art and love and god or at least wonder at the universe. My Mindscape the home of my thoughts and spirit, is filled with a huge library of awarenesses and images, from Earth’s story, geologically, biologically, the intimate mingling of the two, life from billions of years ago to today, whether living entities living miles below the ocean’s, and land’s, surface to stuff floating in the atmosphere. From evolutionary human history, early and later migrations, all those stories. The difference that birds made to ancient ocean voyagers, or the marriage of humans with dogs that enabling expansion impossible alone, horse and live stock and farming. How amazingly ingenious and industrious ancients peoples have been through out time and the world. Living family and all that comes with it. All those awareness and more make up my mindscape -

… then we have to deal with people who can’t think beyond cartoon stories in ancient tribal texts that allow charismatic pickpockets to demand nonstop worship and payment. What’s so hideous is that they don’t keep it to themselves. They demand that everyone bow down to their childish level of understanding. And those that don’t are treated with hostility. Enemy to be insulted, derided, demonized, but never listen to, all for personal gain based on a Me First mentality.

Science is a hoax and history is a hoax, everything is a hoax except for their embrace of their own EGO as the God of their heart and soul.

This is kinda funny, I just wanted to drop off an interesting video, then see if anyone wanted to discuss it’s humanity, or any part of it. But you know, one thing leads to another. Guess I need to get that out.

 

:wink:

 

*https: //www - youtube - com/channel/UCT6Y5JJPKe_JDMivpKgVXew

 

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Good for you in your digression, fleshing out your concept of “Mindscape”.

I wonder where the Easter Islanders written language of rongo-rongo went wrong?

I liked the artists renditions of the native women with bare boobs. (I think my mindscape is not as elegantly furnished as yours.)

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I think all evidence points to White Supremacists and kidnapping and the Slave Trading they so loved happened to it. Oh I think the Germs helped the process just as much, but then it was the White Supremacists that brought that over too,

 

http://karenstollznow.com/rongorongo-the-mysterious-writing-system-of-easter-island/

At some point in Rapa Nui’s history, its population diminished rapidly. Until recently, the popular theory to explain this was that the primitive, superstitious natives destroyed their natural resources in order to build the Moai. The prevailing theory is not of ecocide, but of genocide. It appears that contact with colonizers caused the near-annihilation of this ethnic group.

In the 19th century, thousands of Rapa Nui were kidnapped by Peruvians and forced into slavery in mines and plantations. Some Rapa Nui were eventually returned to their homeland, but disease and hard labor killed many of them. Those who returned brought back an epidemic of smallpox that decimated the already diminished population. Others emigrated to South America or other Polynesian islands. Today, there are only about 3,000 Rapa Nui left, and it’s been a struggle to piece together their history and preserve their culture.

The indigenous people write the Rapa Nui or Spanish languages using the Latin alphabet, but Rapa Nui once had its own writing system: Rongorongo. In the Rapa Nui language, Rongorongo means to “recite” or “chant”. This writing dates back to the 17th century and its origin is unknown. It may have originated in South America or Polynesia. Alternatively, the script may have been invented on the island. If so, Rongorongo would be one of the world’s few writing systems that evolved independently.

…

Rongorongo was used until the 186os. Around that time, knowledge of how to read it was lost. Perhaps those who were literate in Rongorongo were sold into slavery, died of smallpox, or moved overseas. Another theory is that the writing was considered sacred and only elders and religious leaders could write and read it. There are also stories that when interested visitors tried to translate the script, they learned that Christian missionaries had forbidden the native’s from using their writing.

Sadly, no one can understand the writing system today. Its decipherment will …

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@ 330417

Stop that you’re making me blush :wink:

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Rongorongo means to “recite” or “chant”.
Many cultures have passed on information (esp. religious stuff) thru a memorized verbal history. Maybe these were symbols that were put together to portray the individual words of particularly important chants.