Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors (1993) - Plot & Excerpts
This is the fourteenth book I've read for my 52 in 52 project, and it's the only one so far that I finished reading in about one day. Saying that I could hardly put the book down is pretty accurate. But the authors, Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan made their writing and analysis so engaging and fairly easy to understand, that getting through was not a laborious task. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, as I wrote in one of my tweets tonight, puts the Bible to shame. The book is not a parody of the Bible, but it is a million times better and more plausible of a story about the origins of the universe (which the Bible doesn’t touch on) and who we are as Homo Sapiens. If you ever watched Sagan’s classic PBS series Cosmos, then you have an idea of what Shadows is all about. I’m not going to go into detail about what their book is about (there’s plenty reviews on Amazon.com and other places), but what struck me most about his book is the conclusion it makes. By comparing humans to our closest ancestors, the chimpanzees, babons and other primates, they contend we need to realize that we, though of higher “intelligence” are simply not that far removed from our cousins, and they/we are seriously not that special. This is not meant to be a put down on the human species, but it’s to put in perspective about who we are what our potential is.It’s interesting that they quote a bit of verse from Walt Whitman, whom I was considering reading a biography about for my next book, before reading this one. Walt wrote:I think I could turn and live with animals, they’re so placid and self-contain’d,I stand and look at them long and long.They do not sweat and whine about their condition,They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things,Not one kneels to another, or to his kind that lived thousands of years ago,Not one respectful or unhappy over the whole earth.Whitman takes some poetic license in his critique of his fellow man, but the point of his and the authors’ analysis is that there are two sides to human beings. We are humbled by our existence, but we are also conceited, vicious, greedy, and selfish. On the one hand, we have great potential for love for one another; but on the other hand, we continue to do some very barbaric things to one another.The authors say it better than I do:“We must stop pretending we’re something we’re not. Somewhere between romantic, uncritical anthropomorphizing of the animals and an anxious, obdurate refusal to recognize our kinship with them—the latter made tellingly clear in the still-widespread notion of “special” creation—there is a broad middle ground on which we humans can take our stand.” Sagan and Druyan use essentially the second half of their book to develop the above conclusion. I think they take a little too long to prove their case, but I can understand the challenge to do so, given that most of humanity is still mucked and mired in religious mythology and in denial of our essential human nature, that it’s not inconceivable that were headed for destruction—not destruction of the planet, mind you, but of our ourselves and other living organisms. We would do ourselves a great service by holding weekly meetings discussing books like this one rather than further deluding about some great omnipotent being that is supposed to be controlling everything. It’s really time we move past all that.#end
http://bookeyeview.blogspot.com/2013/...Спомням си за една история от българската класика, в която се разказваше за едно малко, мръсно, неуко, бедно детенце, което имаше късмета да попадне на издигнат човек, който го взе под своята опека. Годините изминаваха, малкото момче растеше и се учеше на култура и знание. Изкачи стълбицата на обществото. Доби самоувереност в дози, които го превърнаха в тесногръд и арогантен човек. Нещо, което си пролича, след като той се завърна в родното си място и се отрече от своя произход. След прочитането на "Сенките на забравените прадеди" на Карл Сейгън и Ан Друян, няма как да не съпоставя гореспоменатия лиричен герой с много хора днес. Да, днес - във време, в което сме разчели собствения си геном и имаме все повече и повече доказателства за нашия истински произход. Време, в което фактите трябва да говорят за това какво се е случило, а не нашите собствени желания. Но уви, човешкото самолюбие, както и в предишни епохи, така и днес, остава на дневен план.... http://bookeyeview.blogspot.com/2013/...
What do You think about Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors (1993)?
Carl Sagan forever lays to rest any doubts I had that Christianity and all religions in general are frauds, fakes, and myths. The need to grovel before imaginary gods and the need to have some of those gods encourage the sacrifice of godsons, first sons, virgin daughters or other virginal heroes on crosses, slaughter stones, or thrown into volcanoes to atone for “our sins”, transgressions or shortcomings seems to be hardwired into our brain cells/genes. These beliefs spring from primitive human needs to explain bad guesses about the unknown and to cope with imaginary “punishments” which we now know are simply the vagaries of nature.It’s wonderful to be free of religion. Nevertheless, it’s so ingrained I must admit it took more than a decade to deprogram religion out of my brain. Although most religionists seem to understand the concept of future eternity without end, they still think that there had to be some sort of “beginning” and thus cling to the idea of “God” creating the universe. Carl Sagan has helped me to accept the concept that there is neither a beginning nor an end. “Eternity” moves in both directions. There’s no need to try to explain a “beginning”. The COSMOS may coalesce or gravitate inward upon itself and then explode into a “Big Bang” from time to time over the course of megazillions of years, but in some form our universe has existed forever in the past and will continue to exist in some form forever in the future.
—Al Rankin
I thought I had read everything by Sagan, and then I stumbled upon this. I was worried it wouldn't be as great as the other ones, since I would've found out about it sooner if it were more well known, but it was a good read. He goes into biology, zoology and anthropology, highlighting the purported differences between us and the rest of life, and skillfully erases the supposed boundary. I shall say no more, only that anyone with a passion for science, life, and the universe should give this a read.
—Aleksandar
I love Carl Sagan's books, and have read everyone of them. This being the last one. It's not one of his best work, but still an interesting read. I now know more about the connections between human - primate - animal behavioral patterns than I ever thought I would. For instance - did you know that most primate society have bartering/trading tendencies? only they usually trade for food, sex, or protection. Or that human beings officially have the second longest parent-child upbringing process out of animals on earth, considering how many kids today are unemployed and living at home, we might actually have the blue whale beat by a good 7 years. This book is a very scientific look at what it means to be human when compared to animals. Read it if you have some time on your hands.
—Tony
