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Following Up on Micah Hanks, Giants, and Definitions

8/3/2013

9 Comments

 
Micah Hanks replied at great length in the comments to my previous blog post about the alleged Smithsonian conspiracy to hide the truth about the existence of giants, and I feel his thoughtful reply requires a longer follow-up than a single comment. Hanks conceded that he understood how I read his article on the subject, though he feels that I misread his article. He includes this information amidst a paragraph preemptively suggesting that “many” (though I hope not me) would attack his friends at Anomalist.com and Doubtful News (and thus him) for insufficient skepticism; this, of course, is a red herring since the advocate is not synonymous with the claim, and anyone—of whatever stripe—can contribute productively to an investigation provided that the evidence is sufficient to justify the claim.

Anyway, Hanks feels that I did not present his views fairly, and I am sorry that he feels that way. I don’t mean him any animus, and his article is honestly written and fairly presented. However, I think, though, it’s worth pointing out the reasons that I read it as I did. The first and most obvious is that Hanks does not present any clear views. Filed under the topic “Conspiracy,” Hanks’ essay presents a variety of information, some of it skeptical and some less so, and attempts “balance” in describing the “believer” and “skeptic” camps, as though faith without facts and doubt without reason were somehow coequal methods of discovering the truth.

Here is where I began to read Hanks as catering to the “believer” camp:

Colavito is correct in asserting that there are no indications in the historic record where large “anomalous skeletons” have gone missing from the Smithsonian. However, as we shall soon see, this does not mean that such gigantic remains were never found at all. 

But just paragraphs later, referring to the Sunset Cave “giants”:

Had the folks on the receiving end of this odd shipment to the Smithsonian simply been exercising extreme incompetence, or was there some other reason for the “loss” of certain parts of the shipment? This case wouldn’t have to involve human remains of large stature in order call into question why the Smithsonian would misplace portions of the batch shipment, while maintaining others for display. In other words, the mystery has as much to do with the misplacement of a discovery as it does the claims of “giant” bodies being what were actually uncovered.

So, yes, Hanks is right that he said there was no conspiracy. And I was right that he also insinuated that there was. This is because “balance” is not equivalent to “fairness” and neither is equal to truth.

To better explain this, let me give a hypothetical. Let’s say that Georgina A. Succotash of Prehistoric Time Travelers says that the Civil War never happened and that time travelers faked it to cover up their activities. Let’s say 99.9% of historians dispute this, but Succotash and Erin van Ramekin say it is true, while two or three professors of comparative basket weaving aren’t sure.

It is “balanced” to say “Controversy exists over whether the Civil War happened, with believers stating that the war occurred between 1861 and 1865 and skeptics asserting it never occurred at all but was in fact a time travel conspiracy.”

It is “fair” to say “A very few advocates now claim the Civil War never happened, while nearly all historians agree that the conflict happened between 1861 and 1865, and these historians offer a wealth of documentary and archaeological evidence to prove it.”

It is “true” to say: “The Civil War was fought between 1861 and 1865.”

The “balanced” view suggests the two sides are equal. The “fair” version still discusses a claim almost no one believes, while the “true” version fails to inform the audience that any wacky ideas were ever proposed. Each is a legitimate way of exploring an issue, but they all have a different effect on the audience.

Hanks concludes his article (since updated) with a balanced paragraph that offers no real conclusion:

Regardless, do such discoveries of giant bones that are known to have existed, as the 1894 report seems to indicate, further lend to the claims of the conspiracy theorists? Or do they merely point to a deeper level of the mystery that has yet to be explored… and something which may contain new keys to life in ancient America?

Ending this way leaves the impression that the two positions are coequal, which, of course, grants additional legitimacy to the extremely minority conspiracy view. It also leaves out the most parsimonious conclusion, that such giants are simply rare tall individuals who were genetically gifted.

As I see it, the first question’s answer is “No.” The second question does not follow because it is based on a false assumption that I think needs to be addressed. The trouble, of course, is that none of us has defined our terms, so we are actually talking about two different things without realizing it. What do we mean by “giants”? Hanks, to his credit, recognizes the problem, but he does not address it directly, leaving it up to the audience to choose the definition they prefer.

The plain reading of “giants” would be, as per the dictionary, “An imaginary or mythical being of human form but superhuman size.” However, that is not how most discussing the subject are using it. They are asserting that any skeletons of above average height are “giants.” When I use the word “giant,” on the other hand, I am thinking of the superhuman aspect, of skeletons beyond the recorded range of human height. For me, a 6’6” skeleton, or even one 7’ tall, is not superhuman and falls within the normal genetic variation of human beings. Therefore, these skeletons, while interesting, are not anomalous in any real sense except insofar as Native cultures afforded elite status to the rare individual of above average but not supernormal height. Native Americans were, prior to Columbus, among the world’s tallest people, and the occasional outlier above 7 feet is just not either unusual or unexpected. Living humans with heights from 7 to almost 9 feet have been recorded consistently for centuries (including periods before modern medicine and nutritional standards), and are therefore within the human range.

But this confusion is fairly old, and the definition of what makes for a giant has changed over time. Notice, for example, that the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint give the height of Goliath as a tall but not superhuman four cubits and a span (a shade under 7 feet), while the “traditional” Bible as given to King James gives his height as six cubits and a span (nearly 10 feet!) (1 Samuel 17:4). So, if you prefer to see “giant” as simply anything above average, then those 6 or 7 foot skeletons are really interesting; but if you are looking for superhuman giants worthy of Genesis 6:4 (“There were giants in the earth in those days…”), they just don’t make the cut. Therefore, when I say that I just don’t see these 7 foot skeletons as evidence for supernatural or demonic giants, you can see why. In the second question of his conclusion, I imagine Hanks was trying to suggest that it is interesting to learn that some Native people were tall; if not, I do not know what he meant.

A similar problem with definitions led to the other mistake for which I was criticized, in which I (apparently) incorrectly concluded that Hanks’s book on the UFO Singularity (which I have not read) had something to do with the “singularity” as it is typically used in science writing, to refer to either the technological singularity where machines achieve superhuman intelligence, or to the singularity of physics, which refers to infinite mass increasing without limit. His book description after all reads, “What is the singularity, and how does it relate to UFOs?” Instead, Hanks has an apparently unique definition of singularity, which refers to a time when human technology catches up to the perceived advances of UFOs, which he does not choose to define as either alien spacecraft, time travelers, or whatever, at least according to this interview from earlier this year. But this is still more frustrating because in the same interview, he uses “singularity” in at least two other ways, including the technological singularity described above and a “psychic singularity” when technology gives us ESP. But then, balanced as he is, he concludes by saying that he isn’t sure any of that will ever happen.

I trust you can see how the combination of definition trouble and a lack of conclusions made it difficult for me to intuit Hanks’s actual beliefs. Hanks has now clarified that he sees no conspiracy, so now that we are all on the same page, we can live happily ever after.

9 Comments
charlie bear
8/3/2013 11:11:05 am

This once again, in my opinion at least, points out just how important words are to us. Words MATTER very, very much. When we use words using our own personal, random meanings, we get into all sorts of troubles, many unintended even.
While it is, at times, difficult to be 100% precise with some technical terms, we need to make sure of how we do use words. After all, that IS how we communicate.
Just my own (not so always) humble 2 cents worth.

Reply
The Other J.
8/3/2013 12:58:43 pm

Jason, maybe you can clarify something for me (and any interested readers) regard H. heidelbergensis and the Goliath tag. (I mentioned this in a longish comment in the previous thread, but it got swamped in the flow.)

From what I understand, Lee Berger's "Goliath" term was in reference to the size of H. heidelbergensis' skull -- or possibly (and more precisely) one skull. But by giving it that name, it spun out a larger "giant" mythos.

Furthermore, the "Goliath" that was presented in National Geographic's "Searching for the Ultimate Survivor" -- which was presented as over 7 feet tall -- was based on that one anomalously large femur fragment and a separate anomalously large pelvis from a different site. But other remains found from those sites displayed the kind of size variety we'd expect to find in people today.

However, even though those two H. heidelbergensis specimens were in fact anomalously large, as I understand it (mainly from John Hawks), they were only anomalously large in relation to other H. heidelbergensis of the Pleistocene. In fact they would have been only between 80-90 kg, or about 175-200 lbs. In other words, they were giants in relation to other H. heidelbergensis specimens, not in relation to us.

Does all that sound right? I'm just trying to parse how the story of prehistoric giants might have spun out of narrative control.

Reply
Mordecai Rodnipoff
8/3/2013 05:33:45 pm

The Other J.,

Listening to Lee Berger's podcast, he seems adamant that the large femur was not anomalous, and was actually representative of the size of the archaic humans from that region of S. Africa 350,000 years ago. He says, "the femur is so big, we can't even calculate the size this individual would be... you would need sort of an NBA basketball player to get someone the size this would have been, probably something like over seven feet tall."

The image of the femur fragment next to the female skeleton, even if it was a 5 feet tall 100 lb female... The size of the fragment is BIG, look at the head diameter, the thickness. Even taking into account robusticity on par with Neanderthal, I could easily picture an individual who had a bone 40 -50% wider and longer than the female femur shown next to it, if I do the math right. Take a 16 inch female femur multiply it by 1.4 or 1.5, we get a 22 - 24 inch femur.. That will make a man 6' 8 to 7 feet 5, I mean, or 7 ft or 7 ft 1 -- these are just my estimates, but it tallies with Berger. I think Berger is pretty emphatic these are not anomalies, he said they have found alot of them of giant size. Again, listen to the interview.

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/interviews/interview/833/

Pleistocene Shaq's, only bigger and meaner. I think this guy would weigh something on the order of 250 to 335 lbs by my reconning. These are, of course, just my figures, but that's way over 200 lbs. Maybe John Hawks is calculating based on a different femur?

Reply
The Other J.
8/4/2013 07:05:15 am

No, Hawks was using the femur Berger used. I linked to his piece about Berger's giants in the other thread, but in case -- http://johnhawks.net/weblog/fossils/middle/body_mass_2005.html.

One of the things Hawks notes is that Berger may be using unreported specimens, which is a problem in itself. But otherwise, the specimens used in "Searching for the Ultimate Survivor" to re-create Berger's giant came from different specimens from different digs. Hawks doesn't deny there are some large specimens, but they seem no more prevalent than large specimens of modern humans.

I went through the podcast (audio, transcript), and here are the issues I have with the extrapolation to "race of giants."

First, Berger qualifies what he presents by noting "as we moved through the period of 0.5 million to 300,000 years ago in Africa we move into the sort of mystery period where there’s just a tiny handful of fossils." So -- the specimens he presents are limited to Africa and are from a small sample, a "tiny handful of fossils."

Second, after admitting that there are only a tiny handful of fossils, he says "we found a lot of them" and "everywhere we find them enormous."

Something's off here, because #1 and #2 seem mutually exclusive. If there are only a tiny handful of fossils, how are they finding giant fossils everywhere? Does he mean among that tiny handful, there are numerous giant fragments? Because it can't mean they are finding giant fragments everywhere but there are a tiny handful of fossils. However, if it's the former -- if he means there are some very large fragments among the tiny handful of fossils -- that doesn't suggest a race or necessary pervasiveness. That could represent a small handful of possibly related individuals (depending on where they're found). There's not enough in that to extrapolate to a "race of giants."

Berger also seems to be presenting the same femur fragment in the podcast that Hawks discusses in his piece. Hawks notes that yes, there are some large specimens, but among the Pleistocene homo fossils that have been reported, the variety is really not that different than what we would find among modern humans today. That's a point of difference between what Berger suggests and what Hawks claims -- Berger is suggesting that the Pleistocene homo fossils they find from that period are almost exclusively large. Again, that's a problem if there are only a tiny handful of fossils. Hawks is claiming that's just not the case -- there is a variety of sizes displayed among homo fossils of that Pleistocene period. (Unless Berger is basing his assumptions on unreported specimens, which, as mentioned, is another problem. I should note that Hawks isn't out to get Berger here; he supported Berger with the more recent Palau pygmy find.)

Leaving aside just how mean these ancient people were, it's not even clear how large "giant" was. Berger seems to suggest their size was uncalculable, but Hawks notes that from the two largest Pleistocene homo specimens available, they would only have been around 200 lbs. That's big compared to a lot of people, and could very well have been massive back then, but it's hardly giant-sized by today's standards. Even at 7 feet, it's not uncommon. I know someone in the previous thread noted how many 7-footers have been in the NBA. I'm a big rugby fan, and could probably name just as many locks who played in the past year alone who are between 6'6 and 7 feet tall, with heavier frames and larger musculature than basketball players (many from South Africa). It's not common, but not exceedingly rare. I'm sure we've all met someone close to that height. I'm actually the smallest male in my family at 5'9, and I wrestled between 125 and 135 lbs in high school/college. But my brothers, dad and uncles are all around 6 ft and quite large (my brother used to get mistaken for Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre quite a bit in bars while he was in college in Wisconsin); and I have a cousin who's a full foot taller than me at 6'9. That's a wide range in one immediate family. If archaeologists based their findings on my cousin Lil' Roger, they'd think we were a race of giants. If they based their findings on me, we'd be kind of scrawny. If they based their findings on my dad and brother, they might think we were all exceptionally tall barrel-chested Neanderthal throwbacks.

Besides, given the right food, space and predator conditions, it also shouldn't be surprising to find some who get considerably larger -- like what happens with any animal in those conditions (pygmy elephants, the giant deer of Ireland). There was a story in the BBC a few years back about how bus seats in Sweden had to be adjusted because people there are getting taller on average than ever before. And as I noted in the other thread, due to favorable nutrition and living conditions, medieval English women were the tallest English women in history, and modern English women are just now catching up.

Put

The Other J.
8/4/2013 07:07:33 am

*I gotta write shorter posts*

Put yourself 500,000 years in the future, and you're Mordecai, Future Archaeologist of Sweden. You find a bus disaster buried in a valley, and after you fight off the trolls, you discover the bones of the three passengers. Those three passengers all happened to be over 2 meters tall. If you had no other remains from Sweden, you might conclude that based on the available evidence, Internet Age Swedes were giants compared to their puny Continental contemporaries. But that's not actually the case; some Swedes are much taller than others, but there are plenty of average and shorter Swedes -- a range of sizes exists, and the right conditions may favor the success of one part of that range over others.

Mordecai Rodnipoff
8/4/2013 09:34:42 am

The Other J.,

Thanks for the Links. I respect both Berger and Hawks info they present. That is a good point you bring up about Berger possibly using unreported specimens as a basis for some of his claims.

After doing a little more digging, I think you may be right on the money with 200 lbs, and that they did not average 7 feet. According to Berger's colleague Steven Churchill, in the African Middle Pleistocene, the average adult male stature was 182.5 cm (6'3") and the relatively lean mass (maybe 10% body fat) averaged 91.2 kg (200.6 lbs).

A fellow named Terje Dahl emailed Berger to confirm his 2007 interview. http://www.sydhav.no/giants/south_africa_berger.htm

"From: Lee Berger [mailto:Lee.Berger@wits.ac.za]
Sent: Friday, 1 April 2011 2:36 PM
To: Terje Dahl
Copy: Wilma Lawrence; churchy@duke.edu
Regarding: RE: Gigantism

Dear Mr. Dahl,

Indeed the article is real. Someone to talk to in detail about these things would be my colleague Prof. Steve Churchill of Duke University who has worked extensively on body size in Middle Pleistocene humans.

Regards,

Lee

From: Steven Churchill Ph.D. [mailto:churchy@duke.edu]
Sent: Friday, 1 April 2011 9:49 PM
To: Terje Dahl
Copy: Lee Berger
Regards: Re: Ancient humans and gigantism

Dear Terje,
Thanks very much for your message, and for your interest in our work on body size in archaic humans. It does appear that the Middle Pleistocene was perhaps the acme for human body size, and that there was a bit of a reduction with the origins of our species, Homo sapiens. I'm not so sure about them being routinely more than 7 feet tall. The estimation of mass and stature from skeletal remains can be problematic, but my efforts to do so suggest that in the African Middle Pleistocene, the average adult male stature was 182.5 cm (6'3") and the relatively lean mass (maybe 10% body fat) averaged 91.2 kg (200.6 lbs). This may not seem that large relative to a Yao Ming or Shaquille O'Neal, but relative to populations of modern humans in hunter-gatherer economies this is quite large.
I have attached two articles that address this issue - you might also look for an article by John Kapplemen entitled "They might be giants" that appeared as a commentary to the Ruff et al. 1997 paper.
All the best - Steve

Steven E. Churchill, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology
Box 90383
Duke University
Durham, NC 27708 "

So I think men 6 ft to 6 ft 3 and 200 lbs average is what we are looking at, with some guys 7 feet or more. 6 feet 3 is not a giant, I would argue though, that 7 feet is gigantic compared to the average global mean stature today, and historically. But like you say, even brothers and cousins can vary 10 - 12% in height between each other, so imagine if the average height of the tribe is 6 ft 3, you could have guys commonly 6 ft 10 to 7 ft tall, and occasionally 7 1/2 feet. It matches also the type of size we see in some families of the Royal Dinka, Anuak, Neur, and Tutsi families in Africa who have men often well above 2 meteres.

Still, I think Berger's claim of gigantism still holds true. They had a higher statistical chance of having 7 foot men, and 7 feet I consider, personally to be "giant class" -- without sounding too much like PT Barnum ;)

Yes if a plane went down with an NBA team in the first class, and archaeologists 10,000 years from now found the skeletons, one may conclude a race of giants 6-7 to 7'3 ruled N America.

NAT Geo reports on Kiffians of the Saharah 7,000 years ago, who were from 1.85 m to 2.03 meters, or 6 feet 2 to 6 ft 8 inches... pretty decent height:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/08/080814-sereno-sahara-missions_2.html

The Other J.
8/4/2013 10:36:48 am

Hey Mordecai, that was really informative. And I can completely get on board with the extant Pleistocene specimens representing the apex of human height for a population, and 7 feet is certainly gigantic to me.

For what it's worth, my wife is also the smallest in her family, and shorter than me. But her father is 6'6 and really broad, Native American (Ojibwe), and played college basketball. Chalk up one more for the extra-tall Native Americans.

Tara Jordan
8/3/2013 01:07:15 pm

"Hanks has now clarified that he sees no conspiracy".I am glad I didn't bother to read his article.My sarcasm is vindicated.Micah Hanks is most probably a nice person in the real world,but a debunking blog is not a knitting club.If he expects to be taken seriously amongst individuals who espouse a skeptical & critical approach ,I would respectfully suggest him to avoid any association with the snake oil peddlers of the "alternative industry".When you access Micah Hanks page,the first thing you notice is an advertisement for Inner Traditions,the publishing company that promotes "scholars" such Zecharia "Anunnaki made me do it" Sitchin or Robert "my recent groove is Afrocentric groove" Beauval.I know its a difficult choice to make,if you are willing to keep a set of ethical standards you wont make a buck working in the "alternative industry".

Reply
Eric (leave my sister out of this) van Ramekin, aka Uncle Ron
8/3/2013 03:10:54 pm

My B.S. detector buzzes when I read, as above, "discoveries... that are KNOWN to have existed, as the 1894 report SEEMS TO INDICATE".

I have added " 'Balance' is not equivalent to 'fairness' and neither is equal to truth," to my file of quotable quotes.

From that file, one of my favorites: "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone. "It means just what I choose it to mean - neither more or less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master - that's all." -Lewis Carroll



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