A tender for the construction of a building is underway in Moscow. The project is represented by a German company. Estimated 10 million. Then the Turkish company - 5 million. The turn of the Russian company is coming. They have a budget of 15 million.
Why so much?
Well, how? 5 million to us, 5 million to you and 5 to the Turks to build.
And they win the tender!
One businessman wanted to get married, but he had three girlfriends, and he did not know which one to choose. I decided to check them out: I gave each of them $1,000. One spent all the money on herself, the other bought something for the household, and the third invested in the business and made a profit. Which of the three did he choose? The one with the bigger boobs!
A Russian is driving in his car across Ukraine. He is stopped by a Ukrainian traffic cop:
You broke the rules explanatory note in Ukrainian.
But I can't, in Ukrainian!..
Then we'll take the rights.
What to do? The Russian put $100 on a blank sheet. The traffic cop is watching.
Well, now, say that you don’t know how, but half have already been written!
Late evening. The husband is not at home. The wife is worried.
He must be with another woman, I suspected for a long time ...
Why are you thinking about bad things? Maybe he just got hit by a car...
Women are either “charming, how stupid”, or “horror, what fools!”
Lesson in the Caucasian school. The teacher called the student and asked him to draw an isosceles triangle. The boy drew. Teacher:
Now prove that he is isosceles.
I swear by mother, isosceles!
An international tender has been announced for laying a pipeline across the ocean floor from Europe to America. The project is presented by a German company, shows graphs, diagrams, estimates.
We will work for three years. Let's start from two sides. When we reach the middle, we guarantee that the discrepancy will be no more than ten meters.
Japanese company, shows the project:
We will work for two years. Let's start from two sides. When we reach the middle, we guarantee that the discrepancy will be no more than five meters.
Russian company:
We will work for six months. Let's start from two sides. We do not guarantee anything. As a last resort, there will be two pipes.
The soldier asks the ensign:
Comrade ensign, do crocodiles fly?
Of course not! What nonsense!
Yes? .. And Comrade Lieutenant said that they were flying ...
Well, they fly, but only low, low.
And Comrade Lieutenant said that it was high.
At first they are low, low, and then how they soar!
Two soldiers are talking.
Listen, let's have fun with the lieutenant.
Yeah, they already pinned the dean ...
Stirlitz woke up in a cell. He doesn't remember how he got here. He thinks: “If the Russians come in, I will say that I am Colonel Isaev. If the Germans - Standartenführer Stirlitz.
Policeman enters:
Well, you got drunk yesterday, Comrade Tikhonov!
Muscovites are not loved anywhere, especially in Moscow...
Belarusian News: “Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko said that he does not want to be president anymore. The coronation is set for Tuesday."
One peasant had melons, but someone got into the habit of dragging watermelons from her. To stop this, he put up a sign “Attention! One of the watermelons is poisoned." The next day he sees, on the plate it is signed: "Now there are two of them ..."
The Chinese was in Moscow. When he returned home, his relatives ask him:
Well, how do you like Moscow?
Nice city, clean and not crowded!
A rich student came to the exam, but did not prepare. He put five thousand dollars in a blank notebook and wrote: "Professor, one piece per point." When the notebook with the results was returned to him, there were three thousand rubles and the hand of the professor wrote: "Surrender."
From traffic rules for blondes: "The action of the sign" Overtaking is prohibited "applies not only to red cars."
One builder built bridges all his life, and when he retired, his son continued his work. One day the son came to his father and proudly said:
Dad, I completed the bridge that you have been building for thirty years!
Son, while this bridge was being built, I raised you and taught you. How will you feed your family?
A conversation between two friends:
I call my wife "bunny", "fish", "bird" ...
Well, what is she?
He will hang his ears, his eyes will bulge and his beak will click!
What is paradise? it english house, Chinese cuisine, American salary and Russian wife.
What is hell? This is a Chinese house, English cuisine, a Russian salary and an American wife.
If you say to a man: “You are as stupid as Vasya!” He asks why is he a fool?
If you say to a woman: “You are as stupid as Masha!” She will be indignant: Why is it me, like Masha ?!”
MEN'S CHARLOTTE RECIPE (simple apple pie).
Take 10 eggs from the refrigerator, put the remaining seven on the table and wipe the floor. Take a large bowl and break eggs on its edge. Pour their contents into a bowl. Wipe down the table. So, you have 5 eggs in a bowl. Now take the mixer, insert the beaters and start beating. Try inserting the beaters again, now until you hear a click. Whisk. Wash your face, neck, hands, back, ears. As a result, you have two beaten eggs left in the bowl. Paste the walls and ceiling of the kitchen with newspaper, cover the furniture with some cloth - it's time to get the flour ... Pour 200 g into a glass, then pour into a bowl. Carefully collect the remaining 800 g back into the bag. Whisk. Take a shower. Take 4 large apples and a knife. Prepare iodine, plaster and bandage. Peel the apples. Process thumb iodine and bandage it. Cut the apples into cubes and remember you will need 2 apples so you can only eat half of them during the cooking process. Treat index and middle fingers with iodine. Throw the only remaining and already chopped apple into a bowl, pick up the fallen pieces from the floor, wash them and put them in a bowl too. Beat everything with a mixer. Clean out the refrigerator. Now pour the contents into the pan and put in the oven. Wait an hour and, not seeing tangible changes, turn on the oven. When you wake up, do not call the emergency service, but simply turn off the oven and open the windows...
Announcement in the newspaper: "A hereditary alcoholic in the fourth generation will quickly and painlessly remove any encoding."
A conversation between two teenagers:
My father brought me a large parrot from Africa for a thousand dollars!
Beautiful parrot?
Beautiful!
Speaking?
Speaking!
Delicious?
What are you?! A parrot is worth a thousand bucks. Of course delicious!
Dad, don't croak, maybe I'll do it again ...
I have a house at the dacha.
Why would you?
I live there!
Will there be a third world war?
How much will a can of Coca-Cola cost in America after the war?
One ruble.
A student of the seminary fell in love with the daughter of an oligarch. He decided to get married. The groom came to talk to the father of the bride.
Do you know that my daughter is used to not denying herself anything? She buys fur coats and jewelry every other day. Can you provide it for her?
God help!
And she also changes expensive cars several times a year.
God help!
She still often travels abroad, on vacation, for shopping ...
God help!
Later, the daughter asks:
Dad, did you like my fiancé?
He, of course, is a complete zero, but it's nice that he calls me Goddess ...
Adam asks God:
Lord, why did you make Eve so beautiful?
To please you, my son.
God, why did you make her so stupid?
This is to make her like you...
Arrived at New Zealand three friends - a biologist, a physicist and a mathematician. They go by car. They see a black sheep grazing in a green meadow.
Biologist: This suggests that there are black sheep here.
Physicist: That means there is at least one black sheep here.
Mathematician: That means there is at least one sheep that is black on at least one side.
Husband and wife went hunting. He gave her a gun.
I'll drive an elk out of the forest at you, and then you shoot.
Gone into the forest. Suddenly he hears shots, noise, screams. Runs up, and there is his wife and some man. His wife pointed a gun at him and shouted:
This is my moose! Get away!
Okay, okay, yours. Can I just take off the saddle?
Suitable school for Vovochka girl:
Vovochka, you have SUCH at home!
Then the principal of the school came up:
Vovochka, go home, you have SUCH at home!
On the street, friends also said:
Vovochka, you have SUCH at home!
He ran home. And they say to him:
Vovochka, we have SUCH! Your brother Sasha threw a bomb at the king ...
A German in London walks into a pub:
Two martinis, please.
Nein, nur zwei!
At the zoo, the bear complains to the director:
Transfer me to another cell, I can't live like this anymore! I have a monkey on the right and a giraffe on the left. The monkey tells jokes all day, and the giraffe laughs all night.
Two electricians in the entrance are fixing something and arguing. Grandma is coming.
Grandmother! Hold the wire.
Well, here, I told you that this is zero, and you are “phase-phase” ...
It is rightly said that blondes are stupid! My wife was a brunette, dyed her hair blonde yesterday afternoon, and in the evening made a scandal when she found black hair in bed.
The dog thinks: The man takes care of me, feeds me, gives me water, gives shelter. He must be God!
The cat thinks: The man takes care of me, feeds me, gives me water, gives shelter. I must be God!
The person thinks: The dog is a very smart creature. For a piece of delicacy, he quickly learns to perform simple tricks.
The dog thinks: Man is a very smart creature. For simple tricks, he quickly learns to give a treat.
Cheburashka looks at herself in the mirror.
Maybe I should marry? Or get married...
What is the difference between a male hostel and a female hostel? In the women's hostel, the dishes are washed after meals, and in the men's hostel, before meals.
Little boy and girl are playing in the sandbox.
I have an owl.
And I have a bucket.
I have a ball.
And I have a jump rope.
I have a machine.
And I have a doll.
When there were no toys left, the boy took off his pants:
And here's what I have!
The girl had nothing to answer, she began to cry and ran home. After a while, she returns calm and proud:
And my mother told me that when I grow up, I will have as many as I want!
At the appointment with a psychotherapist:
Doctor, everyone is ignoring me.
Next!
A bunny and a squirrel came to a wise owl:
Wise owl, here we love each other, we live together, but for some reason we don’t have kids. Is it because we are a bunny and a squirrel?
Not! It's because you are a boy and a boy.
Rabinovich goes to the synagogue every day and prays:
God help me win the lottery. Well, please help me win the lottery.
This continues for several months. During the next prayer, a divine voice suddenly sounds from somewhere above:
Rabinovich, buy at least one lottery ticket!
The Big Bang took place once - and the Universe was formed from it. It was necessary, you say. And you will be right. And small pimples burst every day. Ugh, how disgusting, you say. And again you will be right. Well, let's burst together one such, already rather swollen pimple!
You will probably be surprised, two little men of deeply non-Russian nationality managed to create one big pimple. They gathered on one of the Internet sites, and, hiding behind the names and articles of venerable anthropologists, began to rivet evil in the spirit of the Soviet synagogue (synagogue - Hebrew “assembly”) of Soviet times and red troikas, giving orders “Pli!” almost exclusively in Hebrew.
First, let's look into the eyes of these Davids who seem to have the right to beat all the Goliaths around. Or even those who are just going to become a goliath.
The first "David" is a young man of the Semitic type, but with the Russian surname Sokolov - Alexander Borisovich. It has nothing to do with anthropology. He can't even write in Russian without making mistakes. All that this man is famous for is participating in trainings founded by a state criminal who, in postwar period in every possible way undermined the Soviet system and sought to escape to Israel. For which he was convicted.
And now his incarnation named Alexander Sokolov, having been appointed to the position of "editor" of antropogenez.ru, miraculously acquired the "deepest" "knowledge" in anthropology. So deep that he began to wave his saber left and right, cutting off the heads of doctors of science and professors.
The second is a Semitic man with the Semitic surname Drobyshevsky - Stanislav Vladimirovich. He is so literate in anthropology and is so deeply outstanding in its field (that is, “outstanding”) that at the age of 36 he is already a full associate professor and a full, or round candidate of science. He doesn't swing his saber like Sokolov. He, like David, throws stones at his opponents.
Well, it's time for the stones to return - not all Goliaths want to fall under the onslaught of an army consisting of one and a half semi-scientific Semitic warriors. In the end, we do not have Israel, where there are only anthropologists around, and they are born smart, right out of the inside.
Let's start with the recent "feat" of the bandit gang Drobyshevsky-Sokolov. They decided to "dunk" Professor Savelyev. Why? And, apparently, because “they drink water down the stream”, and Savelyev drinks higher along the same stream. Such an accusation was always enough for those Semitic troikas who were already aimed at murder. Even if it's something like this - public, pseudo-scientific.
The “experts” and “luminaries” of anthropogenesis, associate professor Drobyshevsky and no one Sokolov, decided to subject Professor Savelyev to severe obstruction and do this in the form of a pseudo-review of his book The Emergence of the Human Brain. It should be noted that the question here is not in reviewing and not in scientific discussion, but in the fact that some "bigwigs" of anthropogenesis considered themselves celestials and began to trample on everyone and everyone. And this, we recall once again, using the cover of real scientists, but without their knowledge.
And so, having done a great job (about 40 pages of text!) And having found “150 errors”, the searchers did not find anything better than to produce this conclusion (in parallel, our comments):
« Interim conclusions of the editors of the portal ANTROPOGENES.RU:».
Intermediate - because these gentlemen managed to write the same number of pages in addition, everything according to the same book. Truly pissed off reviewers!
« 1) A number of obvious mistakes by S.V. Saveliev could have been corrected by a good scientific editor before publication of the monograph. Unfortunately, this did not happen.
2) A number of errors could be corrected in the process of scientific communication: correspondence, reviewing, presentations with part of the material at scientific conferences, where evidence is given and evaluated not at the level of “jokes”, but on a traditional scientific basis. Consulting with experts while writing a monograph is a normal scientific tradition that allows you to avoid annoying blunders in areas that are not “native” to the author. Unfortunately, in this case it's not done.
3) Scoffing and "polemic with a stupid opponent" - a way of conducting a discussion that looks harmoniously on a television show, but not on the pages of a monograph ...
And then the site pops up: “Interesting. Recalls Australian aborigine: Once we happened to take part in the filming of a TV movie about hunting for crocodiles. We performed songs and dances of our tribe there. The most embarrassing moment during the shooting was the one when we had to move and drag a dead crocodile so that it seemed alive. He had been dead for four days, and the stench was terrible! Dick Roughsey, a native of the Lardil tribe. Moon and rainbow. Publishing house "Science". Moscow, 1978"
4) Mistakes, of course, happen to everyone ... But an uncritical approach to one's own scientific activity leads to the fact that many small errors reach a critical mass and “zero out” the meaning of scientific work.
Unfortunately,
- an abundance of errors and inaccuracies (in our opinion, the score goes to hundreds);
- confusion in scientific terminology;
- negligence, inaccuracy in handling primary sources;
- insufficient knowledge of zoology, paleontology, anthropology and archeology
- call into question the viability of the hypothesis of Professor S.V. Saveliev on the reasons for the transition to upright walking of human ancestors».
These are such "deeply" "scientific" intermediate conclusions! Let's calmly laugh together at the mediocre "work" of two indefatigable "reviewers".
Was the game worth the candle? Did these errors affect the conclusions of the entire monograph? Not! Indeed, in the conclusions of the critics themselves, the result of the search for errors did not appear in any way. So why did this synagogue fence this whole garden?
The answer is simple: it was a blow to Professor Savelyev's reputation. The blow was dealt by a gangster couple of uneducated boys, but on behalf of the entire anthropological community. Which, by the way, does not know about this underground activity of the "Robinhoods".
What do not like the "luminaries" of anthropogenesis Drobyshevsky and Sokolov? They do not like the fact that many scientists "climb" into "their" garden. At the same time, this sweet couple does not explain who gave them the right to outline the entire anthropology, biology, medicine and other sciences as "their" garden?
But, as always happens with schizophrenics, when they notice the splitting of consciousness in others, they do not see their own cracks. So it happened with "our" couple. Having written on anthropology a gag like “don’t get in, Sokolov will kill”, this aggressor himself began to climb everywhere, even where he, as a Semite, was generally closed.
We are talking about a pathological attraction to counting errors. Other people's mistakes. Sokolov even invented the criterion of "pseudoscience": they say, mistakes must be counted, and if there are, then this is certainly pseudoscience. And, by the way, Sokolov himself in his small text, only nine half lines in size, managed to make NINE mistakes! Here's the whole teacher - a loser!
This kind of illiteracy shines through in their remarks on the text of the entire pseudo-review. For example, arguing with Savelyev about the reason for the transition to bipedal walking, Solovyov and Drobyshevsky seriously express their meager thoughts: “ Meanwhile, the position on two legs, firstly, increases visibility when in tall grass, and secondly, it should give an advantage when meeting with a predator due to a higher position of the eyes, since the height of the gaze is a universal signal of strength in mammals and even reptiles". Mentioning the latter, these geniuses forgot to explain why reptiles do not walk on two legs.
Or here's another gem: S.V. Savelyev does not explain why the head experiences additional heating when walking upright. She's exposed to the sun anyway. In a vertical posture, the head is heated not “additionally”, but “mainly” - the difference is obvious (and for thermal protection, hominids have a cap of hair on their heads). The total heating area of the body is obviously significantly less when walking upright". This, of course, is invaluable material for humorists and joke writers!
And these “smart” replicas of the “geniuses” were dug up twice in 40 pages! Read who is bored and want to have fun.
There is a wonderful Russian proverb: there is nothing to nod at the mirror, if the face is crooked. How accurately she describes the current situation, when two small dirty tricks, having enlisted the "support" of real scientists by deceit, come to poison from the simple contemplation of the fact that there is someone else smarter in the world than they are.
Who is to blame that you, gentlemen Sokolov and Drobyshevsky, are so obsessed with your own infallibility that you have sinned so long ago that you should be driven not only from the editorial office of the site anthropogenesis.ru, but from the synagogue in general.
At a time when the chairman of the European Jewish Congress, I. Kolomoisky, is carrying out the genocide of the Russian population by military means, no one will tolerate his two fellow accomplices, who are waging their own, a la Shvonder, genocide of the Russian scientific community.
It is time to raise the appropriate question before the leadership of the organization, on behalf of which Drobyshevsky and Sokolov speak, about the connection of this organization with this gang and about whose personal instructions this gang became so impudent that they allowed themselves to slander real scientists.
We are trying to build a state of law, free from informers and whistleblowers. At the same time, we nod at Europe and the USA all the time: they say, there, how are they doing there. Freedom of conscience and freedom of speech. Polyphony of opinions.
What then do we have? Why doesn't even a professor have the right to express his hypothesis without fear of falling under the knife of recruits from the Inquisition? Why does every fence dog consider itself entitled to bark at every passing elephant? Why do the followers of the fifth column, the criminals who destroyed our Motherland, and hyperzionism feel at ease in the open spaces of official science? Why are the doors of universities and scientific institutions open for them?
Is it not for the same reason that Professor Preobrazhensky was obliged to open the doors to the crowd of the distraught Shvonder ...
M. Gerasimova
I must say right away that it was not written by an anthropologist, but by a scientific journalist, whom I would call the Enlightener without any reservations (not Voltaire, but nonetheless :)), a popularizer of science and a fighter against various myth-makers. I learned about Alexander Sokolov even before the publication of the book “ Myths about human evolution» on the site http://antropogenez.ru/, the creator and editor of which he is. I remember when I first came across this portal, I was literally infected with the energy of the scientific and educational enthusiasm of Alexander and his associates. It was from this site that my largely “humanitarian” consciousness was carried away by the natural-science anthropological discourse. And even then on this site there were many articles devoted, so to speak, to “working out the mistakes” of those people who, for various reasons, were covered by the topic of human evolution (A. Nevzorova, regular of the SPAS TV channel Prof. A. Osipova, etc.). d.). It was this kind of "work on the mistakes" and letters from readers with possible myths and stereotypes that led him to think about the book in the "myth-refutation" format. And I want to say that this format itself is a very correct decision.
Standing with one foot on scientific facts, and the other on common sense, carefully using "Occam's razor", the author confidently, without unnecessary aggression, but with irony cuts off various "atavisms" about anthropology from the public consciousness. He seems to be saying: “Calm down, citizens! No one calls you monkeys, no one tells you how to live, there is no conspiracy of scientists, but some facts are quite stubborn and must be reckoned with. Alexander does not attack any established ideology or formed worldview, but acts reactively, which sets the whole book a good tone of dialogue. Reacting to myths, the author seems to be engaged in particulars, but these particulars, in the end, add up to the big picture. Thus, a full-fledged process of enlightenment takes place: misconceptions are dispelled and a more or less complete picture of the modern scientific view of the genesis of man is offered. At the same time, where the author cannot say clearly, he, following Wittgenstein's advice, "is silent". For example, science does not have a clear answer why the genus Homo dragged from warm Africa north to Europe, but the fact remains that it dragged itself (see myth No. 39).
Now it would be appropriate to ask: they say, why did the respected author decide that he was science, if he was not even a scientist? Well, firstly, recognized scientists helped him in writing. Secondly, Alexander Sokolov has been dealing with this issue for a long time and not alone. Thirdly, the book provides facts and sources that you can find and study on your own. Fourthly, his text does not have the primary features of a dubious "scientific pop", such as statements: "now I will tell you ALL the TRUTH that was hidden from you!" etc. Finally, even in science it is impossible without a certain trust, and http://antropogenez.ru/ has a good reputation.
Despite the scientific and rather complex subject matter, the book is written in an accessible way, the text is not complicated by special terminology, the material is presented easily and, as expected, “with a twinkle”. With all this, the book, as I have already noted, has a good tone, which is characterized by neither rage nor rude mockery. Probably, the "enlightenment" language and style should be just such in order to find the zone of maximum coincidence between the "deep" and the "broad" reader. Further studies are the work of everyone.
In conclusion, I will say that, in my amateur opinion, it is unlikely that all the myths of this book can be called "myths", in the sense of an established form of social consciousness. For example, I'm somehow not convinced that myth No. 24 “Modern man arose out of nowhere. Between him and the fossil hominids, "too big a gap" is really ingrained in people's minds. However, any of the "myths" of this book, in any case, are in place, because each of them is an occasion to tell the reader about state of the art anthropology.
Olga Orlova: The current head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, recognized the theory of evolution and the big bang theory, while noting that the very idea of evolution in nature does not contradict the idea of creation, because it requires living beings that develop and change. However, myths about the divine origin of man are still widespread both in Russia and in the world. What is the reason for their popularity? We decided to ask Alexander Sokolov, the creator of the Anthropogenesis.RU portal, the author of the book Myths about Human Evolution, about this on the Hamburg account.
Hello, Alexander. Thank you for coming to our program.
Alexander Sokolov: Hello.
Alexander Sokolov was born in 1975 in Leningrad. In 1997 he graduated from the St. Petersburg State University majoring in Applied Mathematics. In 2010, together with anthropologist Stanislav Drobyshevsky, he created the Anthropogenesis.RU scientific and educational portal, the organizer of the 10 Skulls That Shook the World exhibitions and the Scientists Against Myths forums. Member of 5 archaeological expeditions, author of the book "Myths about Human Evolution", finalist of the "Enlightener" award, winner of the Belyaev Prize.
OO: Alexander, you wrote the book "Myths about human evolution". Apparently, scientific or anti-scientific myths are most of all devoted to people and the origin of people. So that's why you got such a solid volume?
A.S.: You understand that this is largely due to my personal interest. That is, since I was interested in the topic of the origin of man, I also collected myths in this area.
O.O.: Somehow, we rarely come across myths in quantum mechanics.
A.S.: Yes. Even if we take biology, it is clear that, for example, the evolution of some seahorses is also, probably, interesting topic, there are specialists, some discoveries, but wide audience seahorses are of little concern. That is, they evolved, and for God's sake. And as for a person, everyone cares where they came from. Accordingly, the topic is popular. Since it is popular, there is inevitably a huge amount of delusions, prejudices, some kind of legends.
O.O.: Judging by the sections, you have systematized them directly. From the myths that are associated with the most ancient events, that is, the most ancient finds, about fossil bones. And then right up to the myth of reconstructions, about ancient people, about our Neanderthal brothers, and up to paleo diets.
You know, your colleague on the Anthropogenesis.RU portal Stanislav Drobyshevsky was in our studio. And he talked very fascinatingly about the myths that are connected with the origin of races and about the difference between racial science and racology. But if we talk about the myths associated with a more ancient period, when races had not yet formed, which of them are the most common and the most, say, which cause the greatest indignation and indignation in you, that these myths are still alive.
A.S.: Yes, I have calmed down. Just when you have been doing this for many years, you are not surprised at anything. In fact, it depends on the level of the person, the interlocutor. If I'm talking to some person, then inevitably it pops up in his speech. But depending on his education, these are myths different levels.
We participated in the "Geek Picnic" festival. And a completely typical dialogue takes place. We have a stand there with our exhibition, with skulls. A man comes up, looks for a minute and then says a completely standard phrase: "It may be that you descended from a monkey, but not me." It is he who believes that he said something very clever, witty, and, as it were, throws down the gauntlet.
And we have skulls standing there, the evolutionary series from proconsul to sapiens. I take a skull from the middle and ask: "Who is this?". And here he first begins to think about this topic. Prior to that, he spoke some standard phrases that he did not come up with himself, but read somewhere.
But in fact, for several years this topic has not particularly bothered me. And, oddly enough, these creationists... I have the impression, however, maybe subjective, that they have calmed down a bit. And a huge number of other people came out.
O.O.: Excuse me, you say so - climbed out. What does popped out mean? After all, these are our compatriots, neighbors, colleagues. After all, if we just go out into the street and start asking passers-by who live with us in the same city, and among them the percentage of people who do not like to descend from a monkey, it will be quite high.
A.S.: He will be tall. It's just that now more often they began to talk not on religious topics (the impression is that religion is already somehow becoming boring), but aliens, reptilians, anunnaki.
O.O.: That is, in a sense, it is no longer the divine origin of man that is being discussed, but from extraterrestrial civilizations.
A.S.: Science fiction.
OO: Don't you think that this is a bad sign?
A.S.: No, it's not a bad sign. It seems to me that some kind of replacement of religion is taking place now in the spirit of the era.
OO: When you meet a person who once again tells you that he does not believe in the evolutionary origin of us and himself, how do you convince him?
A.S.: I told about the dialogue with the man. Of course, he didn't say that I convinced him. But, as not I noticed, but other witnesses of this dialogue, moreover, these are just people who came up, they noticed that during the dialogue he changed his face several times.
O.O.: Good. Why did he change? What evidence system...
A.S.: Because he suddenly found out that, it turns out, he does not know much. And the fact that he does not remember well from the school bench ... His knowledge is limited to the fact that he was once told at school that labor made a man out of a monkey. All. And since then, his knowledge on the subject has only worsened. And suddenly it turns out that, it turns out, modern scientific ideas about the origin of man are based on a huge amount of factual material, that there are things that he heard about for the first time.
O.O.: For example.
A.S.: He first saw these finds, for example. Our expositions devoted to the paleonthropological theme, the origin of man, those that we have in museums ... Firstly, there are practically no such museums. That is, everything that is, it is in Moscow. Not even in St. Petersburg. Because in St. Petersburg there is the only exposition dedicated to anthropogenesis, in the Kunstkamera. It has been closed for a long time. The only thing you can see there is the mammoth in Zoological Museum. There are several expositions in three museums in Moscow. And all these expositions were created… In short, they have not been updated at all since the early 1980s.
O.O.: Since then, a lot of discoveries have been made. And what did you find a way out? Do you make layouts? What are you doing?
A.S.: They are dummies and there are dummies. No one will give you Kenyan Homo Rudolphensis. He is in Kenya in a museum in a safe. But all over the world, these things have long been studied and demonstrated by exact copies, by dummies.
O.O.: About what finds in question?
A.S.: When we talk about anthropogenesis… That is, the emergence of the first upright. 7 million years ago, Sahelanthropus, the oldest upright primate, lived on the territory of the Republic of Chad. And here are his remains. And then Ardipithecus, Australopithecus, all sorts of Homo habilis, Homo ergaster. And there are many. And many of these species have been described for many decades. Some are known from dozens, some from hundreds of finds. Therefore, there is something to show.
Our exhibition is called "17 skulls and one tooth". In fact, there are already more exhibits. And we were very happy and proud… More than a year ago we had in St. Petersburg… We had 4 finds of the Heidelberg man: 3 skulls and a jaw. And in fact, we counted, you can count several hundred. That is, in fact, a very large amount of material has been accumulated. Another thing is that people in the mass do not know anything about it. And what is still shown to us by Dubois the Pithecanthropus, which was found back in late XIX centuries, and people think that since then nothing else has been found and has not been.
The same Neanderthal. That he was found in the 19th century. And Rudolf Virchow said that it was an old man with arthritis, or a Russian Cossack. And this tale with a beard is retold by the same creationists in pamphlets. And the fact that 600 individuals of Neanderthals were found and there are complete skeletons, and there are many of them ... Who knows about this?
O.O.: Can you tell us in more detail what we now know about Neanderthals?
A.S.: Yes, we know a lot about them. Because their genetics have been studied. It is clear that their structure and skeleton have been fully studied, because all the bones of their skeleton have been found, including the hyoid bone, the bones of the inner ear, the entire skeleton, and all age stages - from babies to decrepit, toothless old people. And he studies the diet of Neanderthals - what they ate, how they hunted, who they hunted, their diseases, their genetics. Including thanks to genetics, the color of their skin, the color of their hair is known. Stanislav Drobyshevsky jokes about this topic. These ancient guys have been studied better than some modern races, precisely because of the things that were discussed, that Neanderthals can be studied, but some modern Australian aborigines are not very good.
O.O.: That is, for a modern anthropologist, it’s even harder to work in some ways than…
A.S.: With the modern than with the ancient. Because when you study the ancients, you don't seem to offend the modern ones. Although it is true, for example, in popular culture, in the cinema, too, there was such a tendency for an overly politically correct representation of the same Neanderthals. If earlier they were shown in the cinema almost as half-monkeys who had just climbed down from a tree. And now we see such high-browed dreamy philosophers, highly moral noble savages who are offended, you see, by these Cro-Magnons. This trend can also be seen in popular culture.
O.O.: Apparently, this is a consequence of the fact that Neanderthals have now been studied quite well and ideas about them have changed. And how intellectually in this sense were they equal to us - Cro-Magnons, Denisovans? Can we understand? You also have a separate such chapter about the myth of the Neanderthal brain.
A.S.: The intellect and the brain are, firstly, different things. It is known that Neanderthals really had a very large brain. And it was, on average, larger than that of modern humans. Another thing is that the ancient sapiens had an even larger brain on average. But Neanderthals did indeed have large brains. And they had a relatively advanced culture. They made a variety of complex tools. They also had such a conveyor production, that is, they made a lot of standard flakes from a blank (nucleus), from which they already made a tool.
They had compound tools, that is, they first learned how to attach a stone tip to a wooden stick, a wooden handle. Moreover, they did it, apparently, with the help of strings and with the help of resin. They had bone tools. They actively used fire. They hunted the largest animals successfully. They had jewelry. That is, there are finds of shells, teeth. There are finds of bird claws, which, apparently, hung around their necks in the form of a necklace. They actively used dyes. There are a large number of finds of ocher (red dye). Moreover, it is interesting that they dragged him for tens of kilometers. That is, the deposit of this ocher is located many tens of kilometers from the Neanderthal site, that is, it was necessary to go there, get this case and bring it. But in the end, the Neanderthals did not have any fine art as such. That is, on the topic of their difference from our ancestors, from us, for all that, their behavior was varied subject-specific, but with symbolic things they were not very good.
O.O.: So you are now talking about the ability to generalize, that is, about a very complex form of intelligence. Who was smarter after all - Cro-Magnons, Neanderthals or Denisovans?
A.S.: Much less is known about the Denisovans.
OO: After all, they lived at the same time.
A.S.: It is often concluded that since the Neanderthals died out, and the Cro-Magnons remained, it means that the Cro-Magnons were smarter. But in terms of culture, Cro-Magnon people are still Upper Paleolithic, the Neanderthals were outnumbered. And, apparently, therefore, yes, perhaps, in terms of ingenuity, in terms of the diversity of culture, the Cro-Magnons were still cooler. But there are different points of view on this. I am sure that some very famous archaeologists will disagree with me. But the Neanderthals really ... That is, the coolest art from Neanderthals - this is such a lattice on the wall of one of the caves of Gibraltar. There was found such a slop. This is the maximum that Neanderthals were capable of.
O.O.: As far as I understand, paleoanthropologists have no consensus on where the Neanderthals disappeared and how it happened. Which version do you prefer?
A.S.: The fact remains that the Neanderthals died out. Cro-Magnons came to Eurasia - Neanderthals disappeared. Probably, there was a complex of some reasons. That is, probably, this is a typical result of the competition of two species that occupy a similar niche. One supersedes the other. Did they have aggressive encounters, or did they just gradually push them out. We still know that there was some miscegenation, mixing. That is, somehow the Neanderthals disappeared into this stream of guests from the south. I mean, something happened. There must have been illnesses. There were fewer Neanderthals. The climate has changed, the game has become less. That is, probably, it was a combination of reasons.
O.O.: Have you ever wondered: how would human evolution go then if everything happened the other way around?
A.S.: It is necessary to ask science fiction writers. You know that the idea of Neanderthal cloning is being discussed now. At least someone is already talking about mammoth cloning. Although geneticists look at it very skeptically. But if it suddenly works out, then it seems to me that why not, maybe someday it will work out, then we can talk about cloning a Neanderthal. And when we receive this creature in the flesh, then it will be possible to evaluate his intellect and think about what to do with him now.
Another thing is that we clone the biological shell, but we do not clone their culture. We will not revive their language, their customs and traditions. So cloning won't work.
O.O .: Just wondering what we would have inherited from them if we were ...
We have these 2.5% Neanderthal DNA with you. And now geneticists are actively studying just this contribution that he gave modern man. He gave something in terms of immunity, in terms of metabolism, something else.
A.S.: We have inherited something. So there was an exchange. And some archaeologists believe that there was also a cultural exchange. In any case, there was a genetic exchange. That is, we have these 2.5% Neanderthal DNA with you. And now geneticists are actively studying just this contribution that he gave to modern man. He gave something in terms of immunity, in terms of metabolism, something else.
OO: You also have a whole separate chapter devoted to how ancient people ate. Indeed, now we very often hear references when modern nutritionists, based on paleo diets, are building nutrition models for us today. And at the same time, they say that let's see how our ancestors ate. On this occasion, Alexander Panchin loves to joke that our ancestors ate everything fresh, without GMOs, without chemicals, without pesticides, they only lived for a short time. In general, they all ate well. Tell us about these food myths. Firstly, we know that they were people… One of the versions is that they were vegetarians, that they ate only plant foods and did not eat anything…
A.S.: There are two opposite camps. Because when you mentioned the paleo diet... The paleo diet is a very definite trend in popular dietary science.
O.O.: In modern dietetics.
A.S.: And they just go from that ... If the most hardcore of the paleo diet that has been going on since the 1970s is that our ancestors were originally predators, ultra-meat-eaters.
O.O.: Scavengers. Not?
A.S.: No. They have predators. I just like to joke about scavengers. Because who wants to eat carrion now? I just like to joke that if you want a natural diet, let's get habilis. According to one of the reconstructions (and it is important that we are talking about reconstructions), they ate carrion. Let's eat carrion. It `s naturally.
And, for example, the diet of Australopithecus sediba was recently studied. And it turned out that a significant part of his diet was tree bark. Let's eat tree bark. Want to? It `s naturally. Therefore, these talks about naturalness are very funny. Because this is how vegetarians, and supporters of the Paleo diet (raw foodists), and so on and so forth justify their approaches. And who will we take as a standard of naturalness? How far back in time do we go? Why 100 thousand years ago to eat naturally? Why not a million years ago or 2 million years ago? Where do we take this measure of naturalness?
O.O.: And how did they actually eat?
A.S.: And the trick is that there has never been any single diet.
O.O.: Not in any period, right?
A.S.: These same proponents of the Paleo diet take either the hypothetical diet of their ancestors as a standard, or consider some modern diets as confirmation of their hypotheses. traditional peoples. Only depending on who it is, they take Papuans or Bushmen, or some northern Eskimos. And if we take, for example, the Eskimos and Papuans, then we will see directly opposite things. That is, if the Eskimos (say, at the beginning of the 20th century, now they are all globalized), the diet was 80% meat and fat. Moreover, the Eskimo ate a kilogram of meat and 200 grams of pure fat per day. And that's all. Simply because nothing grows there. And if a European is put on this "natural" diet, the European will die. And some tribes of the Papuans diet for more than 90 percent is sweet potato. They are not, strictly speaking, hunter-gatherers. They are such primitive farmers. They are Neolithic. And they grow this sweet potato. And they eat nothing but sweet potatoes. And now they have more than 90 percent carbohydrates.
In addition, by the way, they still smoke without exception. This is a European influence. Both men and women smoke there. And they live...
O.O.: And if a European is put on 90% carbohydrates... If we eat potatoes on 90%, then the effect is clear.
A.S.: In general, nothing good most likely. If a person is strong ... There is also natural selection. Why can they eat it? Because they have been eating it for many generations. And those who couldn't, they just died. happened natural selection. So, if someone believes that evolution stopped when the Paleolithic ended, there was a Neolithic revolution, as they argue, they switched to agriculture and began to eat wrong ... For many thousands of years, a person eats what he grew in the fields. Dairy products, grains, legumes, tubers - all of which are considered evil by Paleo dieters. In the end, it turns out that if an elderly person... We have elderly people now. This is something that was not global then. The age profile has completely changed. If an elderly person eliminates dairy products, osteoporosis is highly likely to begin. If he eliminates grains, there are studies that show that he is more likely to have bowel cancer. Why exclude these things, except for some individual indication?
O.O.: That is, it is actually still very interesting that knowledge about ancient people, about their way of life helps us better navigate our modern times, about how we should now build our survival strategy.
A.S.: Yes. And what is even more interesting is that our knowledge and how they ate are changing very much. And literally in the last few years we have learned a lot of things that we did not know. Who thought that Neanderthals, it turns out, ate boiled barley? In various classic books, it was written that Neanderthals are practically specialized predators, that is, they ate meat (mammoths, sometimes rhinos). Now we find out thanks to the study of tartar, the study of coprolites (petrified feces) ... The approach to how to eat now should probably be built on our modern body, on our individual characteristics, and not on what we think we should eat naturally. That the ancestors of 100 thousand years ago did not drink milk, and therefore we will not do this. But this is stupid.
Although the idea for the masses sounds convincing. And many succumb to this fashion and in doing so harm themselves.
O.O.: And in order to prevent this from happening to them, of course, they need to read the book "Myths about Human Evolution".
A.S.: At least.
OO: Or go to your portal "Anthropogenesis.RU".
According to your observations, can a professional anthropologist believe in God?
Any scientist can believe in God. It shouldn't bother him. He must clearly separate the professional sphere and this. Although, if a person works with seahorses, it is easier for him. If he works with the origin of a person, then some kind of conflict is inevitable.
A.S.: Yes, any scientist can believe in God. It seems to me that if a person is intelligent, this should not interfere with him. He must clearly separate the professional sphere and this. Although, if a person works with seahorses, it is easier for him. If he works with the origin of a person, then some kind of conflict is inevitable. How will he deal with this conflict... But somehow they figure it out. You asked about whether an anthropologist can be a believer. And here, on the other hand, one can say whether a priest can be an evolutionist. All around. Such people came to us at events and wrote letters to me.
O.O.: Over the past decades, maybe the last 50 years in total, anthropologists have discovered, openly described more than 12 species of different Homo. Only we are left. And which of the extinct species do you feel sorry for the most?
A.S.: On the one hand, why feel sorry for them? Because some of them are our ancestors. That is, we are them, only in the future for them. But it would be interesting, of course, to look at the hobbits. They are, in my opinion, the most bizarre. But in principle, any of these species would probably be an ornament ... I don’t know, it’s probably incorrect to keep them in a zoo. But that would be great. And we at least try to bring them to life with the help of computer graphics. We are currently doing computer animation. They raised money from all over the world. They collected something. And now we are making a computer cartoon called "From Monkey to Man". We have a specialist in computer graphics Sergey Krivoplyasov. At least they will come to life on the screen. Maybe not in the flesh, but on the screen we will revive them.
O.O.: Of the finds of the last decade related to paleoanthropology, which finds would you mark as the brightest, the most important, the most memorable? What surprised you the most?
A.S.: Yes, they just found Homo naledi in South Africa in the fall. It's amazing. There are 15 of them, or something, individuals. And there is a whole skeleton almost and a skull. In general, no one has ever found finds of such antiquity, such complete skeletons. And we are very proud that we already have the skull of this Homo naledi. Moreover, this is a personal gift from Lee Berger, their discoverer. He sent us a parcel from South Africa. And we have already shown it to everyone on our forum "Scientists against myths". In general, I was happy to hold it in my hands. And, by the way, by placing the skull of Australopithecus Sediba and this Homo naledi next to it, it is simply visible to the naked eye that this is clearly his descendant. And the fact that they are both found in South Africa ... Moreover, they are quite close to each other there. Clearly it is an ancestor and a descendant. Will wait. There are no exact dates for these Homo naledi. How did they get there, in this hidden chamber deep in the cave. Also a question. It was very cool. And this just says that, I think, there will be many such finds in the coming years. Many more. And maybe even cooler ones.
O.O.: And you, of course, will tell the readers of the Anthropogenesis.RU portal about this.
A.S.: We are obliged to do it.
OO: Thank you very much. Our program included the creator of the Anthropogenesis.RU portal, the author of the book Myths about Human Evolution, Alexander Sokolov.