Comments on: Hobbit Brains

By: hal

hal — Tue, 15 Mar 2005 18:11:57 +0000

Has anybody seen “The Gods Must Be Crazy”?

By: Skippy McGee

Skippy McGee — Tue, 15 Mar 2005 04:21:10 +0000

99.9% of all human subspecies are extinct, after being destroyed in internecine warfare with our own species, Homo Sapiens.
The remainder live rent-free in government housing, get food stamps and affirmative actions programs to help them compete on the unfair playing field populated with humans who have a 100,000 year genetic headstart.
If the dwarfs could have only made it to the new world, they might still be alive today, down on the corner drinking DD40 malt liquor and smoking crack. The environmental niche that exists there would have guaranteed their survival.

By: rea

rea — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

“’And one would have to wonder why early lineages of hominids became extinct in Africa when one branch managed to get to Flores.’

“I figure the most scientific explanation is that one day a wizard showed up at the door”

They sought the Havens long ago . . .

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

A worthwhile discussion of "Hobbits" and Hobbits and the causal theory of reference is here.

By: Steve LaBonne

Steve LaBonne — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

This is why I’ve come to love CT in the short time that I’ve been looking at it regularly. Nowhere else would Kripke come up almost immediately in this discussion. ;)

By: Donald Johnson

Donald Johnson — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Elves sought the Havens. Only three privileged hobbits took that trip. Hobbits have dwindled in size even from the LOTR days and hide from the Big People, or so I remember without having access to the canonical text.

By: Matt Brubeck

Matt Brubeck — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

“What is a hobbit? I suppose hobbits need some description nowadays, since they have become rare and shy of the Big People, as they call us. They are (or were) a little people, about half our hight, and smaller then the bearded dwarves. Hobbits have no beards. There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them disapear quietly and quickly when large stupid folk like you and me come blundering along, making a noise like elephants which they can hear a mile off. They are inclined to be fat in the stomach; they dress in bright colours (chiefly green and yellow); wear no shoes because their feet grow natural leathery soles and thick warm brown hair like the stuff on their heads (which is curly); have long clever brown fingers, good-natured faces, and laugh deep fruity laughs (especialy after dinner, which they have twice a day when they can get it).”

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

At the end of Return of the King, Gandalf seems to imply that the hobbits are getting taller, and will eventually assimilate into the human population. But a lot of Tolkien’s mythology changed between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, so I have no doubt he might have made different claims in earlier books.

By: gargoyl

gargoyl — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Nice!

By: Left Oblique

Left Oblique — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Where have all the hobbits gone?

Tolkien had one answer, but the question is still open. From the quoted article:

[O]ne would have to wonder why early lineages of hominids became extinct in Africa when one branch managed to get to Flores.

Easy. Homo sapiens (and their ilk) a…