Interesting discussion at the Loom (via Panda’s Thumb):
So here is a fascinating scenario to consider: a small-brained African
hominid species expands out of Africa by 2 million years ago, bringing
with it stone tools. It spreads thousands of miles across Asia,
reaching Indonesia and then getting swept to Flores. It may not have
undergone any significant dwarfing, since they were already small. This
would change the way we think about all hominids. Being big-brained and
big-bodied could no longer be considered essential requirements for
spreading out of Africa. 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. The road goes ever on and all that.
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rea 03.09.05 at 5:24 pm
“‘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 . . .
Jonathan 03.09.05 at 5:40 pm
A worthwhile discussion of “Hobbits” and Hobbits and the causal theory of reference is here.
Steve LaBonne 03.09.05 at 6:24 pm
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. ;)
Donald Johnson 03.09.05 at 7:42 pm
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.
Matt Brubeck 03.09.05 at 10:18 pm
“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).”
Dave 03.09.05 at 11:37 pm
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.
gargoyl 03.09.05 at 11:42 pm
Nice!
Skippy McGee 03.14.05 at 11:21 pm
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.
hal 03.15.05 at 1:11 pm
Has anybody seen “The Gods Must Be Crazy”?
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