Discussion Schedule: On Monday 5 October, we will discuss the episode entitled Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors.
Order and Timing of Episodes and Discussion
This is less complicated than spectroscopy -- but not much.
Amazon Prime Video Watchers: For those of you streaming the series on Amazon Prime Video, this episode, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, appeared for streaming in the early hours of Wednesday 30 September. You can watch it any time you like, as many times as you like.
Fox Watchers: For those of you watching the series live or recorded on Fox, this episode, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, was the second hour of the first broadcast on September 22. I watched that evening's material, and I did not see any title or transition to the second episode -- maybe I just missed it. The last topic of episode 1, Ladder to the Stars, was the description of Project Starshot. From there onward, it's Episode 2, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors.
Prime Video watchers will first have access to the latest episode on the Wednesday morning after it appears on Fox, and 5 days before class discussion. Fox live watchers will see the same episode on Tuesday evenings 13 days before discussion. IMPORTANT: To those who are recording from Fox, make sure you set your recorder to record All Episodes, not just New Episodes. Your cable guide does not see any of the episodes as new, because the series was shown on cable in spring of 2020 on National Geographic.
Finally, to add to the confusion, in the Study Guide, episodes are not in the order they will appear for us. The main difference is that Fox has switched the positions of Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (episode 11 in the Guide, but our second episode), and The Fleeting Grace of the Habitable Zone (episode 2 in the Guide but our 11th episode).
In informing you about classes, I will refer to the episodes by title, not by number, and will tell you prominently what the upcoming discussion will cover. You understand why.
Assignment for Discussion on Monday 5 October
Watch Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, and develop your questions, comments, and suggestions of needed supplemental material. Submit your thoughts by the form at the bottom of all course pages. Your input will help me adjust the content and level of our discussion. I realize that many of you are not scientists and may have many basic questions. No question is too basic !
My aim in this class is to help you understand as much of the series as possible. The catalog description of the course said that no scientific background is needed for appreciation of this course. I intend to honor that claim. I will try to deal with all your questions, but will give priority to questions that seek to better understand specific ideas or segments of the episode.
A Central Question in Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
Is there some single aspect of humans that is unique; is there one thing that makes us human?
Questions for Discussion
Your questions appear here.
• Are we animals that are controlled by our genetic programming and the instincts that are a result? Or does our rapid cortex growth somehow give us free will?
• How can a virus cause complex changes in animal behaviour? (Rabies virus makes an animal aggressive and also increases salivation, both changes increasing the likelihood or transmitting the virus.)
• Did the tyrant Ashoka choose to become compassionate as an act of free will or was his new empathy an activation of his genetic programming?
• Tyson noted that “Bee perceptions are adequate for bee needs.” This brings to mind another quote, “A butterfly lives but for a few moments, yet has time enough.”
The quote is from Rabindranath Tagore:
The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.
Time is a wealth of change, but the clock in its parody makes it mere change and no wealth.
Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf.
• What is it about us that makes us distinctly human, different from other species?
• I have found this episode to be thought provoking. What assumptions do you think lead us to believe that we can establish a hierarchy among humankind and animals in terms of "survival of the fitness" etc.
• I think Ashoka changed from an evil person to a kind one because of the man who brought the dead baby to him. Did he bring the baby back to life or was that a way to show Ashoka what awful things he been doing?
• How could Ashoka have changed 180 degrees without that change being his choice? Did he see that the awful things he'd done were so horrible? Did he realize that by changing himself he could change others?
Miscellaneous Resources
What is a gene? Find out more HERE.
Learn more about evolution HERE.
Read the poem, "On a Bird Singing in its Sleep", by Robert Frost
Read this essay, "The Judgment of the Birds", by Loren Eiseley
