A Theory You’ve Never Heard Of | Michael Robinson | TEDxUniversityofHartford

mehr Dokus
   

The Hamitic Hypothesis was a 19th century anthropological theory that claimed that humans originated in Asia and then migrated to other regions of the world. The theory was used to explain the discovery of so-called “white races” in Africa in the late 1800s. The Hamitic Hypothesis was not simply a curiosity of anthropological science. It was an idea that changed lives: from those European colonists who relied upon it to justify their presence in Africa, to the scientists who used it to explain away the accomplishments of African civilizations as a result of “white” influence. Ultimately, the Hamitic Hypothesis anchored a global theory of human origins and migration that, when combined with the Aryan race theory, shaped anthropology, colonial policy, and even the attitudes of Africans themselves for a hundred years.

Michael Robinson is a historian of science and exploration at the University of Hartford. He is the author of „The Coldest Crucible: Arctic Exploration and American Culture.“ His new book The Lost White Tribe: Explorers, Scientists, and the Theory that Changed a Continent“ comes out with Oxford University Press in December.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Kategorie: TED Talks

Du kannst diese HTML tags und attribute verwenden: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>