Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-14


not prophecy to say that this cou
Americans might have proceeded along
the coasts of France, Spain and Italy
before striking across the Mediterran-
can to Egypt in voyage which would
have been mere child's play for men
capable of running their sailing canoes
between Yucatan and the mouth Of the
Mississippi--as there is good deal Of
reason to think they did.
Rubbish? OF course. The same sort of
rubbish which we hear from the small
but determined group of erudite but
misguided men who maintain vocifer-
ously that America and all the rest of
the world got the flame of knowledge
from Egypt.
argument that Peru got sun worship
and pyramids from Egypt lies in the
basic contention of the anti-diffuSion-
lists or evolutionists that these institu-
tons were independently invented
Sir Flinders Petrie, the distinguished
British Psychologist, Prof. j. L. Myers
Of oxford, and Sir Arthur Evans,
have only subdued, scornful chuckles
for the suggestion that Egypt Is the
mother Of all culture.
Are We to suppose" asks that brill
liant anthropologist, Bronislaw Malinow-
ski, that the use of fire for warmth
and cooking, of water for drinking and
irrigation, or air for breathing is each
a cultural invention once made in
Egypt and thence diffused? The uues-
ton might appear absurd had 1t not
been seriously put forward that the use
of water for irrigation of large stones
for building, of gold for practical and
decorative uses Is due to one single in
1uence diffused all over the world"
The same authority utters the last
word on this diffusion controversy as
follows: Diffusion Is but modified in
vention, exactly as every invention Is q
partial diffusion. No culture is SIM
pie copy Of any other No historian of
present day European culture would
dare assign 1t to any one original
source Every cultural achievement
is due to q process or growth in which
diffusion and invention have equal
shares. As independent entities, neither
invention nor diffusion ever takes place
in the sense that you could either spon-
taneously generate an idea or pour 1t
out from one head into another
Diffusion and invention are always
mixed, always inseparable In the
case OF every modern invention, we
know that 1t is invariably made and
remade time after time in different
different roads, Independently of one
another Thus the invention of the
wireless can be treated as a single and
singular event and ascribed to one man
or another only after its nature has
been completely misconceived The
compass, the art of writing, chemistry,
the calendar-al were independently
invented, as is known to Psychologists.
Diffusion Always Readaptation.
Paper was made OF papyrus In
material in Mexico. It is identical only
in its function. The technique of pro-
duction, the material or way Of using
1t, had to be independently invented
d. No culture is simple copy Of any
other No historian Of present day Eu-
ropean culture would dare assign 1t to
any one original source Diffusion
never takes place: 1t Is always q re-
adaptation, truly creative process"
Most Of the leading scientists Of the
world now agree that our twin western
continents built up their own culture
without help from the other hemiS-
phere. This is indicated by what
America did not have as well as by
what she did have. For example, the
cartwheel seems to have been unknown
in the West. If there had been a cul-
ture contact with Asia or Europe be-
| fore Columbus, would not such q COM
mon mechanical device OF the Eastern
Hemisphere as the wheel have been
brought to America?
| On the positive side, without stop
| ping to dwell on the original nature Of
| American stone architecture, languages
and agriculture, the testimony of Peru
| Wan weaving and Magyar astronomy
| alone is almost enough to persuade the
man Of common sense that America S
! culture was independently developed.
When Columbus crossed the ocean the
weaving of Peru was superior to any,
thing of the sort which had ever been
| done in Europe or Asia. And the
Mayes then were using a calendar far
| more accurate than the calendar in use
J in Europe, and which was based on the
use of an original vigesimal system Of
! counting-that is counting by twenties
instead Of by tens in the European
| manner.
These Mayas, as far back as the birth
! OF Christ, understood the uses OF zero
that is, the uses Of position value In
Enumeration. OF course the Greeks and
Romans had no such thing. The first
use OF zero in the Old World was by
the Hidus, sometime between 900 and
900 AID. Unless we wish to argue
that the HinduS got this mathematical
device from the Mayas, we must credit
| the HinduS with its independent inven-
/ ton. This is generally done. Well
1t would seem that a race capable OF
developing such skill in mathematics
and art as the Americans might have
arrived Independently at such simple
performances as sun worship and pyra-
mid building!
But, alas, there has been diffusion
with q vengeance since Columbus land
ed In the Bahamas that october morn
ing nearly 440 years ago. The tragedy
Is that most OF the best points in the
old American civilization have beer
ruined by that intrusion of . mechan-
istic European civilization on the arts.
tic culture of America 1t is fascinating
70 speculate as to what might have
happened in America if the white mar
had never come. Would the extending
empires OF the AZtecs and the Incai
have met in Central America ant
fought for the dominance Of the whole
West? Would the vctor-perhaps set
ling Gown 70 Q qedentayy. and reSlAc