Documentary - Mongolia

Mongolia is one of the most remote, high elevation countries on the planet. Its vastness - a realm between China and Russia - contains some of the most beautiful landscapes and some of the most arid deserts. Below is a documentary about Mongolia, and scattered throughout this post are random images of Mongolia from Google Image.

Mongolia

Mongolia is one of the highest places on Earth, located between Russia and China. It is characterized by seemingly infinite plains and by the nomadic tradition of its peoples who continue to live in tents. They are completely dedicated to their herds as their ancestors were. With a continental climate, temperatures in Mongolia range from 40 degrees Celsius below zero in the winter to 35 degrees in the summer. Since the end of the communist era, visitors have experienced a secure and stable environment making Mongolia paradise both for business and leisure.

A visit to the Gandan Monastery in Ulaanbaatar, the dynamic capital of the country, the mesmerizing natural beauty of the northern regions, even the mythical Gobi Desert where we will encounter huge dunes and the main dinosaur fossil digs in the world and encounters with its welcoming and generous people, will turn this journey into a unique discovery and an unforgettable experience. Here, one can experience the flavor of unknown territory without any preparation, without dressing and with a spontaneity that is certain to leave a lasting impression. On top of their horses, Mongols gave the world the largest empire that had ever known in just 25 years. Larger than the Roman Empire, larger than all territories conquered by Alexander the Great, Mongolia was forged under the leadership of Temujin, known as Genghis Khan – the emperor of all men to his men who venerated him and still venerate him today.

In 1206, Genghis Khan was able to put together the most powerful and disciplined cavalry ever known with warrior horsemen capable of mobilizing for war in an instant. Genghis Khan created the feared flash warfare, a tactic that modern armies still use. This national hero and his successors conquered all of Asia and European Russia and they established armies even in Central Europe and in Southeast Asia without ever abandoning their families that traveled with them in their years. Genghis Khan’s conquest were a major reason for the genetic mix that took place between Mongols and other people. It is said that the greatest treasures for the Mongols were the two key elements for life on the steps, women and horses. It is also said that one out of every 200 people is a descendant of Genghis Khan, although, only Mongol children are born with a blue stain on their back that disappears after their first year.

Along with a tradition of liberty and free movement that characterizes nomads and during a period of time known as Pax Mongolica, the Mongols covered an open and secured territory for commerce and for the free practice of religion that began in the Far East and ended in Europe. An area that voyagers and explores such as Marco Polo took full advantage of. After the death of Genghis Khan and of his eldest son, nothing more was known of his audacious cavalry. The Mongols are still the only people to ride on foot which enables them to cover long distances without tiring out the horses too much. Since the horseman eases each jumps with his knees and also allows them to rotate their torso completely in order to shoot arrows against the enemy in any direction.

Wade Davis - The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World

Interesting talk about the loss of knowledge as we progressively destroy the few remaining indigenous cultures around the planet. This is one of several videos being pout up online from the Creative Innovation 2012 conference in Australia.

The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World. Wade Davis

Wade Davis is an Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society. An ethnographer, writer, photographer, and filmmaker, Davis holds degrees in anthropology and biology and received his Ph.D. in ethnobotany, all from Harvard University. In this talk at the Creative Innovation 2012 conference, Davis speaks about the world's at-risk indigenous cultures, and the vast archive and knowledge and expertise that they represent, and how we can learn from them. November 2012.

All in the Mind - How Language Shapes Thought

The notion that the language we live and speak (and with which we think) shapes our thinking and our perception is not new, and it is still widely debated among linguists, philosophers, and neuroscientists (among others). However, Lera Boroditsky, of Stanford University, offers new proof that this idea is more than a notion - it's a reality.

Here are a couple of Boroditsky's papers from the popular press (more at her site):

• Boroditsky, L. (2011). How language shapes thought. Scientific American, February 2011
• Boroditsky, L. (2010). Lost in Translation. Wall Street Journal. July 24, 2010
• Boroditsky, L. (2010). Do the languages we speak shape the way we think? The Economist.
• 3-part Oxford-style debate. I represented the “pro” side. "Pro" won by reader vote (78% pro)

Enjoy the discussion.

How language shapes thought

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• show transcript

Broadcast: Sunday 28 October 2012

It’s been controversial for centuries but new empirical research suggests that language has a powerful influence over the way we think and perceive the world. Lera Boroditsky from Stanford University suggests that Japanese and Spanish speakers have a different sense of blame, and some Indigenous Australians have a different sense of space—all because of the language they speak.

Image:
Lera Boroditsky with children on Cape York Peninsular (Supplied by Lera Boroditsky)

Image:
Lera Boroditsky (Supplied by Lera Boroditsky)

Image:
Alice Gaby (Supplied by Alice Gaby)

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Cape York Peninsular

Related

Audio: More from linguist Alice Gaby about her work with indigenous language speakers on Cape York Peninsula   (11:56, 5.47MB) 

Show Transcript 

Guests

• Lera Boroditsky: Assistant Professor of Psychology, Stanford University 
• Dr Alice Gaby: Linguist, Monash University

Credits

Presenter: Lynne Malcolm

Documentary - America Before Columbus

Separating the myth of the pre-European Americas from the what the evidence actually shows - certainly not the history I learned in high school, or even college.




America Before Columbus

History books traditionally depict the pre-Columbus Americas as a pristine wilderness where small native villages lived in harmony with nature.

But scientific evidence tells a very different story: When Columbus stepped ashore in 1492, millions of people were already living there. America wasn’t exactly a New World, but a very old one whose inhabitants had built a vast infrastructure of cities, orchards, canals and causeways.

The English brought honeybees to the Americas for honey, but the bees pollinated orchards along the East Coast. Thanks to the feral honeybees, many of the plants the Europeans brought, like apples and peaches, proliferated. Some 12,000 years ago, North American mammoths, ancient horses, and other large mammals vanished. The first horses in America since the Pleistocene era arrived with Columbus in 1493.

Settlers in the Americas told of rivers that had more fish than water. The South American potato helped spark a population explosion in Europe. In 1491, the Americas had few domesticated animals, and used the llama as their beast of burden.

In 1491, more people lived in the Americas than in Europe. The first conquistadors were sailors and adventurers. In 1492, the Americas were not a pristine wilderness but a crowded and managed landscape. The now barren Chaco Canyon was once covered with vegetation. Along with crops like wheat, weeds like dandelion were brought to America by Europeans.

It’s believed that the domestication of the turkey began in pre-Columbian Mexico, and did not exist in Europe in 1491. By 1500, European settlers and their plants and animals had altered much of the Americas’ landscape. While beans, potatoes, and maize from the Americas became major crops in continental Europe.