User talk:Mkweingart
I think this is an important topic. I was struck by the comical phrase “superficially accurate”. I also watched part of the DVD extras and saw the video of the person visiting the Bushmen. He said he was “disillusioned” by what he saw. What I saw is these people were dressed in civilian clothing. Let’s just assume they were the same people that had once been nearly completely nude and over the decades clothing was introduced. There is no reason one ought not to consider a separate conjecture, i.e.: the introduction of other things like the Coke bottle had perverted their culture. Clearly the people we see in the meta-film contained in the DVD extras, have a different life than the Bushmen depicted in the film.
One neither can nor should make any conclusions regarding the past based on the DVD extra film that depicts the present (I am trying to avoid calling it a documentary). Your assertion is correct and it is even amazing that the meta-film maker thinks he has evidence to be “disillusioned”…in fact, it is a non sequitur. I couldn’t watch it beyond his revelation of being “disillusioned” mostly because I felt he would maintain that stance amid these clothed little people (and I did not see/hear the translation). His “disillusioned” stance may have even been the plot of the movie had the Coke bottle remained, so one can even see “superficial evidence” that technology did pervert that village under the assumption that there are some nontrivial truths regarding the Bushmen’s connection with nature as was depicted in the film.
For starters it would be vastly more helpful to state in what ways it is inaccurate and simultaneously in what ways it is accurate. We should also keep in mind that scientific knowledge can change over time, so the discussion ought to include that as well. Even if something is “inaccurate” today, it may have been “accurate” at that time, i.e.: a worthwhile hypothesis even though it turned out to be false. It is counterproductive to blame science when we can point to definite cases where it went astray; those incorrect ideas are essential for seeking the “truth” with respect to some disciplines of science.