-Caveat Lector-
>As far as the oral tradition being more prominent than written
>documents, here's 2 things to consider:
>
>1. Women were (and outside the Western world, still are) often
>illiterate, and oral tradition was the only way for them to transmit
>knowledge.
The vast majority of humanity was illiterate prior to the 19th century, male and
female.
>2. Until the 20th century, paper and ink were relatively expensive, and
>were used for "important" things, and "important" was decided by the
>powers that be, who were mostly men.
You exaggerate. Paper and ink (or charcoal, or pencil lead) was relatively cheap,
especially by the 18th and 19th centuries. Popular novels, children's books, poetry,
private letters, all were flowing around the globe but no one bothered to write down
anything about the wiccans. Considering there were people writing things (real or
imagined) about groups like the Masons, the Illuminati, all manner of secret and
revolutionary societies, isn't it strange that none mentioned Wicca?
>Since Wicca was mainly a phenomenon of women and the lower
>socioeconomic classes, it is natural that its traditions would be
>preserved orally rather than on paper. This does not make it any less
>valid. Even the Bible was transmitted orally before being set to paper.
Which tends to show how unreliable the Bible is asa historical document, rather than
how reliable oral sources are.
>Christian author Josh McDowell, in his book "Evidence that Demands a
>Verdict" (don't have the pub. info handy, but it's a mass-market
>paperback that should be in any Christian bookstore) included a chart
>showing the lag time between the first known oral transmission, and the
>setting down on paper, for not only the various books of the Bible, but
>also the works of Homer, Virgil, and other ancient writings. Even if
>you don't agree with McDowell's religious perspective, the chart is an
>interesting and valuable research tool.
No doubt. However the accuracy of oral history transferred to writing can only be
judged (by it's nature) from the date it is written down. There are no written Wiccan
documents before the 20th century.
And here is what I wanted to post:
http://www.inside.com/jcs/Story?article_id=20218&pod_id=8
What Is 'IT'? Book Proposal Heightens Intrigue About Secret Invention Touted as Bigger
Than the Internet or PC
Steve Jobs quoted on accomplished scientist's new device: 'If enough people see the
machine you won't have to convince them to architect cities around it. It'll just
happen.' A venerable press pays $250,000 for a book on project cloaked in
unprecedented secrecy. EXCLUSIVE
Got a clue? Post your guess as to what IT is.
by PJ Mark
Tuesday , January 09, 2001 01:43 p.m.
Harvard Business School Press executive editor Hollis Heimbouch has just paid $250,000
for a book about IT -- but neither the editor nor the agent, Dan Kois of The Sagalyn
Literary Agency, knows what IT is.
All they do know: IT, also code-named Ginger, is an invention developed by 49-year-old
scientist Dean Kamen, and the subject of a planned book by journalist Steve Kemper.
According to Kemper's proposal, IT will change the world, and is so extraordinary that
it has drawn the attention of technology visionaries Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs and the
investment dollars of pre-eminent Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Doerr, among
others.
Kemper -- who has been published in Smithsonian, National Geographic and Outside among
others -- has had exclusive access to Kamen and the engineers at his New
Hampshire-based research and development company, DEKA, for the past year and a half.
He tags the proposed book as Soul of the New Machine meets The New New Thing and won
over his agent and publisher with e-mails describing the project in carefully couched
language. He also included an amusing narrative of a meeting between Bezos, Jobs,
Doerr and Kamen.
The invention itself is as interesting as the inventor. Kamen is 'a true eccentric,
cantankerous and opinionated, a great character,' the proposal says, with large gaps
when it comes to pop culture.
In the proposal, Doerr calls Kamen -- who was just awarded the National Medal of
Technology, the country's highest such award -- a combination of Henry Ford and Thomas
Edison. Doerr also says, a touch ominously, that he had been sure that he wouldn't see
the development of anything in his lifetime as important as the World Wide Web --
until he saw IT. According to the proposal, another investor, Credit Suisse First
Boston, expects Kamen's invention to make more money in its first year than any
start-up in history, predicting Kamen will be worth more in five years than Bill
Gates. Jobs told Kamen the invention would be as significant as the PC, the proposal
says.
And though there are no specifics in the proposal as to what the invention is, there
are some tantalizing clues. Is IT an energy source? Some sort of environmentally
friendly personal transport device? One editor who saw the proposal went as far as to
speculate -- jokingly (perhaps) -- that IT was a type of personal hovering craft.
Consider the following items, culled from the proposal:
IT is not a medical invention.
In a private meeting with Bezos, Jobs and Doerr, Kamen assembled two Gingers -- or ITs
-- in 10 minutes, using a screwdriver and hex wrenches from components that fit into a
couple of large duffel bags and some cardboard boxes.
The invention has a fun element to it, because once a Ginger was turned on, Bezos
started laughing his ''loud, honking laugh.''
There are possibly two Ginger models, named Metro and Pro -- and the Metro may
possibly cost less than $2,000.
Bezos is quoted as saying that IT ''is a product so revolutionary, you'll have no
problem selling it. The question is, are people going to be allowed to use it?''
Jobs is quoted as saying: ''If enough people see the machine you won't have to
convince them to architect cities around it. It'll just happen.''
Kemper says the invention will ''sweep over the world and change lives, cities, and
ways of thinking.''
The ''core technology and its implementations'' will, according to Kamen, ''have a
big, broad impact not only on social institutions but some billion-dollar old-line
companies.'' And the invention will ''profoundly affect our environment and the way
people live worldwide. It will be an alternative to products that are dirty,
expensive, sometimes dangerous and often frustrating, especially for people in the
cities.''
IT will be a mass-market consumer product ''likely to run afoul of existing
regulations and or inspire new ones,'' according to Kemper. The invention will also
likely require ''meeting with city planners, regulators, legislators, large commercial
companies and university presidents about how cities, companies and campuses can be
retro-fitted for Ginger.''
The invention itself is as interesting as the inventor. Kamen -- ''a true eccentric,
cantankerous and opinionated, a great character,'' according to the proposal --
dropped out of college in his 20s, then invented the first drug infusion pump; he
later created the first portable insulin pump and dialysis machine.
Kamen, an avid aviator who commutes via a helicopter, is also the founder of FIRST --
For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology -- a nonprofit organization
that encourages young people to pursue studies and careers in math and science. He's a
single man obsessed with his work and out of touch with popular culture. According to
the proposal, Kamen was seated at a White House dinner next to two people he'd never
heard of: Shirley MacLaine and Warren Beatty.
Kamen's most recent invention is the iBot, an off-road wheelchair that can climb
stairs, cover sand and gravel and rise to balance on two wheels. A prototype iBot was
showcased by wheelchair-bound journalist John Hockenberry at last year's TED
conference in Monterrey, Calif.; the demonstration was greeted by wild applause.
IT/Ginger won't be revealed until 2002, the proposal says. No one has seen the project
except Kamen, Kemper, the engineers and the investors -- which include Doerr, a
partner in the venture capital firm of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which helped
launch Netscape, Amazon, Juniper Networks, Excite, and @Home, among others; and
Michael Schmertzler, managing director of Credit Suisse First Boston. Others who have
seen the invention and signed confidentiality agreements include minor investors Paul
Allaire, CEO of Xerox; and Vern Loucks, recently retired CEO of Baxter. Bezos, Jobs
and writer/venture capitalist Randy Komisar sit on the advisory board. Kamen retains
85 percent of his new company, according to the proposal.
Why the secrecy? Kamen fears, as he states in a letter to Kemper that is included in
the proposal, that ''huge corporations'' might catch wind of the invention and ''use
their massive resources to erect obstacles against us or, worse, simply appropriate
the technology by assigning hundreds of engineers to catch up to us, and thousands of
employees to produce it in their plants.''
But such secrecy may have been enough to turn publishers away. ''The Internet changed
the world, too'' said one editor who considered the project, ''but books about it
don't really sell.'' As for the quarter-million-dollar price tag for North American
rights: on the one hand, it doesn't seem to be a lot for a book about an invention
which has mesmerized such well-known technology moguls. On the other, $250,000 is a
lot to pay for a story about a product that hasn't been seen, defined or named.
''We were well aware of Kamen,'' says book editor Heimbouch, who says she's been
publishing in this technology circle for a long time.'' (The bestselling The Monk and
the Riddle: The Education of a Silicon Valley Entrepreneur by Komisar is hers.) So
jumping on board for the book wasn't such a dilemma. Besides, says Heimbouch, Harvard
Business School Press had intended to approach Kamen about doing a book anyway. ''He's
an inventor of great technologies that make people's lives better,'' she says.
Harvard Business School Press, a division of Harvard Business School Publishing, is a
wholly owned, nonprofit subsidiary of Harvard University. The Sagalyn Agency retains
all but North American rights to the book. •
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