Writing Assigment 3 - Compare Ancient or Pehistoric Culture with Our Own

For writing assignment three, I ask the students to write a comparison essay comparing some aspect of one of the ancient or prehisoric cultures from class discussions or the textbook and draw a comparison with some aspect of our contemporary culture.  The comparison should include specific objects or places mentioned in class discussions or the text.

Since I am studying online Personal Learning Environments while teaching this course, I have decided to draw from that experience.  I will compare the Lascaux cave paintings to Facebook.

The Lascaux cave paintings are similar to Facebook in a number of ways.  First it involves some type of social gathering or community. It is theorized that groups of people gathered in Lascaux for reasons that may have been religious, social, and/or political in nature.  To say the least, however, it was obviously communal.  Similarly Facebook is a gathering place.  We essentially create "tribes" of people to participate in communal activities that are reigious, social, and/or political in nature.  On Facebook, for instance, one creates a friend list based on common interests or common history. 

Also, a similarity could be drawn regarding communication.  What is the internet other than a huge virtual cave wall on which to leave ones marks and obtain information.  There is a well respected theory that the drawings in these caves were a shamanistic exercise, it is impossible to deny, though, that they were an expression or transmission of information, and that information was received or consumed by others.  I make the comparison to the internet as a whole, but specifically Facebook involves one putting images on a wall expressing information about one's daily life, likes, dislikes, and beliefs for others to consume, and there is an intent or a belief that that information will have an impact on others.

Now, certainly they differ reagring the "shamanistic exercise."  Shamanism is the belief that a shaman (a religious figure) has the ability to walk in two worlds, the real world and the spirit world.  Many now believe that the drawings represent an ability to capture the essence of the animals depicted in order to be strong, fast, cunning etc.  In shamanism, there is a transformation.  So, what does this have to do with Facebook?  I would argue that when we engage in a social site that we transform ouselves into a different persona.  Some people take this to etremes, of course, and actually pretend to be someone else.  Given that we control the content of our online identity, however, even those whom accurately represent their identities are precisely choosing to adopt characteristics that they see fit, just as the Paleolithic shaman would have adopted the characteristics of a bull or horse.

The obvious contrast that I will discuss involves digital and analog.  The cave painters (analog) actually touched those stone walls and scratched and drew with charlcoal and paint.  They felt the information that they transmitted, and that process also transmits information.   On Facebook (dgital), we type in a code that prompts a machne to simulate markmaking that signifies our intent.  It, in that repsect, is a very different experience.  Still, I don't think we are so different form those prehistoric humans.  We simply have more sophisticated tools.