BURNING BRAINS

We're sending Ishi back!

Well, not all of him, actually, just his brain. Ishi was the last surviving member of the Yahi tribe of California when he died in 1916, and somehow the Smithsonian Institution came into possession of at least a portion of Ishi's internal organs. A news item from Reuters headlined "Smithsonian to return Indian brain" says that:

"The struggle over Ishi began earlier this year when his brain was discovered sitting in a jar in a Smithsonian storage facility near Washington."

You need to know that the Yahis were a peaceful indigenous Native American people who lived in what is now California. You also need to know that they disappeared in a drawn-out genocidal slaughter, all except for Ishi, who ended up with a gig as an interview subject for a museum full of anthropologists in San Francisco. As if that wasn't bad enough, when Ishi died, those same scientific types apparently wanted a souvenir and kept his brain, as if he had been some sort of alien curiosity.*

And then they forgot where they stashed it!

If you've a modicum of awareness of the current state of Native American culture and politics, you know that more and more Indians have recently been asking silly questions like, "hey, white man, can we have our grandparents back now?" (Not to mention all their stuff!) Just imagine the reaction if you said in reply, "sorry, all I have left is this gall bladder!" In other words, there's only one way the man's brain got to be inside that jar, and that's if somebody messed with him.

When news of the discovery broke, righteously offended and concerned California Indian tribes immediately asked for the brain so they could bury it in Ishi's "ancestral area." The Smithsonian at first refused to give up the stolen brain, since official policy is to return remains to living relatives, and Ishi was thought to have been the last of his kind. Fortunately, the Smithsonian eventually determined that Ishi's people had been part of a larger grouping, the Yahi-Yana tribe, and has in fact just decided that the modern-day Yana Indians of northern California are qualified to accept Ishi's brain for burial.

Meanwhile this week in San Jose, the attendees at the Worldwide Developers Conference are no longer members of a lost tribe, and Microsoft anthropologists have not removed their brains and preserved them in jars. Instead, brains are glowing with white heat! Yes, legions of Übergeeks are sharing visions and scarfing up goodies even as we speak. By the time you read this, Steve Jobs and Avie Tevanian will hopefully have revealed Apple Computer's operating system plans for the future, achieved geek critical mass, and started a chain reaction.

Maybe it has to do with the end of the century. Maybe it has to do with unseen events just over the horizon. But wherever you look, there are hints of something big in the works for Apple.

"Something big!"

Is your brain on fire yet? There's at least a little smoke coming out of Robert Morgan's ears. His latest RFI Report at MacWEEK.com talks of "bearing fruit" and hints at great significance in the juxtaposition of the apple and Japanese maple trees in his front yard, but of course you didn't hear that from him. (Danger: flammable material!) Whether there's anything to this or not, the anticipation of Big News is always good for a few hot flashes.

And I'm not talking about the old "Macs-running-PC software" rumor that came back again last week as it does before every big Apple event. (This time it was in the guise of a supposed Apple acquisition of Connectix and bundling of Virtual PC with Mac OS X!) It might be a good thing for some people, but we're not sure the brain that thought that one up is even on a par with the ones that decided it would be fun to use the last Yahi's thinking engine as a carnival exhibit. Yes, having Macs run PC software as a matter of course is a great idea: and if that's announced this week, next year's WWDC should be much more, uh, affordable. . .

Anyway, speaking of burning brains, check out the lady in the picture below. (No, that's not an octopus grabbing her by the hair!) Have you ever looked at illustrated manuscripts or other medieval portrayals of saints and seers? They're frequently shown with flames coming out of their heads or standing under a halo of fire. One such historial figure often portrayed in this manner is Hildegard von Bingen, 1098 - 1179. whose 900th birthday was observed last year.

Hildegard started having visions of "luminous objects" at the tender age of three but was clever enough to conceal this fact until later in life. Born the 10th child of a noble family and consequently dedicated to the church ("tithed" ) as such 10th children often were, at age 8 she was sent away to study with a famous anchoress named Jutta, who lived at the Benedictine monastery in Disibodenberg. "Anchors" of both sexes (but usually women) were virtually sealed away for life in tiny rooms built adjacent to churches, so that the occupant could observe the services through a small window. Thus sealed away from the world, an anchoress would typically spend her entire life in prayer and contemplation. Jutta was beautiful, from a wealthy family, very well known, and in later years attracted a small group of students whose noble families sent their daughters to study with the anchoress.

In the good old twelfth century, a person picked a goal and stuck to it. Hildegard studied with Jutta for 30 years, all the while continuing to have visions and studying Scripture. When Jutta died, Hildegard was elected head of the convent that had grown up at the anchorage. Some four years later, in 1141, Hildegard saw the Big Light!

"The heavens were opened and a blinding light of exceptional brilliance flowed through my entire brain. And so it kindled my whole heart and breast like a flame, not burning but warming."

This inspiring vision came with a message, that she was henceforth to write down everything she saw in her visions and what they meant. And so she did! Hildegard's writings, paintings, and musical compositions have been studied for centuries and are still being published and performed today. You can visit the bookstore at the last convent she founded in 1149 at Eibingen (near Rüdesheim am Rhein), buy CDs of her music, and read her works on meditation, natural foods, healing with crystals and other "New" Age topics! (She even wrote about sex.) Another shop on the convent grounds sells wine and baked goods made from traditional grains according to recipes over 800 years old. This is one helluva an interesting lady, folks. Just run her name through an Internet search engine and then ask yourself what kind of results your name will bring up 900 years from now!

Steve Jobs is no anchorite, but for all we know he might have visions and he does have some singular notions about health and diet. Maybe after this week's revelations, everyone but me will be converting to chopped raw veggies! We'll really know that something's up when we see pictures of him with flames coming out of his head or run into white-coated Microsofties running by with portable coolers and surgical saws.

Ishi's brain was put in a jar. Hildegard's heart and tongue are in the parish church at Eibingen, believe it or not. So if you feel yourself getting fired up by all the new ideas and smell a touch of magic or historical significance in the air, my advice is: hold onto your organs!

(Everyone likes souvenirs. . .)

John H. Farr also edits the Apple Computer News for Applelinks.com and welcomes your praise. Complaints gudgingly accepted also. His own Web site, the ZOO ZONE, now sports a banner promoting 3D on the Mac. Why? Free software, of course!

The Farr Site Forum is quiet and expectant , and the Archives just sit there ticking. . .

Official Farr Site Advice: Don't believe everything you read about headaches at some ot the above linked sites. Just a thought.

* Yes, yes, they had "reasons" for what they did. But would they have done it to me or you?

February 10, 2012