Journey of Man

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02/17/2013 Every now and then a scientific discovery is made with so much social significance that the lab-dwelling scientist is compelled into public view to talk about it. Journey of Man is a terrific example. Dr. Spencer Wells' research of human DNA tells us authoritatively how just a few family groups of early modern humans ventured from Africa and, in a remarkably short time, became nearly the entire human race we know today. Moreover, that discovery is pretext to an even more powerful message: that racial distinctions, as modern people think of them, are scientifically meaningless. . That's huge. Huge. It's no surprise that Wells, clearly more at home in the laboratory, literally crossed the earth to check his work and proclaim his results as interestingly as he knew how. As a biologist he is more than up to the task. Wells explains the conceptual essence of his DNA research with impressive clarity, and none too soon: the genetic footprints he followed across the world took 50,000 years to put down, but are likely to vanish within the next century. Wells has conclusively documented a core testament to human history, one which happened so unconsciously that we might have otherwise lost that part of our shared story forever. . That's the main reason this documentary is so valuable. But there's another dimension that makes Journey of Man interesting. Wells chooses a very curious route in retracing the human journey, dedicating a significant proportion of his on-screen time to visiting indigenous people in each of the major way-points flagged by his research. At each stop he tries to explain his work to his native hosts, seemingly out of the blue - dropping by as one would for a cup of coffee, and then launching into a simplified, at times translated, academic-quality lecture on DNA research, genetics, human lineage, and what Wells' conclusions should mean to those people. . Now I've enjoyed this documentary at least a half dozen times and it is still a mystery why Wells chooses his audiences and his means of delivery. Native peoples' reactions, as Wells himself acknowledges, range from polite boredom to visible confusion, anger, even fear. In one instance Wells asks an Australian Aboriginal tribal descendant if there is any traditional narrative to support the conclusion that his ancestors migrated to the Australian continent from elsewhere, some forty-plus thousand years ago. His Aboriginal interviewee is furious; Wells notes good-naturedly, "He really lets me have it." The man explains that his people's traditions say that they originated on the same lands they call home now. "Why isn't it possible that we branched out from here?" he insists. . Wells admits that that visit did not go well, without explaining what exactly he was trying to accomplish. Wells later meets with a group of Navajo elders, shows them a photo album of all the people he's visited, and proceeds to tell his Native American hosts that their people originated from several other continents. Scientifically, of course, that's what the evidence shows. But the Navajo are nonplussed by this lecture, and they do not hide their offense. As one elder explains, their traditional origin narratives tell the Navajo they emerged from the earth, just as a child emerges from her mother. Wells still doesn't spot what he's done. He dismisses the Navajo out of hand, explaining that he requires evidence before he will believe any particular story, and then redirects his Native hosts to the photo album of his travels. . For whatever reason Wells chose to include these cringe-inducing interactions in his documentary, Journey of Man is actually richer for it. Wells never puts his finger on the point, but one of the most important lessons revealed by all of this is that, just as science helps tell the human species -what- we are, our cultures tell us -who- we are. And, even as understandably excited as Wells is about his life's work, it is the second question that has occupied the bulk of human contemplation since our earliest days. Wells inadvertently reinforces this point every step of the way. He is no less a product of his own culture and history than are the indigenous peoples he visits: he is so enthralled with his contribution to truth that he blunders right into the stereotype of the Western missionary obsessed with converting the Natives. . Wells' laboratory-evangelical fervor begs a question: If the scientific truth of racial irrelevance and the close relatedness of all modern humans is so important - and to be clear, it absolutely is - why wasn't Wells taking that message first to people in dominant cultures who don't get it? After all, there are so many groups who abuse culture, myth and racial misconceptions with tragic results today. But Wells doesn't ask his European and Eurasian interviewees for their origin myths. In one chilling interaction in Kyrgyzstan a man thanks Wells for coming across the world to inform him that "my blood is pure." Wells seems unfazed, he doesn't even attempt to clarify what that meant. . So it's strange, at first, that Wells only confronts the nonscientific origin traditions of indigenous peoples who have been struggling for centuries against the pressures of eradication and assimilation - whose origin stories are therefore positive sources of strength and identity. After all, cultural and political sensitivity are not incompatible with good science (see Dr. Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs and Steel" documentary series). . But it is worth noting that Wells also does little to hide these apparent shortcomings in Journey of Man. True, he may not be altogether aware of them. But the awkwardness and asymmetry of Wells' interviews with indigenous peoples are conspicuous, and Wells could have easily smoothed over all of that in the editing room. He did not. Journey of Man is clearly intended as a double-entendre - not only what the journey of humankind reveals about us as a species today, but also what Dr. Wells' personal journey on the DVD reveals about us all. Journey of Man places the scientific reality of our human origins on equal display with the cultural reality of our need to find meaning in that story. Risks arise when one meaning-making effort collides with others, as they have throughout human history and as they do in this documentary. Wells left all of that in, perhaps as a reminder of how important it is that we now have a science for the natural equality of humans, even if human equality does not always come naturally. See more 07/23/2010 A fascinating globe trotting study of human orgin and how the races and cultures of the planet are linked as Dr. Spencer Wells uncovers in this documented exodus See more 04/10/2010 Must see PBS documentary. See more 11/30/2009 This came out on PBS a few years ago, and I recently purchased it, found it to be intriguing and captured my attention. Wondered how many people Dr Wells tested, and found the one genetic chromosone in that one guy!! I'd like to see more of Dr Wells work See more 01/27/2009 Liked the idea, loved the conclusions, but wasn't drawn in like I was expecting. Watch it though, really cool piece to evolution. See more 10/02/2008 Very, very, very interesting. The ending made little sense though. See more Read all reviews

Journey of Man

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