What to say about Avatar? Why am I even commenting on this Science Fiction? It's not archaeology, right?

It's simple. This is one of the most breath-taking movies ever made! And it deals with one of the most fundamental tenets of Archaeology.

But first, imagine it's your job to create an entirely new world, an entirely new culture, and an entirely new evolution? The Director of Avatar, James Cameron, did just these very things. And he did it nearly flawlessly. I say nearly...but I'll come back to that later.

In essence, this is a familiar tale of conquest and resistance. Your basic Pocahontas in the future, except this time, John Smith is a disabled ex-Marine named Jake Sully, who is tasked with winning the reluctant cooperation of an indigenes people, so they can be exploited - conquered. This has many parallels - no doubt purposefully - with our own historical events: Cortez and the conquest of Mexico, Pocahontas and the entire history of conquest of the North American Indians, and many others.

What struck me most about the movie Avatar was the anthropology - very well developed, complete with a functioning mythology, rituals, and social structure. It is one that parallel many of the American and Asian early cultures in harmony with their environment. I suspect that it was vastly more developed than we were able to see in just a three hour movie, but what was shown was a joy to behold. I hope that in time, the fullness of their creation will become available for further study, perhaps becoming a learning environment for the training of future anthropologists as well.

However, what made me want to comment on this movie Avatar, more than anything, is the simple reality of science, and the growing public distrust of science. Science is the quest for knowledge, yet often, in that quest far too much is damaged along the path. Contrary to public opinion, driven by an ignorant media, science is not about science at any cost. Science is the concerted human effort to understand, or to understand better, the history of the natural world and how the natural world works, with observable physical evidence as the basis of that understanding. It is done through observation of natural phenomena, and/or through experimentation that tries to simulate natural processes under controlled conditions. That's what science is, but why does any society devote so much of its resources to this business of developing new knowledge about the natural world, or what has motivated scientists to devote their lives to developing this new knowledge? To understand how things get out of hand, one must understand the motivation.

The answer lies in the desire to improve people's lives. Geneticists trying to understand how certain conditions are passed from
generation to generation and biologists tracing the pathways by which diseases are transmitted are clearly seeking information that may
better the lives of very ordinary people. Earth scientists developing better models for the prediction of weather or for the prediction
of earthquakes, landslides, and volcanic eruptions are likewise seeking knowledge that can help avoid the hardships that have plagued
humanity for centuries. Any society concerned about the welfare of its people, which is at the least any democratic society, will
support efforts like these to better people's lives.

Avatar - Na'vi have feline features

Another reason is society's desires for economic development. Many earth scientists devote their work to finding more
efficient or more effective ways to discover or recover natural resources like petroleum and ores. Plant scientists seeking strains or
species of fruiting plants for crops are ultimately working to increase the agricultural output that nutritionally and literally
enriches nations. Chemists developing new chemical substances with potential technological applications and physicists developing new
phenomena like superconductivity are likewise developing knowledge that may spur economic development. In a world where nations
increasingly view themselves as caught up in economic competition, support of such science is nothing less than an investment in the
economic future.

Avatar - Na'vi Home Tree

Still another reason is humanity's increasing control over our planet and its environment. Much science is done to understand how the toxins and wastes of our society pass through our water, soil, and air, potentially to our own detriment. Much science is also done to
understand how changes that we cause in our atmosphere and oceans may change the climate in which we live, and that can control our sources of food and water. In a sense, such science seeks to develop an "Owner's Manual" that we will need as we increasingly, if
unwittingly, take control of the global ecosystem and a host of local ecosystems.

Avatar - Mountain Banshee

Also, societies support science because of simple curiosity, and because of the satisfaction that comes from knowledge of the world
around us. Few of us will ever derive any economic benefit from knowing that the starlight we see in a clear night sky left those stars
millions or billions of years ago, so that what we observe is a message of the very distant past. However, the awe, perspective, and
perhaps even serenity derived from that knowledge is very valuable to many of us personally. Likewise, few of us will derive greater
physical well-being from watching a flowing stream and from reflecting on the hydrologic cycle through which that stream's water has
passed, from the distant ocean to the floating clouds of our skies to the rains and storms upstream and now to the river channel at
which we stand. However, the sense of interconnectedness that comes from such knowledge enriches our understanding of our world, and of our lives, in a very valuable way. By understanding the stars in our sky and the rivers under our bridges, we better understand who we are and our place in the world. When intangible benefits like these are combined with the more tangible ones outlined above, it's no wonder that most modern societies support scientific research for the improvement of our understanding of the world around us.

Avatar - Dire Horse and Na'vi Riders

The best science recognizes the simple truth: perhaps with some skepticism, that scientific (and only theoretical) understanding of the
natural world, which is derived from all the observations and measurements described above, leaves out an important element. On the
other hand, or perhaps an other option, is to accept traditional understandings of the natural world developed centuries or even
millennia ago by people who, regardless how wise or well-meaning, had only sharp eyes and fertile imaginations as their best tools. Both of these approaches by themselves leave much unknown, and misunderstood. But science can bring a harmony, through rigorous understanding, coupled with comprehension and compassion. So that we understand both the facts and the context, that let us explore, but also preserve.  That let us know, but do no harm in the process!

Avatar - The Na'vi People

Avatar brings this point home. One of the truths about encounters between civilizations, here on Terra, or on Pandora, is that the more
advanced civilization destroyed the less advanced - or at the very least leaves it profoundly changed. It happens in a million ways,
and science plays a huge role in this usually. Ironically, one of the clearest recognitions of this was created in the 1960's on a
weekly TV show known as Start Trek. Their enlightened view was known as the "Prime Directive" - non-interference with less-developed species and cultures - establish a firewall around their civilization, and allow them to develop on their own.

Avatar - Thanator

In Avatar, the anthropologists and scientists were active collaborators in the planning for destruction. While the point was made that
they were unknowing and unwilling, they were also spineless. It wasn't until the ex-marine Jake Sully came along that the survival of
the Na'vi became a priority (Pandorans, the residents of the Planet (actually a moon) Pandora). Though in the story, initially, he too had no regard for what was to be destroyed. Yet through observation and understanding, he came to realize the value in the Na'vi culture and environment, and the impact of human greed.

While in the Avatar story, the locals prevailed, they were never the less altered forever. Humanity is the personification of greed,
yet we are able to understand our failings, and balance our needs and wants, with those of others. Whenever we have failed to do this,
weaker civilizations have perished.

As an Archaeologist, I study civilizations destroyed in just this way. Yet in this understanding is the hope that our future selves
will learn from our failures and conquests, and truly believe in the value in every civilization we may encounter in our future.

I am grateful to James Cameron, for returning to film with such an incredible adventure, and for making the movie Avatar a focused
learning experience for all mankind!

Oh, I said above that the creation of this world was almost perfect?  I saw only one major flaw.  Can you guess?  Every creature we saw on the planet Pandora has six limbs, except one.  The Na'vi did not!  On Earth (Terra), all mammals have four limbs - including humans - because we have common ancestors and common DNA.  Did the Na'vi not evolve on Pandora?  A curious flaw.

A request though, make Pandora available to us all - let us explore (virtually) the ecosystem you created - please!

Related Avatar Movie Links:

• Official Avatar Movie Website »

• Pandora Resource »

• Aavatar Musical Score »

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Portions source: UGA