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Sarasota News Leader August 23, 2013 OPINION veyed information (just as valid) from the past millennia into the present. Oral traditions can be even more effective in conveying facts, as 60 percent of non-written communication is nonverbal. Tone, inflection and gestures are ways we communicate emotion and feelings without ever giving much thought to the process. These expressions cannot be easily conveyed through the written word, but they have been passed down in oral traditions. We should look to these types of histories for their ability to convey far more information than the written word. People could argue that the children's game of "telephone" shows how information passed down verbally can change from one person to the next; however, the same can be said of the historian writing information he has heard secondhand. Page 64 viewed by experts from the given field of research. Would you be more likely to believe historical information from someone who experienced it or from an "expert" who read about it. When we see the value of learning about where humanity comes from, we (of Western thinking) see that we have missed so much by ignoring oral histories. This concept of "prehistory" devalues cultures that relied on oral history, as it indicates that written word is the only valid form of historical information transference. This can be seen in the state of Florida's current Viva 500 Celebration commemorating Juan Ponce de León "discovering" the region he called "La Florida." How could he "discover" a place where people had lived for at least 12,000 years? We have lost so much of our past by disassociating ourselves from others. We all have value systems that influence what we feel is relevant. Some of us choose to separate ourselves from others using criteria such as religion, gender and ethnicity. We look to categorize our values through bias and justify them with perceived stereotypes. When we write the copy for Sarasota County historical markers, we research old newspaper articles and talk to people who lived during the time of the particular event and therefore experienced it. If no one is still alive to talk to us, we rely on newspaper articles and books written by people who might or might not have had firsthand experience of an Humanity does not have enough information historical event. about itself to justify this way of thinking. In One would think that a book or an article on fact, the more we learn about ourselves (even a subject would denote an authoritative per- at the genetic level), the more the perceived spective. An author may be considered an distinctions of humanity become blurred and disappear. authority on a subject. We also can look for authors with various academic degrees that We live in an area that has unique windows indicate they have even more knowledge of into the past. Our local springs hold inforthe subject matter. Going one step further, mation from the last 5,000 to 15,000 years of we can read journals that have been peer-re- humanity. Most information from this period