ENGW 105
Shakira Logwood
I mentioned previously how our culture has turned to the world wide web to sort through information. When a person goes to research a topic, the most common search engine used is Google. It is personally my favorite. Therefore, I never thought to question the veracity of the search engine. Why would a resource that is supposed to connect me to a variety of information lie to me? Why can I not find anything about the origin of philosophy in Africa? So many questions, so I decided to start digging. I went to Google and just started asking questions that I sort of already knew the answer to: “what country is the oldest philosopher from”, “what group of people invented philosophy”, “who influenced Socrates”. Fortunately for me, I found my answer amid what seemed as a frivolous endeavor as I interrogated Google. Apparently, I wasn’t being specific enough.
According to Danny Sullivan, the Public Liaison for Search, people use google to “find relevant, and reliable information that they can trust”. He also explains the algorithm used to improve the experience of the audience’s search: identify useful information from authoritative sites such as government entities, features to facilitate the information received, and policies in place to ensure high quality. Despite these efforts, many others question the reliability of the search engine, including its Google Scholar feature. The BBC Research Editorial claimed that the company is profit driven, has unreliable sources, lacks comprehensive date and organization, and is very time consuming. I second the claim about how time consuming a search can be.
During my search, I would ask a question and I wasn’t getting the answer I wanted on the first try. I had to read from the drop downs with suggested questions provided by Google and compose new questions with the new information received. This was very time consuming, but it also led me down a rabbit hole, I was making search after search because the new information activated my curiosity. This could be dangerous because my intentions went from inquiring about black philosophers to wanting to know why immigrants enter through the west coast. This could be a tactic or the result of a short attention span. Regardless, it is definitely difficult to find the information that you’re looking for on the web, but we as a society are out of touch with hard tangible resources.
The podcast History of Indian and Africana Philosophy “Something Old, Something New- Introducing Africana Philosophy” reiterated my concept of how inherently idiotic it is to believe that society as we know it began with people from Africa, but African philosophy does not exist. Chike Jeffers and Peter Adamson “hope to remove some of this mystery” associated with the significant figures of African philosophy (Something Old, Something New). The question at hand: is this a tradition that has significant figures and texts? One would assume so, but where are the receipts? The intention of Jeffers and Adamson is to dissect this question and expose their audience to the Africana philosophy, an “umbrella term” that includes the African diaspora, arguable the oldest philosophy of them all (Something Old, Something New). Africana studies is often overlooked and not given credit for its expansiveness in society.
Adamson and Jeffers break the threshold by sharing how the new series for their podcast focusing on Africana philosophy will locate and debate pre-colonial Africana philosophy and the history of recorded Africana philosophy that is unrelated to the Greek tradition. This is so important to break away from the distorted view of philosophy and those who produced discourse. With the discourse being mainly from an oral culture, it is a challenge to label and reflect on African tradition. There are ample resources available to research Africana philosophy, but to my knowledge, the best comes from word of mouth. Oral tradition, the same tradition that inflicts a challenge to understanding the history of this concept of philosophy. Whether it be a podcast, a YouTube video, or a conversation with one’s own grandparent, you essentially expose yourself to forgotten history of Africa. The narrative around philosophy should shift from Greek to African to ensure credit is given where its due.
