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Strange Creations: Aberrant Ideas of Human Origin from Ancient Astronauts to Aquatic Apes
Charles Darwin wasn't the only one to come up with a contemporary explanation for the origin of human beings. Homespun fantasies and myths abound -- the imaginative creations of dreamers, cult leaders, amateur scientists, racists, and rogues.Among the theorists this collection introduces are the eccentric English lord who believes that men are a cross between extraterrestrials and their Martian servants, a successful television journalist whose book suggests that humans evolved from aquatic apes, and a UFO investigator convinced that humans were bred as pets for brilliant dinosaurs.
264 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 7, 2011
I wanted to read this book because it discusses one of my all-time favorite whacked theories, that of the aquatic ape. As I read, I discovered an entire world of bizarre, unique, unnerving and upsetting theories of the way humans evolved or came to be. In fact, this book made it look easy, reading such dense and lunatic theories and making sense of them, that it was the inspiration for my now-aborted “Alien Intervention Week.” As much as I love the strange, I have my limits.
But Kossy is an intrepid woman and possesses not only the skills to make the most extreme idea accessible to her readers, but is a writer skilled in revealing the humanity and humor in some of these beliefs. I will admit I never want to read the phrase “root race” ever again, but aside from that, I found the surveys of belief in this book fascinating and utterly readable. I was disappointed when, after a search on Amazon, I realized Kossy has only written two books and I already own the other, entitled Kooks. I comfort myself that even though there is no more Kossy for me to read, she led me to some superb and lunatic books. I will totally be discussing Behold!!! the Protong here at some point. You can read my entire discussion here.
But Kossy is an intrepid woman and possesses not only the skills to make the most extreme idea accessible to her readers, but is a writer skilled in revealing the humanity and humor in some of these beliefs. I will admit I never want to read the phrase “root race” ever again, but aside from that, I found the surveys of belief in this book fascinating and utterly readable. I was disappointed when, after a search on Amazon, I realized Kossy has only written two books and I already own the other, entitled Kooks. I comfort myself that even though there is no more Kossy for me to read, she led me to some superb and lunatic books. I will totally be discussing Behold!!! the Protong here at some point. You can read my entire discussion here.
July 30, 2013
I love weird history and pseudoscience, and I can't recall at this point what lead me to Strange Creations, but I'm glad I scooped it up. It's a fun, almost academic, look at some of the weirder beliefs of history.
The book succeeds mostly on its subject matter and Kossy, for the most part, letting the sources speak for themselves. Thus, eugenicists are allowed to be as crazy as possible within the confines of a skeptical tome, we can chuckle along with those who buy into the idea of evolving from aquatic apes, and so on. The chapters are well-sourced, and just short enough where taking a bite-sized chunk every little bit does enough to whet the appetite without being bogged down by a straight, sometimes-dry presentation.
That presentation is the only downfall. While I understand the desire to give a fairish shake for the sake of argument, it would have been good to take one side or the other - either go full-bore into the skepticism/criticism angle, or take it completely seriously. The middle ground didn't always work, and took away from some of the more serious topics, most notably around race and eugenics.
Still, if this is a topic of interest for you, it would be a mistake to ignore this book. It's a little older and appears to maybe be out of print or close to it, but it's worth an exploration if you can get your hands on it.
The book succeeds mostly on its subject matter and Kossy, for the most part, letting the sources speak for themselves. Thus, eugenicists are allowed to be as crazy as possible within the confines of a skeptical tome, we can chuckle along with those who buy into the idea of evolving from aquatic apes, and so on. The chapters are well-sourced, and just short enough where taking a bite-sized chunk every little bit does enough to whet the appetite without being bogged down by a straight, sometimes-dry presentation.
That presentation is the only downfall. While I understand the desire to give a fairish shake for the sake of argument, it would have been good to take one side or the other - either go full-bore into the skepticism/criticism angle, or take it completely seriously. The middle ground didn't always work, and took away from some of the more serious topics, most notably around race and eugenics.
Still, if this is a topic of interest for you, it would be a mistake to ignore this book. It's a little older and appears to maybe be out of print or close to it, but it's worth an exploration if you can get your hands on it.
October 5, 2015
I had expected this to be a gentle tour through wacky but fringe beliefs. It turns out to be much less focused and much grimmer than that. The book is something of strange animal; it lacks the theoretical apparatus, and the comprehensive bibliographic apparatus, that would be expected in a scholarly monograph. But it also lacks the focus and punch of a good journalistic book. It feels ultimately like a sort of intellectual bricolage -- the author clearly is interested in the topic and has been accumulating materials for some time. The book is written around "here are the pamphlets, ideas, cultural references and so forth that I am familiar with."
Much of the book is not about "human origins', but about human variation and how to deal with it -- racism and eugenics. These topics are linked of course -- the kind of people who believe that humans were created by interstellar explorers in the very distant past, also often want to say "our ancestors were created by spacemen, and yours evolved from gorillas" -- or "our ancestors and yours were on opposite sides of a prehistoric violent cataclysm."
Some of this may be an artifact of Kossy's telling -- it's her narrative choice that "all roads lead to Wannsee". But in other ways, she avoids confronting some of the darker bits. In several chapters, she references "The Myth of the Twentieth Century", by Alfred Rosenberg. She describes this as"the most influential" of "the many racist treatises circulating in Nazi Germany," but doesn't quite explain who the author was. She describes Karl Wiligut as "more influential among the Nazi inner circle." (p 87-88). This is strange and suggests she is not familiar with the biographies of her subjects; Wiligut retired in 1939, whereas Rosenberg was one of the top people in the regime (and was hanged by the International Military Tribunal).
While I have mixed feelings about the book, they lean towards negative. I learned things from it, and the chapters do more-or-less connect. The prose doesn't grate. But it has serious shortcomings. Parts feel like excessive detail. It lacks a crisp notion of its topic; it lacks real conclusions (or indeed, a conclusion of any kind.) It even lacks an index. The book showed me some connections between topics and beliefs I hadn't previously seen, but I would rather have been reading something a bit more thoughtful.
Much of the book is not about "human origins', but about human variation and how to deal with it -- racism and eugenics. These topics are linked of course -- the kind of people who believe that humans were created by interstellar explorers in the very distant past, also often want to say "our ancestors were created by spacemen, and yours evolved from gorillas" -- or "our ancestors and yours were on opposite sides of a prehistoric violent cataclysm."
Some of this may be an artifact of Kossy's telling -- it's her narrative choice that "all roads lead to Wannsee". But in other ways, she avoids confronting some of the darker bits. In several chapters, she references "The Myth of the Twentieth Century", by Alfred Rosenberg. She describes this as"the most influential" of "the many racist treatises circulating in Nazi Germany," but doesn't quite explain who the author was. She describes Karl Wiligut as "more influential among the Nazi inner circle." (p 87-88). This is strange and suggests she is not familiar with the biographies of her subjects; Wiligut retired in 1939, whereas Rosenberg was one of the top people in the regime (and was hanged by the International Military Tribunal).
While I have mixed feelings about the book, they lean towards negative. I learned things from it, and the chapters do more-or-less connect. The prose doesn't grate. But it has serious shortcomings. Parts feel like excessive detail. It lacks a crisp notion of its topic; it lacks real conclusions (or indeed, a conclusion of any kind.) It even lacks an index. The book showed me some connections between topics and beliefs I hadn't previously seen, but I would rather have been reading something a bit more thoughtful.
December 14, 2008
This book covers various "fringe" beliefs pertaining the creation/origins of the human race. Extraterrestrial origins, the aquatic ape theory, Theosophy, Eugenics, several explanations of human origins from a racist angle, some somewhat fringe variations on mainstream creationism theories, The Church of Urantia, etc are covered. Whole books could, and have been written on all of these so your only getting a little more than a summary but this book kept my attention.
My criticisms are a lot of what made it into Strange Creations is more or less a repeat of material that was in another book of written by Kossy, Kooks. Also although she remains objective and unbiased for the most part on everything else, including beliefs of racist black groups, she throws in plenty of biased politically correct comments when covering the white racist beliefs. I also don't understand why Ben Klassen and the Church of the Creator was even covered in this because while his views on racial and other matters are certainly on the fringe his beliefs on human origins is more or less that of a mainstream atheist/Darwinist. But overall this was not a bad read for a basic overview of the subject matter.
My criticisms are a lot of what made it into Strange Creations is more or less a repeat of material that was in another book of written by Kossy, Kooks. Also although she remains objective and unbiased for the most part on everything else, including beliefs of racist black groups, she throws in plenty of biased politically correct comments when covering the white racist beliefs. I also don't understand why Ben Klassen and the Church of the Creator was even covered in this because while his views on racial and other matters are certainly on the fringe his beliefs on human origins is more or less that of a mainstream atheist/Darwinist. But overall this was not a bad read for a basic overview of the subject matter.
April 5, 2018
Strange Creations, by Donna Kossy, self-proclaimed expert of Kookology purports itself as a tome dedicated to the strangest ideas about human origin -- something I was so down for. I was drawn in by promises of aquatic ape theory (delivered) and expected that to set the tone of the book (not-delivered.) Instead, Kossy spends the majority of the book discussing racial overtones in the ways in which people have thought about the origin of the human species. The chapter entirely on race (focused on polygenesis -- the idea that the ethnic groups are literally separately originating species -- vs. monogenesis), to me felt interesting and in-bounds. However, the subsequent chapter on eugenics, which isn't really a human origin idea, felt like too much. Also, based on the billed description, I read this mostly on vacation and in the mood for a fun read and eugenics...isn't. And that's before the focus on race in the section on devolution as well.
Even if a book about racial tensions in the history of science and pseudoscience wasn't what I signed up for, it would have been interesting, but Kossy manages to fall into the Uncanny Valley of pop science writing: she is neither comprehensive or systematic like a scientific approach would be (and frequently interjects her own opinions, including her complete disdain for creationists but deep respect for the Heaven's Gate cult, which I found discordant), but she's also not approachable like a more literary approach would be. Instead, she is very detail-oriented about single people or topics in a story that she explores in depth and then abandons related context. It really felt like a no-forest-only-trees writing approach. As a result of the combination of unexpectedly heavy and off-topic material and this strange writing style, I found the book quite dry and a chore to read.
The first and last chapter were by far and away the best -- the first focusing on the ancient astronaut theory and the last aquatic ape, Heaven's Gate and other weirdness. Bizarre and breezy, that's what I signed up for.
Even if a book about racial tensions in the history of science and pseudoscience wasn't what I signed up for, it would have been interesting, but Kossy manages to fall into the Uncanny Valley of pop science writing: she is neither comprehensive or systematic like a scientific approach would be (and frequently interjects her own opinions, including her complete disdain for creationists but deep respect for the Heaven's Gate cult, which I found discordant), but she's also not approachable like a more literary approach would be. Instead, she is very detail-oriented about single people or topics in a story that she explores in depth and then abandons related context. It really felt like a no-forest-only-trees writing approach. As a result of the combination of unexpectedly heavy and off-topic material and this strange writing style, I found the book quite dry and a chore to read.
The first and last chapter were by far and away the best -- the first focusing on the ancient astronaut theory and the last aquatic ape, Heaven's Gate and other weirdness. Bizarre and breezy, that's what I signed up for.
December 2, 2022
Fun little collection of some of the weird corners of human thought, but didn't always love the writing. Some of it was repetitive (some of which could not be helped and some of which I think just required some better organization) and ending the final, already rather fragmentary, chapter with pages of quotes from the Heaven's Gate website felt a little weak. The Devo story would have been a great thing for an introduction or a conclusion but felt wasted and out of place buried in chapter two. The chapters on de-evolution and creationism felt a little weaker than some of the others. Overall uneven as a book, but a great little collection of research into some weird pseudo-anthropological ideas which have plagued the 19th and 20th centuries.
October 17, 2022
Intriguing journey through a range of theories of human evolution (or creation) which defy the scientific consensus. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/202...
October 13, 2008
Theories as to man's origins have always been varied. It's one of those perennial questions that humans seek to answer, but can never truly find an answer to. While in the past, this question was given an answer in the form of creation myths, that varied from culture to culture, science has made such myths largely impossible to take literally.
While most scientists support Darwin's theory of evolutionary change in all creatures over the span of many, many centuries, not everyone is so happy to adopt evolutionary theory - and if they are, thy are not necessarily ready to adopt it in the form Darwin postulated.
This book is a guide, of sorts, to some of the weirder ideas out there. The mangling of ancient near eastern mythology and astronomy has led to some to believe that we were in fact created by 'ancient astronauts,' a theory that gained a large audience in the 1970s with books like Chariots of the Gods? and others.
Others take evolution, but put a twist on it. White European males are the ones who did (and still do) this. Their evolutionary theories are often based upon a perceived fundamental difference of the races - not surprisingly, these theorists often view the white European as the pinnacle of evolution, with other races (especially Africans) as being 'naturally' primitive and closer to 'animal' than 'human being.' Others proposed an evolution that saw some groups (mostly white Europeans) as being the pinnacle of evolution and other groups (often other races, the sick and the ignorant) actually 'devolved' and are 'devolving' even further. This concept was put to entertaining use by the 70s and 80s band DEVO.
As a subset to these racist 'scientific' theories is 'eugenics,' which is also explored.
Others are more inclined to simply take the creation myth within Genesis literally rather than metaphorically, and thus become creationists. Relying on a false understanding of evolution and a devotion to the Bible as God's literal Word, creationists are more mainstream than the other groups and being both well-funded and politically supported are both in the public eye more often and more able to spread their beliefs through large publishing companies, elaborate films and television programs and even museums, whereas most of the other groups are on the social fringe.
Other weird theories, such as the so-called 'Aquatic apes,' the Yeti-based crossbreeding ideas of Stanislav Szukalski and New Agey theology round up the last chapters of the book, and while they haven't received the sort of attention that the others have, they're equally as interesting - and strange.
Fans of the paranormal, the varieties of human belief, SubGeniuses and fans of 'High Weirdness' will all be interested in this book.
While most scientists support Darwin's theory of evolutionary change in all creatures over the span of many, many centuries, not everyone is so happy to adopt evolutionary theory - and if they are, thy are not necessarily ready to adopt it in the form Darwin postulated.
This book is a guide, of sorts, to some of the weirder ideas out there. The mangling of ancient near eastern mythology and astronomy has led to some to believe that we were in fact created by 'ancient astronauts,' a theory that gained a large audience in the 1970s with books like Chariots of the Gods? and others.
Others take evolution, but put a twist on it. White European males are the ones who did (and still do) this. Their evolutionary theories are often based upon a perceived fundamental difference of the races - not surprisingly, these theorists often view the white European as the pinnacle of evolution, with other races (especially Africans) as being 'naturally' primitive and closer to 'animal' than 'human being.' Others proposed an evolution that saw some groups (mostly white Europeans) as being the pinnacle of evolution and other groups (often other races, the sick and the ignorant) actually 'devolved' and are 'devolving' even further. This concept was put to entertaining use by the 70s and 80s band DEVO.
As a subset to these racist 'scientific' theories is 'eugenics,' which is also explored.
Others are more inclined to simply take the creation myth within Genesis literally rather than metaphorically, and thus become creationists. Relying on a false understanding of evolution and a devotion to the Bible as God's literal Word, creationists are more mainstream than the other groups and being both well-funded and politically supported are both in the public eye more often and more able to spread their beliefs through large publishing companies, elaborate films and television programs and even museums, whereas most of the other groups are on the social fringe.
Other weird theories, such as the so-called 'Aquatic apes,' the Yeti-based crossbreeding ideas of Stanislav Szukalski and New Agey theology round up the last chapters of the book, and while they haven't received the sort of attention that the others have, they're equally as interesting - and strange.
Fans of the paranormal, the varieties of human belief, SubGeniuses and fans of 'High Weirdness' will all be interested in this book.
April 28, 2013
If you think that your current reading list needs an injection of abnormality, then Donna Kossy will fill that requirement with Strange Creations. This book chronicles non-Darwinian explanations of the genesis of humankind. The book begins with the ancient astronaut concept as popularized by Erich Von Daniken and Zechariah Sitchen, discusses Theosophy and de-evolution (yes, the Ohio band DEVO is, happily, a topic of consideration here), delves into the horrors of authoritarian eugenics and "Christian Identity," deals with Creationism, and describes Elaine Morgan's Aquatic Ape Theory, among other odd hypotheses.
The only book I can compare this to is Ivan Stang's High Weirdness by Mail, a pre-World Wide Web relic that collected and annotated the addresses of a wide range of unorthodox groups. Its pages contained a veritable treasure trove of extremist politics, religious fanaticism, absurdist art, far-out mysticism, and, for the love of God, more than you or your studly drunken uncle Rusty could handle. My favorite element in the whole book was that Stang never claimed to be an ordinary person—he wrote from a self-aware outsider's perspective. Initially, I hoped that Strange Creations would adopt a similar tone. The pages even had that vaguely Twilight Zone-esque smell. (The fragrance is hard to describe. It's closer to the bad side of the scent scale than the good, but you wouldn't hold your nose after inhaling the smell deeply. Think of it as vaguely garage sale- and sodomy-tinted, such as you might find in a Goodwill store.) However, Kossy's attitude is that of a "normal" person describing anomalies for "normal" people. Most irritatingly, she seems to assume that all her readers share her mechanistic materialism, a mentality that Stang refreshingly discouraged. There's a reason I consider High Weirdness by Mail a (mostly) positive influence.
I recommend this book, though with some qualifications. In other words, atheists and nihilists will probably get more out of this book than anyone else. However, even if you belong to neither of these categories, you'll smile, you'll frown, you'll boggle, and you'll beat your head against the nearest wall at some of the assertions made the people profiled therein. It's a wild ride.
The only book I can compare this to is Ivan Stang's High Weirdness by Mail, a pre-World Wide Web relic that collected and annotated the addresses of a wide range of unorthodox groups. Its pages contained a veritable treasure trove of extremist politics, religious fanaticism, absurdist art, far-out mysticism, and, for the love of God, more than you or your studly drunken uncle Rusty could handle. My favorite element in the whole book was that Stang never claimed to be an ordinary person—he wrote from a self-aware outsider's perspective. Initially, I hoped that Strange Creations would adopt a similar tone. The pages even had that vaguely Twilight Zone-esque smell. (The fragrance is hard to describe. It's closer to the bad side of the scent scale than the good, but you wouldn't hold your nose after inhaling the smell deeply. Think of it as vaguely garage sale- and sodomy-tinted, such as you might find in a Goodwill store.) However, Kossy's attitude is that of a "normal" person describing anomalies for "normal" people. Most irritatingly, she seems to assume that all her readers share her mechanistic materialism, a mentality that Stang refreshingly discouraged. There's a reason I consider High Weirdness by Mail a (mostly) positive influence.
I recommend this book, though with some qualifications. In other words, atheists and nihilists will probably get more out of this book than anyone else. However, even if you belong to neither of these categories, you'll smile, you'll frown, you'll boggle, and you'll beat your head against the nearest wall at some of the assertions made the people profiled therein. It's a wild ride.
April 3, 2009
Entertaining read but I could have done without Ms. Kossy's arrogant commentary. I wasn't surprised to see her somewhat supporting the absurd feminist theory of the "Aquatic Ape."
I thought "Strange Creations" also brought up some interesting books that I will have to checkout.
In conclusion, Ms. Kossy did a good job compiling interesting theories from people obviously much more creative than she. Ms. Kossy can only wish to have even a minuscule grain of the intelligence and creativity that Eustace Mullins radiates.
I thought "Strange Creations" also brought up some interesting books that I will have to checkout.
In conclusion, Ms. Kossy did a good job compiling interesting theories from people obviously much more creative than she. Ms. Kossy can only wish to have even a minuscule grain of the intelligence and creativity that Eustace Mullins radiates.
June 17, 2011
What did I think? I think the last 20 pages that detailed a briefish history of the Heaven's Gate cult was completely out of place. I guess it relates to Ancient Astronauts, I guess. To me however it seemed more that the author wanted to brag about attending one of the H.I.M meetings. If nothing else though it provided me with a few books to take a look for at the library.
August 23, 2012
an interesting and informal overview of the various theories (besides Darwin's) of human origins from the 19th Century up to 2003. the author merely presents these ideas in historical context, but occasionally you find yourself reading amusing phrases about how electronic Jesus was in danger of being raped by love pygmies. no seriously—that's in the book, but it's not the author's opinion.
October 9, 2008
From the back cover:
"There is nothing so odd and perverse as the folklore of human origins. Donna Kossy's Strange Creations presents aberrant fantasies and myths created before and after Charles Darwin - the imaginative creations of dreamers, cult leaders, amateur scientists, racists and rogues."
"There is nothing so odd and perverse as the folklore of human origins. Donna Kossy's Strange Creations presents aberrant fantasies and myths created before and after Charles Darwin - the imaginative creations of dreamers, cult leaders, amateur scientists, racists and rogues."
March 28, 2013
Fascinating introductory material on a variety of odd beliefs regarding the origins of humankind.
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