Megan Smith describes how her time in East Timor and the discovery of an ancient midget species of hominid shook the foundations of her mental wall between science and myth.

2. how homo floresiensis blew my mind
Megan Smith, Nerd Nite Siem Reap, July 2011

3.  Portuguese colony for 400 years
 Occupied by Indonesia for 25 years
 Independent since 2002

4.  Mostly Catholic and Animist blend

5.  Ceremony held for lost bodies
 Family goes out to the woods to find the bones
 Funeral is held once bones are recovered

6.  Death
 Possessions to give voice to the dead
 Séances to determine cause of death

7.  Non-ingested poison
 Black snakes sent by witches

8.  Sacred places
 Protecting Resources (mouths of rivers)
 Protecting People (undertow, crocs)
 Crocodile can do no wrong
 If a crocodile eats you, you have done something
wrong

9.  Clearly this was nonsense

10.  Little furry people
 Live in caves and trees
 Magical powers
 White and black magic
 In Indonesia “Ebu Gogo”

11.  Rai Nain or papaya stump?

12.  National Geographic cover story on bones
 12,000 years ago, co-existing with H. sapiens
 Short furry people living in caves and trees
 Possibly not extinct!

13.  Hobbits?
 Scandal, maybe just microcephaly?

14.  Theories of co-existence with homo sapiens
 Parallels with similar legends throughout the
Indonesian archipelago
 Preservation of realities as legends over so many
years

15.  Flores Furries ate giant rats (up to 1m+ in length)
 Timor has the world’s largest rats and rat fossils

16.  Hunted by giant lizards (aka Komodo Dragons)
 Deadly bite!

18.  Science vs. Magic
 Blending of science and belief
 Delayed scientific explanation
VS.

19.  Sushi anyone?
 Numbing chemical
in blowfish used to
make zombies
 Juliet’s fake death

20.  Epilepsy and wandering
souls
 Effect of spiritual beliefs
on physical health and
medical treatment

21.  I don’t believe in magic, but I’m slower to dismiss
myths and beliefs as nonsense.
 Myths informed by science
 Science guided by myths