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25th November 2012, 11:12 AM | #81 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 22,331
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Well, I only gave airplanes as an example because I didn't want to write a whole tome about what would be more natural analogies even for ancient people about all other kinds of weapons. E.g., I'm pretty sure John of Revelations fame, if he saw armies of tanks, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't call them horsemen.
But yeah, you're right, when one thinks about modern combat, that kind of analogies breaks down even more spectacularly. And indeed it's funny how all the awesome stuff from a supposedly more advanced civilization -- or for that matter the prophecies supposed to happen in the future according to the fundies -- look so incredibly antiquated. |
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25th November 2012, 01:51 PM | #82 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 6,620
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There is a massively romantic and attractive scenario for people where profound truths which explain "everything" are just sitting there hiding for us to realize or discover as obvious and simple things we just never considered possible, hidden and dismissed due to hubris and myopic view points.
As with any conspiracy, it's you against the close minded, ironically. So very, very ironically. The idea that cold fusion is something an alien could whisper in a child's ear that would seem face palmingly obvious is a story people love and you see this archetype constantly being reused. |
25th November 2012, 01:54 PM | #83 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 8,548
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Yeah, I got that. Whenever interpretations of myths as ancient aliens are discussed, I feel its important to point how inadequate they are. Take that Mayan carving of the tree of life said by ancient aliens "experts" as actually showing someone in the controls of a spacecraft, for example... So, those folks could travel between stars but their spacecrafts looked like something from the 60's?
There's no way out. The whole ancient aliens stuff is stupid, the interpretations are stupid. One must be quite ignorant (willing or not) to believe in this garbage. I know its not exactly polite to say that, buts its the truth. |
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Racism, sexism, ignorance, homophobia, intolerance, extremism, authoritarianism, environmental disasters, politically correct crap, violence at sport stadiums, slavery, poverty, wars, people who disagree with me: Together we can find the cure Oh, and together we can find a cure to religion too… |
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25th November 2012, 02:34 PM | #84 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 12,331
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From your link:
Quote:
Quote:
I read a bit about the Black Sea hypothesis when it came up in the thread and it's always good to read more. Spean Gorge is now on my list of places to see in Scotland. |
22nd December 2012, 06:07 AM | #85 |
Master Poster
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Swansea in the UK
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Sorry I lost contact with this thread a few weeks ago, and just now found it on a window that hasn't been available on my desktop for awhile! It's reappeared!
And right there in front of me was your question, Mike3. Sorry not to have answered it before. Given human nature, I reckon we'll find a way to ruin every civilisation phase eventually, so that cycle of recreating culture will probably continue... and diversify if we ever get off this planet... even more so if we ever manage to get to the stars! But I do reckon that science, once totally absorbed into the bedrock and the "DNA" of a culture (so to speak), would be the only hope of maintaining any particular civilisation for any cosmically significant time. |
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