3 ms·

I'm actually just watching Aliens in the History Channel, lol. What would be the other plausible explanation though? Considering fermi paradox etc...

deadalus 6y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_mind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_mind
Ar-Curunir 6y ago
That people didn’t suddenly become competent in the last 200 years? Humans haven’t really changed anatomically for many tens of thousands of years
snidane 6y ago
Anti-gradualist explanation of history is an alternative and more likely explanation. Gradualism means a version of history in which civilisation progresses gradually from less to more civilised over time. The opposite is a history in which there could have been moments when human civilization was more advanced way before our notion of recorded history, but suffered a massive hit to its existence. Then the civilisation after got rebuilt but with the previous culture and technological knowledge forgotten. One such theory is by Graham Hancock and Randall Carlson [1]. They present an explanation of history in which there could have been a more technologically advanced human culture even during ice age which got wiped out when ice age ended. The end of ice age was completely sudden, which they explain by a meteor crash into the huge ice sheets causing large tsunamis and sudden ocean level increase which wiped out majority of advanced population living in cities right by the sea - same as today. Causing the advanced culture and its knowledge to cease to exist with remains being picked up or reused by more primitive people living in mainlands and forming cultures which are now basis of our civilisation. Their version explains currently unexplained phenomena such as 1. sudden extinction of ice age animal species. Hordes of mammoths found dead with broken femur bones (killed by massive tsunami vs killed by mammoth hunters as explained by current dogma) 2. Big Flood myths found consistently across many independent cultures around the world 3. Technological regress in Egyptian culture - pyramids and pottery way more advanced in older periods than in later periods (forgotten technology) 4. Way more advanced technology of construction in older structures in Latin America (Cusco, Machu Picchu, Sacsayhuamán, Pumapunku) with advanced construction techniques unexplained still until today 5. Geological evidence of massive tsunamis such as large travelling stones (sliding on melting ice sheets) deep into mainland North America or massive water erosion corridors also possibly explained by large tsunamis [1] https://youtu.be/0H5LCLljJho https://youtu.be/0H5LCLljJho
- valuearb 6y ago
  Graham Hancock is a fun fictionalist, the Erik Von Danikan of our time.
  - cneu 6y ago
    Some of his claims are quite far-fetched and esoteric. However, even Michael Shermer, head of Skeptic magazine, recently admitted (https://twitter.com/michaelshermer/status/1237559469967421440 https://twitter.com/michaelshermer/status/123755946996742144...) that there is some plausibility for the younger dryas impact hypothesis, which is currently an important part of Hancock's lost civilization claims. Such a major catastrophe would of course have a reset effect on any existing advanced civilization. This alone is not proof that there was one, of course.
  - snidane 6y ago
    Dismissing a hypothesis just on the basis of sticking to the baseline works in 99% cases. Then there are the 1% Galileos and Keplers which get dismissed too because their argument is not heard out. And yes in such limiting circumstances you need to develop a fringe fan base or let your findings die out. As John Anthony West puts it "... it was Victor Hugo who wrote the famous line there's one thing stronger than all the armies in the world and that is an idea whose time has come. You know that line was that the second strongest thing in the world is an idea whose time has not yet gone ..." [1]. [1] https://youtu.be/bGu7MLp574A https://youtu.be/bGu7MLp574A
therein 6y ago
I'd like to see what HN thinks of "Symbols of an Alien Sky" [0]. Sounds like you would enjoy this. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7EAlTcZFwY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7EAlTcZFwY
acqq 6y ago
> What would be the other plausible explanation though? Other plausible? However "Aliens" isn't the plausible explanation at all. The series' producer has a very specific agenda: to train the viewers to not believe the science (1) in his own words: "It’s really a show about looking for God. Science would have you believe we are the result of nothing more than a chance assemblage of matter. The real truth is we don’t know." Whereas in fact, science is also very much about knowing exactly what we don't know and where the limits of our knowledge are. Some people find that unsatisfying, compared to the wrong answers but giving assuring "certainty." It particularly catches the people who won't attempt to analyze what is actually claimed there. 082349872349872 here (2) comments about how the claims in the series are constructed. I'd say "required reading" only to study how the underlying untrue "message" is packed in the series of non-sequitur claims, effectively navigating in the direction opposite of logic. 1) https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/21/style/ancient-aliens.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/21/style/ancient-aliens.html 2) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23721423 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23721423

deadalus 6y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_mind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_mind

Ar-Curunir 6y ago

That people didn’t suddenly become competent in the last 200 years? Humans haven’t really changed anatomically for many tens of thousands of years

snidane 6y ago

Anti-gradualist explanation of history is an alternative and more likely explanation. Gradualism means a version of history in which civilisation progresses gradually from less to more civilised over time. The opposite is a history in which there could have been moments when human civilization was more advanced way before our notion of recorded history, but suffered a massive hit to its existence. Then the civilisation after got rebuilt but with the previous culture and technological knowledge forgotten. One such theory is by Graham Hancock and Randall Carlson [1]. They present an explanation of history in which there could have been a more technologically advanced human culture even during ice age which got wiped out when ice age ended. The end of ice age was completely sudden, which they explain by a meteor crash into the huge ice sheets causing large tsunamis and sudden ocean level increase which wiped out majority of advanced population living in cities right by the sea - same as today. Causing the advanced culture and its knowledge to cease to exist with remains being picked up or reused by more primitive people living in mainlands and forming cultures which are now basis of our civilisation. Their version explains currently unexplained phenomena such as 1. sudden extinction of ice age animal species. Hordes of mammoths found dead with broken femur bones (killed by massive tsunami vs killed by mammoth hunters as explained by current dogma) 2. Big Flood myths found consistently across many independent cultures around the world 3. Technological regress in Egyptian culture - pyramids and pottery way more advanced in older periods than in later periods (forgotten technology) 4. Way more advanced technology of construction in older structures in Latin America (Cusco, Machu Picchu, Sacsayhuamán, Pumapunku) with advanced construction techniques unexplained still until today 5. Geological evidence of massive tsunamis such as large travelling stones (sliding on melting ice sheets) deep into mainland North America or massive water erosion corridors also possibly explained by large tsunamis [1] https://youtu.be/0H5LCLljJho https://youtu.be/0H5LCLljJho

valuearb 6y ago
Graham Hancock is a fun fictionalist, the Erik Von Danikan of our time.
- cneu 6y ago
  Some of his claims are quite far-fetched and esoteric. However, even Michael Shermer, head of Skeptic magazine, recently admitted (https://twitter.com/michaelshermer/status/1237559469967421440 https://twitter.com/michaelshermer/status/123755946996742144...) that there is some plausibility for the younger dryas impact hypothesis, which is currently an important part of Hancock's lost civilization claims. Such a major catastrophe would of course have a reset effect on any existing advanced civilization. This alone is not proof that there was one, of course.
- snidane 6y ago
  Dismissing a hypothesis just on the basis of sticking to the baseline works in 99% cases. Then there are the 1% Galileos and Keplers which get dismissed too because their argument is not heard out. And yes in such limiting circumstances you need to develop a fringe fan base or let your findings die out. As John Anthony West puts it "... it was Victor Hugo who wrote the famous line there's one thing stronger than all the armies in the world and that is an idea whose time has come. You know that line was that the second strongest thing in the world is an idea whose time has not yet gone ..." [1]. [1] https://youtu.be/bGu7MLp574A https://youtu.be/bGu7MLp574A

therein 6y ago

I'd like to see what HN thinks of "Symbols of an Alien Sky" [0]. Sounds like you would enjoy this. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7EAlTcZFwY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7EAlTcZFwY

acqq 6y ago

> What would be the other plausible explanation though? Other plausible? However "Aliens" isn't the plausible explanation at all. The series' producer has a very specific agenda: to train the viewers to not believe the science (1) in his own words: "It’s really a show about looking for God. Science would have you believe we are the result of nothing more than a chance assemblage of matter. The real truth is we don’t know." Whereas in fact, science is also very much about knowing exactly what we don't know and where the limits of our knowledge are. Some people find that unsatisfying, compared to the wrong answers but giving assuring "certainty." It particularly catches the people who won't attempt to analyze what is actually claimed there. 082349872349872 here (2) comments about how the claims in the series are constructed. I'd say "required reading" only to study how the underlying untrue "message" is packed in the series of non-sequitur claims, effectively navigating in the direction opposite of logic. 1) https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/21/style/ancient-aliens.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/21/style/ancient-aliens.html 2) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23721423 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23721423