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Sounds like a "guess" rather than a "solution". They have noticed a numerical coincidence and formed a hypothesis. Without additional evidence tying the 819-day
by dzdt 3y ago
Sounds like a "guess" rather than a "solution". They have noticed a numerical coincidence and formed a hypothesis. Without additional evidence tying the 819-day count to astronomical observations its not particularly convincing.
- hvs 3y agoYeah, I'm all for investigating this line of thinking further, but all sorts of weird coincidences come up in numerology that no serious person would consider "science".
- irrational 3y agoIs this science? This is a human made up calendar, not how many protons are in a gold atom.
- mtlmtlmtlmtl 3y agoScience doesn't have some super clear, strict, reductive definition like the "scientific method" you may have been taught in school. The idea that all science must make or test predictions is just based on an old misinterpretation of the philosophy of Karl Popper, mainly by physicists. The only real general requirement I think you can make is that all science involves some level of interrogation and study of the physical world. Anthropology qualifies in abudance. Whether it's good science is beside the point.
- voz_ 3y agoThis is a nonsense definition. Science absolutely must follow the scientific method. What you are talking about is natural philosophy and protosciences - its the difference between alchemy and chemistry - which is all the difference in the world.
- mtlmtlmtlmtl 3y agoAnd what is the scientific method, in your mind, exactly?
- voz_ 3y agoI am not taking your bait, because to quote you: > Science doesn't have some super clear, strict, reductive definition like the "scientific method" you may have been taught in school. This is peak anti-intellectualism, this is the exact kind of school bashing that Isaac Asimov warned us about. There is no definition of it "in my mind", this is not about opinion vs opinion here, friend.
- trinsic2 3y agoThis is anti-intellectualism in the sense that the world is unbalanced when the focus is solely on the intellect. Reason is important, but its not the only facility that matters in this world. The reason why there is so much negativity towards intellectualism is that our world has been shaped in a horrific way due to this imbalance.
- mtlmtlmtlmtl 3y agoSo I'm supposed to divine what you're thinking because you think it's bait? I ask, because usually, when I hear people say "hurr durr scientific method", the defition that comes out of their mouth excludes almost all of science except 2 or 3 fields. And I'm not interested in having a discussion with a silly disagreement in terminology at the core. I'm not sure where you're getting all your veiled insults from. I'm not an anti-intellectual, and I'm not bashing school. But yes, kids get taught straight up incorrect things in school all the time. That doesn't mean I think school is bad, in fact I encourage it. It's just a fundamental consequence of the fact that information is never perfect, and neither are the teachers or authors communicating it. Try to examine your own biases and figure out why you're placing me in some kinda crackpot category just because I think anthropology is a valid field of science.
- 3y ago
- jonahbenton 3y agoMaybe. What becomes clear when visiting the archeological sites of Mayans and even predecessors to the Mayans is how absolutely serious they were about the calendar, the seasons, the pathways and timings of the sun and moon, the comings and goings of the animals in accordance with the calendar, etc. I wouldn't call the hypothesis in that paper numerology. It's entirely in line with what they devoted incredible amounts of energy to. Circumstantial, sure, but a bit more than coincidental.
- hackernewds 3y agoTrue. 20 and 45 just happen to be round whole numbers.
- wkearney99 3y agoEvery time I see a mention of numerology I get a chuckle thinking back to Umberto Eco's book "Foucault's Pendulum" and the measuring of shop kiosks.
- egypturnash 3y agoThere's basically no surviving Mayan literature, thanks to the hard work of the Catholic church. So good luck finding more evidence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_civilization#Writing_and_literacy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_civilization#Writing_and_...
- mustacheemperor 3y agoLed by Bishop Diego De Landa, specifically. >We found a large number of books in these characters and, as they contained nothing in which were not to be seen as superstition and lies of the devil, we burned them all, which they regretted to an amazing degree, and which caused them much affliction. The same individual of whom it's been said >ninety-nine percent of what we today know of the Mayas, we know as the result either of what Landa has told us in the pages that follow, or have learned in the use and study of what he told. So yeah, scholarship of the Maya civilization is extraordinarily challenging.
- tshaddox 3y agoThat quote still shocks me every time I read it. Such depravity.
- govolckurself 3y ago[dead]
- labster 3y agoDude, those indios were gonna go to hell if they kept reading those books. Letting them be tortured for all eternity would be truly depraved. I think the word you were looking for is “narrow-minded”. But even then, Landa thought he had gone through enough to see that there was nothing of value in the Maya books. Even tried to learn the language a little. He just didn’t have the mental and cultural framework to care about other perspectives.
- hackernewds 3y ago