Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Josh Mercer on March 13, 2011 at 12:36pm

That was one of the biggest strawmen I've ever seen. It pains me to see that nowhere are we safe from them.

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Permalink Reply by Tex in the City on March 12, 2011 at 5:37pm

I don't see any reason to assume that the ancient Egyptians could not have built the pyramids.  What is the basis for this claim?  We accept that the ancient Greeks built the Parthenon and other masterpieces of architecture and engineering, right?  Sure, it's difficult to move large blocks of stone.  It remains difficult.  It is also not impossible.  Why do people find it so mind boggling?  Throughout history people have been building memorials to the dead.  In Egypt's case they built pyramids.  Why is this so hard to accept?  I just see no reason at all to conclude that there was some extra-terrestrial help.

 

We don't know why the Nazca lines were built.  However I find no need to ascribe supernatual or alien involvement.  People have been making art for time immemorial.  Much of it I don't understand, to this day, like Christo's orange gates or a shark encased in formaldehyde.  I also don't know why my parents thought it would look good to put wood paneling and shag carpeting throughout their house in the 70's, and frankly when you ask them now they don't know either.  Maybe aliens made them do it?

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Permalink Reply by Heather Spoonheim on March 12, 2011 at 6:19pm

I think the reason people have so much trouble understanding the pyramids is that we are generally presented with a very primitive picture of the ancients. This is mostly a socially propagated view, but science tends to reinforce it by using the word 'primitive' rather than 'ancient' or even 'early' when referring to the writing, ideas, and tools of ancient/early/primitive cultures. The dictionary definition of primitive doesn't suggest the negative connotations that this word has taken on in modern usage.

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Permalink Reply by Tex in the City on March 12, 2011 at 7:38pm

Good point and well stated.

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Permalink Reply by ButterCookie on March 13, 2011 at 2:21am

I agree as well!

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Permalink Reply by Josh Mercer on March 12, 2011 at 10:10pm

I've seen a couple episodes. last one was the one about deluge-scale disasters and it cited the bible and 2012 numerous times. I got more angry  than I usually do when I watch the Office.

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Permalink Reply by Dale Headley on March 13, 2011 at 4:26pm

Sadly, most Americans receive what passes for "science" on commercial TV, where the producers of shows do not care a bit about truth; their only motivation is market share.  And, since science instruction in American schools is so woefully and shamefully inadequate, there is little to counter the paranormal nonsense that pours from the popular media.

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Permalink Reply by Heather Spoonheim on March 13, 2011 at 4:57pm

Very well said.  Unfortunately, I think this strongly applies to the ability of creationists to keep refuting reality.  Although these shows are about aliens, the propagate the view that science is a huge ship with nobody at the helm - with huge, unyielding inertia unchecked by any watchful eyes.  If your entire education came from one of these shows you would think that archeologists literally destroy artifacts that they don't understand and science is riddled with mysteries that terrify most researchers.

 

I do find those shows incredibly entertaining - but I guess they really do have a dark side.

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Permalink Reply by Josh Mercer on March 13, 2011 at 8:44pm

Speaking of the inability of americans to think critically about what they see on TV, and the History Channel especially, have you seen what passes as adequate programming on the Canadian version of History Television? Ice Road Truckers and a number of series and specials involving Nostradamus, 2012, and the Apocalypse.

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Permalink Reply by Heather Spoonheim on March 13, 2011 at 8:54pm

I did not know that there was a Canadian version of History Television.  When I do watch television and want Canadian content I usually look for CBC.

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Permalink Reply by Josh Mercer on March 13, 2011 at 8:56pm

I did not know that anyone watched CBC except for Republic of Doyle. lol

but yeah, Most of History's programming has nothing to do with history and is often geared toward these stupid new documentary shows and stuff about the end of the world.

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Permalink Reply by Heather Spoonheim on March 13, 2011 at 9:12pm

I should point out that if in some of my posts I seem critical of 'american' literacy or behavior, I typically include Canada in there was well.  When I switch to criticizing U.S. foreign policy, I typically us "U.S." and United States instead of 'american'.

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