Insight: How is it people call ancient people...

[Lanfear]

I'm rather bored at work so I was looking up topics such as Megalodon and aliens. I came across this rather weird sight dedicated to aliens and their existance. Sure it could be true but alot of their pictures and explainations are from ancient Egypt. In their explainations they state that the Egyptians could never create anything complex. That they were simply primitive and that the aliens had to do it. (art and carving wise) But the Egyptains built the pyramids and did mummification. They built great monuments, had a leader and law. They created many beautiful and complex structres and objects.

I believe that we did not "invent" the technology we have today, but only improved it. Like plumbing. Ryan made a good point that the things we have today are things people had long ago or invented then. They had different things than we did and we only improved on them and sometimes changed the form. Plumbing, toilets, houses, mail, clothing, telephones, ect. We made them better and made them work in different ways. So in reality, we just created...gosh were did my wording go?...

We created the faster way to get a message to someone.
We created the faster way to keep in touch with people.

Geez...I suck at wording this...my thoughts are getting all jumbled up.

My point is: this site angered me by saying that the ancient people of Egypt could never create something complex. Something as complex as a calender or mathematics...when they did!

Thoughts???
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[Vicious88]

Welcome to the glories of the internet - the art form of propetuating ignorance amongst people who consider themselves informed. Tragically, far too often sites are formed on the basis of a few loose "facts" and more opinions than Opra would know what to do with. (Just to clerify, I'm talking about the site you found, not anyone here).

Everyone really wants to seem like they have answers to our past, our future, and our purpose. Fanaticalists are grasping for straws to claim that their "insight" is something other people should believe in without questioning any of it.

Want proof? Go to any of the 9/11 conspiracy sites. You'll find cheaply made sites boasting low-grade "evidence" that these people honestly believe is Nobel Prize winning stuff. There are two types of people who do this sort of crap:

1) The One Sider - These are people who believe things are either black or white. Completely unaware of the shades of grey in the middle.

2) The BS Slinger - These are people who look at the shades of grey and begin injecting their own un-likely colors (or colours, for my English readers, lol).

Take for example, the ever-so-famous 9/11 crisis: When the site was being excavated, someone found melted steel amongst the bottom of the rubble.

The One Sider does a google search to find out how hot Jet fuel burns, and another to find out what temperature steel melts at, and of course, comes to realize that Jet Fuel is not hot-burning enough to melt steel (which is convient for the airplane engines that would otherwise melt mid-flight). Seeing this "evidence" the one sider immediately claims that something must have been in the building, aiding the collapse.

The BS Slinger, on the other hand, sees this and says would interject that 'the only possible way for steel to melt like that' would be if a thermite explosive was used, so on so forth.

While as in truth, anyone who's ever taken a high school chem class could tell you that steal weakens at merely one fourth it's melting point, and as it gets super heated like that, it begings taking in excess ammounts of carbon, even more so as the building would collapse, enabling it to be kindled by the wreckage and ember to a melting point... But that's neither here nor there.

You'll run into this crap a lot of the time two with religious conspiracies, and agnostic propaganda films.


But more realitive to your issue:

The Ancient Egyptions, Aztecs, and Myans were incredibly sophisticated for their time, yes, but there's evidence on both sides of your argument. Take for instance the fact that our knowledge of astronamy is not that impressively advanced when you consider how well these ancient cultures did with it back in the day (and we have much newer toys, yes, but have learning nothing that is exactly earth moving).

And as far as celestrial calendars and base mathematics go - whoever ran that site must have been a moron. If you look at the pyramids, you'll get a lesson in mathematics. Just try not to. And for the calanders - the Myan's had a celestrial calander that dated all the way up to 2012 (just as many of the ancient civilizations did - it stopped at 2012 in each because that is when the celestrial cross forms, for those of you who know what that is).

But don't get me wrong, just cause the guy who ran the site is a moron, doesn't mean I agree whole heartedly that there is no new technology in the world. Here's a fun list of stuff that's occured just in the past 500 years:

Space Travel
Aviation
Organ Transplants
Brain Surgery
Full Control over electricity
Practical Applications for Magnatism
Plasma Research
Sonar
Radar
And more controlable light waves than we know what to do with (L, H, VH, and UH frequencies, not to mention Gamma and X Rays, all of which we've gotten to do our bidding).

But sure, if you want to dwell on something you can trace it back to some ancient something somewhere. I'm sure the caveman who invented the wheel is the source of the inspiration that goes into every sports car known to man, but really truely if you're wanting to go that far back into disgracing innovation, then you're making it too easy.

Fact of the matter is this: We've been on this planet for a long, LONG time by human standards (too long in fact). So the ideas are running dry, and originality is becoming less and less frequent. Want a more modern example? There's not a single video game or video game device in current existance that doesn't owe homage to the NES (the first steering wheel, rapid fire joypad, motion sensing device, track/dance mat, console gun, cross-console hook-up device, etc were all made for the NES).

Even fashion trends rehash older ones if you're willing to go back far enough. But frankly, there are some things in existance right now that owe credit to no dead man or woman. But rather were the brain child of people who are still very much a part of our time.


Hope you don't mind another opinion in the pot, I just figured I'd throw mine out there, lol.
_________________

Ah, Signature Changes...

[Vicious88]

Welcome to the glories of the internet - the art form of propetuating ignorance amongst people who consider themselves informed. Tragically, far too often sites are formed on the basis of a few loose "facts" and more opinions than Opra would know what to do with. (Just to clerify, I'm talking about the site you found, not anyone here).

Everyone really wants to seem like they have answers to our past, our future, and our purpose. Fanaticalists are grasping for straws to claim that their "insight" is something other people should believe in without questioning any of it.

Want proof? Go to any of the 9/11 conspiracy sites. You'll find cheaply made sites boasting low-grade "evidence" that these people honestly believe is Nobel Prize winning stuff. There are two types of people who do this sort of crap:

1) The One Sider - These are people who believe things are either black or white. Completely unaware of the shades of grey in the middle.

2) The BS Slinger - These are people who look at the shades of grey and begin injecting their own un-likely colors (or colours, for my English readers, lol).

Take for example, the ever-so-famous 9/11 crisis: When the site was being excavated, someone found melted steel amongst the bottom of the rubble.

The One Sider does a google search to find out how hot Jet fuel burns, and another to find out what temperature steel melts at, and of course, comes to realize that Jet Fuel is not hot-burning enough to melt steel (which is convient for the airplane engines that would otherwise melt mid-flight). Seeing this "evidence" the one sider immediately claims that something must have been in the building, aiding the collapse.

The BS Slinger, on the other hand, sees this and says would interject that 'the only possible way for steel to melt like that' would be if a thermite explosive was used, so on so forth.

While as in truth, anyone who's ever taken a high school chem class could tell you that steal weakens at merely one fourth it's melting point, and as it gets super heated like that, it begings taking in excess ammounts of carbon, even more so as the building would collapse, enabling it to be kindled by the wreckage and ember to a melting point... But that's neither here nor there.

You'll run into this crap a lot of the time two with religious conspiracies, and agnostic propaganda films.


But more realitive to your issue:

The Ancient Egyptions, Aztecs, and Myans were incredibly sophisticated for their time, yes, but there's evidence on both sides of your argument. Take for instance the fact that our knowledge of astronamy is not that impressively advanced when you consider how well these ancient cultures did with it back in the day (and we have much newer toys, yes, but have learning nothing that is exactly earth moving).

And as far as celestrial calendars and base mathematics go - whoever ran that site must have been a moron. If you look at the pyramids, you'll get a lesson in mathematics. Just try not to. And for the calanders - the Myan's had a celestrial calander that dated all the way up to 2012 (just as many of the ancient civilizations did - it stopped at 2012 in each because that is when the celestrial cross forms, for those of you who know what that is).

But don't get me wrong, just cause the guy who ran the site is a moron, doesn't mean I agree whole heartedly that there is no new technology in the world. Here's a fun list of stuff that's occured just in the past 500 years:

Space Travel
Aviation
Organ Transplants
Brain Surgery
Full Control over electricity
Practical Applications for Magnatism
Plasma Research
Sonar
Radar
And more controlable light waves than we know what to do with (L, H, VH, and UH frequencies, not to mention Gamma and X Rays, all of which we've gotten to do our bidding).

But sure, if you want to dwell on something you can trace it back to some ancient something somewhere. I'm sure the caveman who invented the wheel is the source of the inspiration that goes into every sports car known to man, but really truely if you're wanting to go that far back into disgracing innovation, then you're making it too easy.

Fact of the matter is this: We've been on this planet for a long, LONG time by human standards (too long in fact). So the ideas are running dry, and originality is becoming less and less frequent. Want a more modern example? There's not a single video game or video game device in current existance that doesn't owe homage to the NES (the first steering wheel, rapid fire joypad, motion sensing device, track/dance mat, console gun, cross-console hook-up device, etc were all made for the NES).

Even fashion trends rehash older ones if you're willing to go back far enough. But frankly, there are some things in existance right now that owe credit to no dead man or woman. But rather were the brain child of people who are still very much a part of our time.


Hope you don't mind another opinion in the pot, I just figured I'd throw mine out there, lol.
_________________

Ah, Signature Changes...

[Lanfear]

-har- I enjoy your posts. Very in depth. I didn't completely mean that we didn't have any new technology...but it doesnt seem as though we have very much.

Back to my original topic on the Egyptians: the calender was basically done with perfect lines, thats why I believe that the guy said they couldn't have done it...ALIENS DID! -hah-

Believe in aliens? I do to a point...but I'm not so sure that there is evidence that they were ruling ancient Egypt.
_________________

[RobC1907]

The characteristics of Ancient Egyptian technology are indicated by a set of artifacts and customs that lasted for thousands of years. The Egyptians invented and used many basic machines, such as the ramp and the lever, to aid construction processes.

They used rope trusses to stiffen the beam of ships, unknown again until modern engineering. Egyptian paper, made from papyrus, and pottery was mass produced and exported throughout the Mediterranean basin.

The wheel, however, did not arrive until foreign invaders introduced the chariot in the sixteenth century B.C.

The Egyptians also played an important role in developing Mediterranean maritime technology including ships and lighthouses.

Egyptians were brilliant builders and architects.

Many temples from Ancient Egypt are still standing today. Some are in ruin from wear and tear, while others have been lost entirely. The Egyptian structures are among the largest constructions ever conceived and built by humans. They constitute one of the most potent and enduring symbols of Ancient Egyptian civilization.

Temples and tombs built by a pharaoh famous for her projects, Hatshepsut, were massive and included many colossal statues of her. King Tut's rock-cut tomb in the Valley of the Kings was full of jewelery and antiques. In some late myths, Ptah was identified as the primordial mound and had called creation into being, he was considered the deity of craftsmen, and in particular, of stone-based crafts.

Imhotep, who was included in the Egyptian pantheon, was the first documented engineer.

In Hellenistic Egypt, lighthouse technology was developed, the most famous example being the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

The most famous pyramids are the Egyptian pyramids—huge structures built of brick or stone, some of which are among the largest constructions by humans.

Pyramids functioned as tombs for pharaohs. In Ancient Egypt, a pyramid was referred to as mer, literally "place of ascendance." The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest in Egypt and one of the largest in the world. The base is over thirteen acres in area.

It is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and the only one of the seven to survive into modern times.

The Ancient Egyptians capped the peaks of their pyramids with gold and covered their faces with polished white limestone, although many of the stones used for the finishing purpose have fallen or been removed for use on other structures over the millennia.

The ancient Egyptians had some of the first monumental stone buildings. How the Egyptians worked the solid granite is still a matter of debate.

I speculate that the Egyptians used emery, which is harder.

Let's move on to glasswork.

Egyptian knowledge of glassmaking was advanced. The earliest known glass beads from Egypt were made during the New Kingdom around 1500 BC and were produced in a variety of colors.

They were made by winding molten glass around a metal bar and were highly prized as a trading commodity, especially blue beads, which were believed to have magical powers.

How about medicine?

A piece of papyrus that was found recently is one of the first medical documents in existance, and perhaps the earliest document which attempts to describe and analyze the brain. Given this, it is probable that the Egyptians were the root of neuroscience.

In conclusion, whoever wrote the article you were unfortunate enough to read is clearly an igorant fool.

[RobC1907]

The characteristics of Ancient Egyptian technology are indicated by a set of artifacts and customs that lasted for thousands of years. The Egyptians invented and used many basic machines, such as the ramp and the lever, to aid construction processes.

They used rope trusses to stiffen the beam of ships, unknown again until modern engineering. Egyptian paper, made from papyrus, and pottery was mass produced and exported throughout the Mediterranean basin.

The wheel, however, did not arrive until foreign invaders introduced the chariot in the sixteenth century B.C.

The Egyptians also played an important role in developing Mediterranean maritime technology including ships and lighthouses.

Egyptians were brilliant builders and architects.

Many temples from Ancient Egypt are still standing today. Some are in ruin from wear and tear, while others have been lost entirely. The Egyptian structures are among the largest constructions ever conceived and built by humans. They constitute one of the most potent and enduring symbols of Ancient Egyptian civilization.

Temples and tombs built by a pharaoh famous for her projects, Hatshepsut, were massive and included many colossal statues of her. King Tut's rock-cut tomb in the Valley of the Kings was full of jewelery and antiques. In some late myths, Ptah was identified as the primordial mound and had called creation into being, he was considered the deity of craftsmen, and in particular, of stone-based crafts.

Imhotep, who was included in the Egyptian pantheon, was the first documented engineer.

In Hellenistic Egypt, lighthouse technology was developed, the most famous example being the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

The most famous pyramids are the Egyptian pyramids—huge structures built of brick or stone, some of which are among the largest constructions by humans.

Pyramids functioned as tombs for pharaohs. In Ancient Egypt, a pyramid was referred to as mer, literally "place of ascendance." The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest in Egypt and one of the largest in the world. The base is over thirteen acres in area.

It is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and the only one of the seven to survive into modern times.

The Ancient Egyptians capped the peaks of their pyramids with gold and covered their faces with polished white limestone, although many of the stones used for the finishing purpose have fallen or been removed for use on other structures over the millennia.

The ancient Egyptians had some of the first monumental stone buildings. How the Egyptians worked the solid granite is still a matter of debate.

I speculate that the Egyptians used emery, which is harder.

Let's move on to glasswork.

Egyptian knowledge of glassmaking was advanced. The earliest known glass beads from Egypt were made during the New Kingdom around 1500 BC and were produced in a variety of colors.

They were made by winding molten glass around a metal bar and were highly prized as a trading commodity, especially blue beads, which were believed to have magical powers.

How about medicine?

A piece of papyrus that was found recently is one of the first medical documents in existance, and perhaps the earliest document which attempts to describe and analyze the brain. Given this, it is probable that the Egyptians were the root of neuroscience.

In conclusion, whoever wrote the article you were unfortunate enough to read is clearly an igorant fool.

[Vicious88]

Rob is our resident history buff, and he's probably got so much imput for this, it'll blow our minds. But that seems like a stupid conclusion jump to me. "Straight lines in an ancient society? ALIENS!!!" (Because ancient cultures probably weren't smart enough to pull a piece of string tight across something to make straight lines, right? lol)
_________________

Ah, Signature Changes...

[Vicious88]

Rob is our resident history buff, and he's probably got so much imput for this, it'll blow our minds. But that seems like a stupid conclusion jump to me. "Straight lines in an ancient society? ALIENS!!!" (Because ancient cultures probably weren't smart enough to pull a piece of string tight across something to make straight lines, right? lol)
_________________

Ah, Signature Changes...