Ancient culture rambling..Follow

Thirteen is natural. It's one of them fibonacci numbers.

I always wondered where Pineapples came from. Thanks!

/sigh

Perhaps I am too tired to troll.

If anything I think that people constantly underestimate the gumption and brains people back in the day had. A man born 25,000 years ago had as much brains as a man born today. They did some incredible things and more than we give them credit for.

I just have to state that I am not a fan people arguing that it had something to do with the divine/aliens/lost cultures etc. I believe that demeans the achievement of ancient civilizations. As if they were to backwards and ancient to have somehow come up with it on their own. I am also not a fan of people making random jumps based on flimsy evidence. The most notable example of this that I could point you to is Gavin Menzes "1421" that tries to make the argument that Chinese treasure fleets reached the new world before Columbus. Now its clear that Chinese fleets regularly traded with Arabia and Eastern Africa and may have even passed the horn to trade with West Africa. His argument for them reaching South America is just plain guess work and circumstantial evidence of the worst kind.

Yes peoples like the Babylonians, Mayans, Egyptians did some pretty amazing work but it was not as if they were some type of proto humans or ignorant savages that were less than us and incapable of acheivements on their own. They were people with the same reasoning power as us and capable of learning and transmitting that knowledge from one person to the next. We must recognize this and give credit where credit is doue, not sit from our loft perch and say "These savages did something without computers or calculators, how oh how was it accomplished?".

It is also extremely important to keep an open mind. I think anyone looking at the history of anthroplogy or history as a discipline will note that numerous times theories and assumptions have had to be changed to meet new evidence. However being critical and analytical of new evidence and how it fits into the frame work is just as important or else the discipline would be a mockery riddled with numerous "Piltdown" men.



Edited, Wed Jan 11 13:28:50 2006 by bodhisattva

I'm less fun and inflammatory when I am serious. It's true.

I have tendancy to picture ancient peoples sorta like on a "Lord of the Flies" scenario.


I try to imagine waht I would think about in that kind of environment.... and then think about the nature of people in general.

I see it as no different then a bunch of children trying there best to make sense of it all.


and today is no different. we are just more arrogant, and have more means of entertainment. If you ask me, it's the Enertainment that is responsible for our advanced sense of morality. We aren't a more "moral" people these days, we simply have better distractions from those aspects of our psyche.


take away our TVs, Computers, and Cars and then wait and see how moral of a cicilization we are.

Actually upward ranges have put it at 120,000 years ago. However there is a gap in absolute dating methods. Carbon dating with new and improved methods have been able to extend to the 90,000+ year method reliably.

However after that to the 100k-300/400k marker there is no current absolute dating technique that is reliable. After 400/700k there are different methods that are reliable for different spans ot time such as Argon/Argon or Potassium/Argon break down.

I was referring less to the buddhist concept of cyclical existance of rebirth and more to the Hindu concept of Yuga's and the four ages. Or if you need a more contempory literary protrayal look at the concept of ages in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan which is directly influenced by the Hindu belief I pointed out.

Each tale/myth/religion that you site is an example of people trying to explain through metaphysical terms and concepts certain universal truths. It is however important to understand the that their concept of reality differs from mine and yours.

An example by Wallis is the buddhist term Nibbana or Nirvana. In todays context it is viewed metaphorically as extinguishing a flame. Extinguishing desire. However if one looks at how fire was viewed in the time of the buddha it could be said that they viewed fire as in a continual state of agitation and entrapted by its fuel. So when they viewed a fire getting put outit was not the extinguishment or extinction of desire but rather an example of the peace brought by letting go of the source of ones desire.

See how perception changes meaning?

All I am saying is that you are continually attacking a problem in away trapped by one pointed of view all the while claiming some sort of unattachment that those you criticise are faulted with. While your point of view is opposing it is often victim to the same fault as those you rail against.

Edited, Wed Jan 11 14:56:01 2006 by bodhisattva

The glass is never empty, the glass is always full. Just because it is half liquid and half gas does not make it any less full.

The only time a glass can be empty is if it is in a vaccuum.

I win.

Possibility is not matter and therefore doesn't matter.

Wehn somthing is observed, it is ceases to become possibilty and becomes reality, therefore wehn you see the glass, you are filling it in with your objective view of reality.

So if the glass was to TRULY be empty, it would have to Not Exist.

I think the most viscious and truthful thing I can say is that Kelvy is in no way a stupid man. In fact he is quite smart. That however doesn't mean he isn't a victim of being about as deep as first year philosophy major.

I actually was a Philosophy major.


but I think your comments toward me are comparable to a kid not being able to figure out a puzzle-game and then throwing it down and yelling "this is st00pid!!"

keep trying Bhodisattva, you'll get there.