# Ancient astronaut believers: Are they racist? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 27, 2024, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-believers-are-they-racist/996730 "2024-01-27T07:13:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-believers-are-they-racist/996730/121 "2024-02-01T11:58:25Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Sure, if you define buildings solely by shape No, I also defined them by function - they are _monumental_ both in scale _and_ purpose. > [@Alessan](#): > > But who defines buildings solely by shape The Greeks? > [@Alessan](#): > > Using my (correct!) logic, pyramids and ziggurats are _not_ the same type of building, simply because pyramids are tombs, and ziggurats are temples. The _teocalli_ is also a temple. But like Mississippian mounds, they were sometimes both. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-believers-are-they-racist/996730/122 "2024-02-01T12:00:16Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > No, I also defined them by function - they are _monumental_ both in scale _and_ purpose. Just like cathedrals and train stations! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-believers-are-they-racist/996730/123 "2024-02-01T12:01:20Z")
OK, I see you’re not taking this seriously, so I’m just going to stop responding to you, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-believers-are-they-racist/996730/124 "2024-02-01T12:04:36Z")
I am taking this at least semi-seriously - as much as such an irrelevant subject demands. And I would argue that both cathedrals and train stations - which, as noted, have basically the same shape - are very much “monumental” structures, whose very size is intended to impress the populace and the world by displaying the wealth and power of those who had them built. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-believers-are-they-racist/996730/125 "2024-02-01T13:15:36Z")
But if the train station was built by ancient astronauts … ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-believers-are-they-racist/996730/126 "2024-02-01T15:07:28Z")
And finally back to the original subject! ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-believers-are-they-racist/996730/127 "2024-02-01T19:14:24Z")
Maybe a wizard did it, so look for Platform 9¾ at King Cross… ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-believers-are-they-racist/996730/128 "2024-02-02T00:11:09Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > But who defines buildings solely by shape? You don’t need to define buildings _solely_ by shape to have some particular categories that are defined by shape. Sure, train stations and cathedrals aren’t defined by shape at all. But what about a [tower](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower)? Defensive towers, air traffic control towers, radio towers and water towers don’t have much in common, other than the fact that they’re all tall and narrow. I don’t see why the term “pyramid” can’t also refer to a category that’s defined by shape instead of purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-believers-are-they-racist/996730/129 "2024-02-02T00:14:25Z")
Since pyramids developed from earlier structures if ziggurat-like design, I think we can declare that cladistically pyramids are ziggurats. (And Mesoamerican pyramids are of an enitely separate lineage and so are not true pyramids at all). ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-believers-are-they-racist/996730/130 "2024-02-02T00:19:11Z")
If they interbreed, will the hybrids be fertile or sterile? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-believers-are-they-racist/996730/131 "2024-02-02T00:24:21Z")
> **[Pyramids and Ziggurats](https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/pyramids-and-ziggurats/)** > > Egyptian pyramids and Mesopotamian ziggurats are geographic neighbors and architectural cousins, both towering structures of stones that dominate their landscape; however, these two structures meant very different things to the people who built them. Grades 5-12+. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-believers-are-they-racist/996730/132 "2024-02-02T00:24:56Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > (And Mesoamerican pyramids are of an enitely separate lineage and so are not true pyramids at all). Sounds fishy, to me. @Alessan , would you say that the Taj Mahal is a pyramid? I wouldn’t, because “pyramid” is a word for a certain kind of geometric shape, and the Taj Mahal isn’t that shape. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-believers-are-they-racist/996730/133 "2024-02-02T00:32:11Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > If they interbreed, will the hybrids be fertile or sterile? Only one way to find out! You should petition your local university for a grant to travel to Iraq and to Egypt, capture wild Pyramids and Ziggurats, transport them to a wide plot of land in Texas, and see what happens. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-believers-are-they-racist/996730/134 "2024-02-02T01:19:52Z")
But is there an established way to sex them before putting them together to breed? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-believers-are-they-racist/996730/135 "2024-02-02T01:28:33Z")
Not as juveniles, and even with adults it’s hard to tell outside of mating season. Typically want to get around 6-12 juveniles and raise them together until a dominant couple pairs up and establishes a territory, at which point you remove the others. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-believers-are-they-racist/996730/136 "2024-02-02T04:45:26Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > But if the train station was built by ancient astronauts … Well, if we examine this proposal with the theory presented in post 102 and the documentary evidence presented in post 103, it’s between microscopic and about 2 feet high. > [@Babale](#): > > You should petition your local university for a grant to travel to Iraq and to Egypt, capture wild Pyramids and Ziggurats, transport them to a wide plot of land in Texas, and see what happens. I believe I have a case of the vapors. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-believers-are-they-racist/996730/137 "2024-02-02T15:26:44Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > (And Mesoamerican pyramids are of an enitely separate lineage and so are not true pyramids at all). Convergent evolution? ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-believers-are-they-racist/996730/138 "2024-02-02T17:10:06Z")
With luck you could wind up with several breeding pairs, then. How much territory would each incipient pack need, do you think? ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-believers-are-they-racist/996730/139 "2024-02-02T18:23:23Z")
Gotta beware of the effects of inbreeding, though. [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d1/Upside_down_Pyramid%2C_Bratislava_02.jpg/1280px-Upside_down_Pyramid%2C_Bratislava_02.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d1/Upside_down_Pyramid%2C_Bratislava_02.jpg/1280px-Upside_down_Pyramid%2C_Bratislava_02.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-believers-are-they-racist/996730/140 "2024-02-02T19:02:39Z")
Unless you decided to breed deliberately for such characteridtics and charge a premium for the offspring, like [Munchkin cats](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munchkin_cat). ETA: Oh, jeez, there’s even a hairless version: The [Bambino cat,](https://www.thesprucepets.com/bambino-cat-breed-profile-4770712) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-believers-are-they-racist/996730.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-astronaut-believers-are-they-racist/996730.md?page=8)