According to Neil DeGrasse Tyson, (who dislikes being given credit), the Mayans believed the earth was flat, rested on the back of an alligator in a lily pond, and was supported by 5 trees of different colors. That’s pretty much the best of the times, you bet.
Science is not done by counting how many websites there are claiming the impossible. And the whole evidence isn’t good evidence just because there is a lot of it out there. Multiplying bad evidence by 100 doesn’t improve the quality in the slightest.
No matter how many websites claim bigfoot exists, until solid evidence arrives, it’s just so much fantasy.
That’s a common misconception. Professionals in the scientific world are not divided on the basic concepts of astronomy or evolution, and are amused by the presumptions of non-scientists, as I am about yours. I’ve seen it all before, Dude, and it’s pretty lame.
Are you kidding me? You point out 1 small error and then you claim I’m not interested in facts? How naive can you be? I meant to say “world” technologies, not “English” it’s an obvious mistake. I never even mentioned Columbus or the Underground London or whatever, what are you even talking about? I am seriously confused.
This is similar to someone pointing out a small grammatical mistake and saying their whole argument is invalid because of it and “they are not interested in the facts”.
Fossils are not “circumstantial” evidence in any sense of the word. Evolution is indeed a theory, but “theory” is not some intermediary step on the way to “law.” A theory is an explanation for an observed or postulated phenomenon that has not, to date, been shown to have any flaws. A theory represents the highest level of scientific certainty - see, also, the theory of gravity, atomic theory, or germ theory. The fossil record represents extremely strong proof of the correctness of evolutionary theory, although it’s hardly alone - there are very few theories in science that are more strongly supported by the evidence than evolution. If evolution were proven to be incorrect, it would call into question our fundamental assumptions in virtually every other branch of science.
The problem here is that there aren’t any “unexplained” things that need Ancient Astronauts to explain them. The Mayans were surprisingly skilled astronomers, given their level of technological sophistication, but nothing they discovered was impossible given what we know about their society. You can make some pretty advanced deductions about astronomy with a good set of eyes, some clear skies, and a bit of math.
To my knowledge, the only people setting the Mayans forward as the best astronomers of their time are the people trying to pimp the Mayan apocalyptic theories.
The lack of contact between the two cultures is, in fact, what makes the point relevant. If multiple cultures can come up with the same correct observations about the universe independently, that indicates that the observations are not particularly difficult to figure out. If the Greeks could do it without aliens, then there’s no need to hypothesize aliens when talking about the Mayans.
What’s your basis for this assertion?
This is also not a very accurate description of the heliocentric debate during the Renaissance.
What do quotes from Indian texts prove about what the Mayans did or did not know?
Because the people studying evolution are able to make testable predictions about their field, which are later proven to be accurate.
Because he was able to make testable predictions about his field, which he was able to prove to be accurate.
The main problem is that there’s virtually no evidence for your theory that we can debunk. You’ve got two things going for you: “Math is hard,” and “These guys are wearing hats that kinda-sorta look like space helmets, if you squint right.” What is there to debunk, there?
Ah, yes, but you left out the 5 trees of different colors. The alligator is obvious, likewise the lily pond, but the Maya were so far ahead of everyone else that they peeked over the edge to find the middle, 5th tree. How else could they have seen it?
The mind boggles at the wisdom of the ancients. My mother, for instance.
Suppose yourself to be an ancient astronaut. Your ship has just discovered this planet. You’ve met a few of the locals, and you want to advance their astronomical knowledge.
The printing press would be another good choice of technologies to give them. One problem with ancient civilizations is, they don’t have the printing press, so books remain rare. That means fewer people can come across whatever ideas you are trying to advance. It also means there’s a better chance of your ideas being lost to history. Say someone were to decide to destroy all the books. Without the printing press, they have a decent shot at doing this. With the printing press, books can be so cheap that there are just too many books containing one particular idea to destroy them all. Imagine trying to destroy all the textbooks after you had conquered the modern US. You would literally have to search house to house (I’m not the only one who still has boxes of old college textbooks, am I?).
But why would you give your help and advice to only one civilization on the planet you’ve just discovered? Why wouldn’t you also visit the Romans and the Chinese, and give them your astronomical knowledge, too? The Chinese have astronomers, too. You’ve just discovered this planet, you probably don’t have much reason to favor one civilization over another. If you can travel here from another star system, you shouldn’t have much trouble getting between Mexico and China. The more people you give your knowledge to, the less chance it has of being lost to history.
You connected that the fact that the Earth is round, a fact that was established in 500 BC, to the discovery of America some 2000 years later. This is a major blunder, not a small grammatical error. How can you not see that yourself?
Let me ask you something. Have you ever done astronomy before? Astronomy without a telescope is actually really simple. It just takes diligence and careful note taking.
What, exactly, did the Mayans do that no other culture at the time did? What specific discoveries did they make that were ahead of their time?
I’ve done some preliminary research on astronomy in the Rigveda, and have found nothing other than mention of eclipses and attempts to date the manuscript using star positions listed in it. If the manuscript did indeed claim all those things you said it did, that would be quite remarkable. Do you have a cite for all that? One of those “quotes” is a little confusing, being that it mentions 9 planets but fails to mention the Kuiper Belt. I guess these ancient aliens were fond of Pluto too, huh?
They could use iron and steel working, too. I really doubt that interstellar ships would be made exclusively of copper, silver, gold, and stone, so the aliens presumably would have metallurgical knowledge that the Mayans didn’t. Even if the aliens didn’t have such knowledge, it should be pretty simple for them to abduct some people from Europe, Asia, or Africa who did.
Remember, some ancient civilizations classified the sun and moon as planets. Indian astronomers were also aware of the moon’s nodes (the points where the orbit of the moon crosses the ecliptic, significant because they are where eclipses can happen), and counted them as planets, too. They called them Rahu and Ketu. They wouldn’t have counted the earth as a planet. Just because they came up with the same total of planets that modern astronomers did for much of the 20th century doesn’t necessarily mean they were counting the same things. There are two cats and two humans in my household, but that doesn’t mean that cats and humans are the same thing (the cats would be quite insulted by anyone not acknowledging their superiority like that).
Okay, maybe they did at one time. We don’t know if this was always at the centerfold of their culture. It may have been lost in time and antiquity and the culture could have forgotten it.
If you want to talk about DeGrasse, here is DeGrasse on Aliens:
So if you want to appeal to our most famous and smart scientists, there you have it. As I’ve said before Dr. Michio Kaku believes there may be some truth to Alien UFOs. Look it up, or I can look it up for you maybe.
Of course I am not appealing to numbers as my argument! I am saying there is good evidence for this theory, but it is circumstantial evidence, like a lot of other evidence. To me, circumstantial just means it’s not 100% solid proof, but it explains which is unexplained.
I never said the professionals in science are divided on evolution, etc.
I said there are divided on THIS theory. Not divided in half of course, and not even close to a quarter, but there are still respected professionals that do believe this. If not this, even Dr. Michio Kaku somewhat believes in Alien UFOs, which I keep saying. IF you want to appeal to authority.
There is a huuuuuge difference between believing that there is life on other planets, and believing that life on other planets has ever been to this planet. Tyson believes in the former, but I’ll eat my hat if he believes in the latter.
That’s not what the word “circumstantial” means to anyone else.
You show ignorance of the Ancient Alien/Astronaut theory. I cannot trust you know anything about it with this remark, so please educate yourself on everything there is to know about the theory and then come back to me and counter those points before implying that all there is to the theory are the Mayans.
Well who was better than? I didn’t know this, so please educate me on my misinformation. =(
Well I was basing this on the above quote, so if you can show me what civilization had better astronomical observations and a better calender than the Mayans at the time, then show me, and I’ll retract. The Mayans are not the only evidence supporting the theory, of course. Those ancient texts show that the Ancient Indians (?) knew the Earth revolved around the sun, and other observations that is peculiar for their time. Also explain Pumapunku?
The same as above.
Funny. I got it from the Wikipedia website you so much like to quote. Maybe I was trying to prove something?
The theory is that “Gods” aka ETs gave it to them.
How can you test anything but micro-evolution? Do you have a time accelerator?
Noted. As per above, some theories cannot be tested.
Again, as per above, you just need to educate yourself more on the theory. Watch some documentaries, and although I do not like to say Ancient Aliens, as it is made a mockery of because of all the speculation and sensationalism, there are some good points made in the series. Just debunk those. You can be the first.
What the fuck other hat looks like THAT? LOL Especially in Mayan environment.
There is not a huge difference. And I’ll eat my hat even he says definitively 100% that there hasn’t been life on other planets has ever been to this planet like you seem to be saying. How the fuck would you know for sure? Are you God?
I’m not sure what the word for it is.
In a court case circumstantial evidence can be anything that isn’t 100% solid evidence. Like if a picture taken somewhat looks like the suspect, but can’t be proven to be true.
Exactly. This is why there are examples and evidences supporting the theory throughout the world in different civilizations. Does the I-Ching end in 2012 or is it a myth? Let’s do some myth busting.
Also, the Aliens may not have wanted to intentionally give the Mayans knowledge or want it to last to history. This may not be their intent. But the Mayans uncovered some knowledge to help them in their astronomy.
Yes, but we know why these celebrations exist. We don’t know what the fuck the Mayans are celebrating on that date. Or why. And frankly, I doubt the Mayans who will be doing their dance on that day know why anymore either.
