A. were brought to Earth by higher species from other planets or older high-tech societies from Earth, or
B. have been genetically modified by high-tech-using races, either from other solar systems or from Earth?
Posted by Yank (Member # 2514) on :
Possible? Sure. Probable? Not until I see some kind of evidence.
If you'd like a darn good sci-fi yarn on those premises, though, try David Brin's Uplift series. Very interesting.
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
I wouldn't advise anyone to post any real nuggets of wisdom in this thread, as it's likely to disappear for no reason.
Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
Ok Spang, you're not going to derail my thread.
Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
Zechariah Sitchin (iffy, I realize) has written some stuff that points to the existence of ancient gold mines in South Africa, as well as ancient copper mines in Michigan, large-scale operations that went very deep into the Earth, quite impossible with Native American technology.
As well, the Mahabharata talks about a war that included missiles and aircraft, 5-10 thousand years ago. Finally, there are stories in dozens of societies that talk about underground cities with high technology. It's difficult to study Tibetan or Hindu history without eventually running across this sort of thing. The Potala palace in Tibet is said to have an underground entrance to Potala, the underground realm of intelligent reptiles.
Paul Stonehill has some interesting stuff along these lines re: Huang Ti, the first Chinese emperor, aka the Yellow emperor. Huang Ti was, according to Chinese tradition, from the Sirius star system, travelled in a flying machine, and had several flying robots that ate stones as fuel.
There's lots more where this comes from. Some is crap, but for every 100 bits of crap, there's a little something-not-as-crappy.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
I've read the Mahabharata (Twice and still don't understand all of it). It does not talk about Missiles other than those used by divine archers. It does not mention airplanes, unless you cook the phrasing a bit to make it say what you want it to say. It does talk about weapons that will destroy everything--so their existance will end war. Then again such predictions have been made about everything from from the Cross Bow to the Atom Bomb. War still going strong.
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
I think it's entirely possible life on earth was seeded here, either naturally or by some alien race. It's unlikely (to me) that humans are a special case as we share so much in evolutionary terms with other mammals, especially other primates.
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
Not trying to derail, just thought I'd provide a disclaimer.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
It's possible, steven, but it's highly unlikely. Especially arguments that rely on highly non-traditional interpretations of ancient poems.
Posted by Yank (Member # 2514) on :
There are people who like to use the biblical Book of Ezekiel for this purpose. Given how bizarre ancient Hebrew imagery seems to the modern mind, I don't buy it. I mean, have these people read the New Testament Book of Revelations? You can interperet that *any* which way. And it's a lot more contemporary.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
I've pointed out in another thread that ID is just a special case of "External Influence" theory. Basically, the problem for all such theories is that there are explanations of life on earth that have been working well for about 150 years, over time the counter-examples posed basically falling into conformity as more facts are known.
Given that history, the need for a deux ex machina explanation of the current flora and fauna on Earth seems less and less compelling for theories of HOW things happened.
It's kind of fun to speculate, but for the alien species thing, one might want to include in there a motivation for them to do so. At least with God as the intelligent designer, we have the motivations pretty well understood.
What would motivate an alien species to set this mess up and then disappear?
Or set it up and then lurk?
I mean, the data show this process has been going on for billions of years (unless they faked it all), so that's a remarkable amount of patience if this is a true hypothesis.
Alternately, one might propose that they were in the middle of a building program and were killed off somehow. Or that the Earth descendants are just throwbacks who lost the advanced knowledge.
I'd buy maybe that this is a penal colony.
But it'd have to explain why all the species here share some common ancestors as far back as we can trace.
If we were dropped of recently, then the earth must've been the alien equivalent of terraformed. If we were a seed planet created billions of years ago, we have the dilemma of figuring out motivations and where the people who did it have gone.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
Don't we already have an 11-page thread on this? And, by the way, if steven follows true to his form on the other three Causes-Of-The-Month he's espoused here, arguing with him is even more futile than arguing with Tresopax.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
Which brings up an interesting coincidence between the Mayan End of Days and the next close encounter with Apophis. Admittedly, there is a 16week gap in time. But considering that the earliest recorded date using that countdown calender is 32BC, that gap is vanishingly small. And there is a larger gap in time until the truly close encounter in 24years. But it is still only a bit more than a 1% error. Then there is the fact that modern astronomers with modern instruments base their 2029 prediction on orbital calculations using measurements gathered after the 2004 discovery. Add that it will be the "Mayan End of Days" encounter which will allow sufficiently accurate measurements for calculations to determine whether or not Apophis will hit the Earth in 2036 -- only 31 years from now -- and the Mayans* made an astonishingly accurate call considering the primitive equipment available to them.
Or it could just be coincidence Coincidences do happen. Especially when the "prediction" is extremely vague about the specific what which is supposed to occur.
* Or the possible predecessor civilization from which the Mayans inherited their countdown calender.
[ November 18, 2005, 04:47 AM: Message edited by: aspectre ]
Posted by Will B (Member # 7931) on :
de Spang: I got it. Anyone care for a chocolate-covered manhole cover?
--
About humanity being a transplant: then we have to explain why we're so similar to other earth life. Especially vertebrates. If aliens brought us here, they brought most of earth life with them.
If aliens did bring life here billions of years ago, I wonder why they didn't leave any ball point pens or Happy Meal toys for archaeologists to find buried underneath those Cambrian fossils.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
I am now taking bets that someone (who shall remain un-named) is going to mention the impossibility of building the pyramids with ancient technology; the great big pictures, viewable only from above, in the Andes; or the Antikythera mechanism with its sophisticated gearing. Step up, step up, 2-to-1 odds today only!
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
Less likely than that, Will B, gross structural resemblences can be the result of convergent evolution. However, humans and other vertebates share many genes, proteins, and metabolic pathways with invertebrates; and even yeast and bacteria. Which can't be explained as a product of convergent evolution.
[ November 18, 2005, 05:13 AM: Message edited by: aspectre ]
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
Oh, I dunno, King of Men. Are you claiming that HappyMeal "hamburger"s and "chicken nugget"s were created by humans?
[ November 17, 2005, 11:24 PM: Message edited by: aspectre ]
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
The same species that is responsible for flamethrowers and Iron Maidens? Yes, I do, actually.
Posted by Will B (Member # 7931) on :
aspectre, I wasn't talking about gross structural resemblances.
Hamburgers and Chicken McNuggets would have decayed by now, right?
But not Twizzlers. Those things really are alien.
Posted by lord trousers (Member # 8741) on :
I think Earth was originally settled by Golgafrinchan middle managers, hairdressers and telephone sanitizers.
Posted by ricree101 (Member # 7749) on :
quote:Originally posted by Will B: But not Twizzlers. Those things really are alien.
Hmmm.......
Aliens are tasty, then.
Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
Well, we do know that Spewey was a tasty alien. And he makes his own yogurt, and is self-basting.
--Enigmatic (will be amazed if anyone gets that reference)
Posted by Will B (Member # 7931) on :
Where's Gus when you need him?
Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
Tom, you are literally the last hatracker who I would want to hear from on this issue. The Buddhists just down the road from you at the Deer Park Gelugpa monastery would probably laugh at the idea that there are NOT intelligent reptiles living underneath Tibet. You can't combine Buddhism with uninformed skepticism.
I don't for a second believe implicitly in any of this, but there are too many stories of this sort of thing in too many different traditions and cultures to make me think we're alone here.
I bet Tom is an intelligent reptile posing as a former Baha'i.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
I don't think I could safely call Tom uninformed about anything.
MIS-informed, perhaps. Uninformed? I don't think so.
I'm skeptical of your source's interpretation of ancient literature, steven.
Posted by David Bowles (Member # 1021) on :
That'd be Slash, actually, though he's posing as a former Jehovah's Witness or whatever.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
:tries to devour DB, but vomits instead:
:weakly: Hey, there, you. How's it going? Mistook you for a n00b.
Posted by David Bowles (Member # 1021) on :
Hey, the Ramayana has the aerial chariot Pushpaka and dharma weapons capable of destroying thousands of demons! I bet it was inspired by alien overseers posing as elephant-headed gods!
Posted by David Bowles (Member # 1021) on :
LOL, how could you mistake moi, Scott?
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
You know, Stargate REALLY isn't that good a series. . .
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
quote: You can't combine Buddhism with uninformed skepticism.
*blink* Sure you can. I see people do it all the time. Almost all the uninformed skeptics I know flirted with Buddhism but decided they were too skeptical for it; the ones that weren't skeptical enough became Buddhists. The informed skeptics decided to worship Joss Whedon.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
That's not combining, Tom.
That's examining and discarding.
Totally different.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
I'm not actually sure why the level of skepticism among Buddhists is relevant to the discussion, to be honest with you. Posted by TrapperKeeper (Member # 7680) on :
This is ridiculous.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Scott R: You know, Stargate REALLY isn't that good a series. . .
Now you must die.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
:pats the IEUD:
Bring it, sistah.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
Doesn't hafta. Ya got Apophis comin' after your tail.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Coincidences do happen. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)