Aliens Were Amongst Us.
Let me get this out of my system for starters...
AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Thank you.
Discovery is showing a documentary (I like to call it mockumentary) on an episode of Aliens called "Who Built the Pyramids".
Okay, I should absolutely know better than to watch these types of shows. As a person who has a degree in archaeology, I find alien theory on the dawn of civilisation so heinously insulting that it makes me nuts. Now I have also admit, that I find some strange joy in screaming shit like "That's just stupid!", "No, they pyramids did NOT appear out of nowhere!" and "You have waaaaaay too much time on your hands!" (Especially in relation to Erich Von Daniken or L. Ron Hubbard).
I want to state for the record that I like to think of myself as a open-minded person. But I also want to state for the record that I think human beings are truly remarkable and that if you really look into the actual evidence, you will find that our species is truly amazing. In fact, our evolutionary ancestors were pretty amazing too! Thanks to Homo erectus, we have fire, and even the earlier Homo habilis were using identifiable stone tools that, being one to hold an actual one in my hand, are truly beautiful in craftmanship and in design. It takes a certain amount of cognifive and abstract thought to look at a round stone and see a axe out of it (not to mention figure out what stones are good for making tools out of).
I also want to state for the record that I also believe there are other habitable planets in the universe and that "aliens" do exist. I just don't think they've bothered to come to this planet to do whatever it is they were supposed to have done (and apparently still jam our airways to abduct Billy Bob and do rude things to him). I think said aliens have better things to do with their time and efforts.
I also want to state for the record that if archaeologists found evidence of a more ancient civilisation than those currently believed to be the earliest, there would be much celebration and hoopla. Well, except for a few anthropologists/archaeologists who seem to think human beings are the scourge of the planet and don't deserve credit where credit's due (and I don't mean the alien's came and thanks to them we are where we are today).
I have to also admit that I do think human beings are truly amazing creatures and we are capable of tremendous beauty and accomplishment and we are also capable of tremendous horror and destruction.
Now, back to this whole Alien theory thing.
Bogus. Utter Bogus. Crapola. Bunk. Garbage.
So much for an open mind, eh?
I want to say this to all those folks out there who just don't think Homo sapiens sapiens are capable of great things: I bet in several thousand years SOME people will look at OUR civilisation and go...no way man, these guys couldn't have possibly come up with this on their own, aliens must have intervened. Depsite there being a written record, despite there being evidence of the construction of the computer, automobiles, cathedrals, highways and airways, there will be those nutjobs that won't believe we did all the things we did, unless it involved destruction and mayhem. Then of course, we did it. Because the aliens are only altruistic and peaceful and we're just monsters that don't appreciate their contributions to our development.
Now, how insulting will that be?
The theory of alien intervention starts with this idea that out of the stone age (I've never been able to determine what is meant by stone age by these conspiracy theorists, but for the sake of argument, I'm thinking neolithic), suddenly megathlitic and monumental structures appear, seemingly out of nowhere.
Huh? They way these people make it sound, all this happened out of a vacuum. Um...no. Take the Great Pyramids for example, there are several pre-Giza pyramids around Egypt, including step pyramids, that can possbily show the evolution of what would end up becoming the Giza Pyramids. Yes, there were pyramids built afterwards that weren't as spectacular, were nowhere near as durable as the Giza ones, but they didn't just appear out of nowhere.
So many say that there is no possible way the pyramids could have been built by ancient peoples using copper and stone tools. Er...I disagree with that. I think it's very much possible. Sure we may not know how, but I've talked to engineers and architects who say that the Egyptian pyramids aren't the only ancient structures that baffle people. One civil engineer from Croatia I spoke to said there were buildings in his country that were built over 2,000 years ago still standing. And they were more durable, more structurally sound than much of what was built in his country in modern times. His theory? Buildings then in that part of the world were built to last. - materials were expensive to acquire and labour was not exactly in large numbers. We live in a society of instant gratification, and building supplies are cheap and easy to come by and so is labour (by comparison). It's relatively easy to tear down and rebuild after a few decades.
I thought that was interesting.
And he of course believed that ancient man had the ability to build structures like the pyramids and erect places like Stonehenge. He didn't see why not. Ancient peoples had their skilled labour and geniuses that could figure things out and make the necessary calculations and figure out the best way to build such things. Math especially has always been around. Once you have more than one, you've got math happening and just because there's no written record of it, doesn't mean it didn't exist. :P
Next, of course, there's Stonehenge. Why oh why do people think there is no way that the stones could have been moved and erected in that particular site in that particular design. And "stone henges" are not just in Great Britain, but they're all over Europe as well. There are also other henges in Great Britain, and not just stone ones. Again, Stonehenge did not appear in a vacuum. Henges had been built on the same site for some time, the current one we're familiar with is the one that lasted and remains relatively intact today.
Then of course, there is South America. The civilisations there were as devleoped and as sophisticated as anything going on in the Old World and there is no reason why the monuments, temples, cities and ground works couldn't have been done by human beings (my specialty is in Northern Europe, but I kow quite a few New World scholars and they maintain that the ancient civilisations of Latin and South America were VERY capable of developing and maintaining their buildings and ground works).
The other thing these UFOlogists forget is not all of these wonderful structures and civilisations occurred at the same time. They are staggered throughout time and while some occur 3,00o years ago plus, other's are as recent as 1500 A.D. Sure some UFOlogists say UFOs came at different times, but you'd think if they were that interested in the development of human beings, they'd give the same technology or more evolved technology with each visit. That doesn't seem to be the case. And why abandon us so completely afterwards? Where are they now? And if they are still here, how come our satellites, or space shuttles aren't detecting them (and don't give me the "cloaking device" bull caca - this ain't Star Trek and those ain't Klingons)? And WHY the hell are they abducting the white trash from BF nowhere and not scouring the cities for educated, intelligent people for their expriments? And what's with the anal probing and sexual nature of these experiments? Isn't that a bit juvenile? I'm more likely to believe they're frat boys from another planet during Rush than I am intelligent beings from anotehr planet taking a rather sadistic interest in the human race.
And do NOT tell me that aliens came and manipulated or had their wicked way with our lesser evovled ancestors to get us. If that were the case we'd be showing DNA that was "alien" to this planet and as far as I can tell, that hasn't happened. Our closest genetic relative is the chimpanzee and er...they're not aliens and I can't imagine aliens came down for the sole purpose of playing God using them
But of course, this is my not so humble opinion.
I think my favourite instance of UFOlogy gone wrong was when an old roommate of mine who was of Scandinavian descent told me with a straight face and with firm conviction she didn't believe her own ancestors were able to construct and sail the ships and create the metal weapons they are renowned for without some alien intervention (or Atlantean, they were interchangeable entities to her). There is ample evidence the ancient Scandinavians not only knew what the hell they were doing, but they also developed the technology that enabled them to build and sail their ships with such efficiency and it's been shown that the technology to create their sturdy and more than deadly weaponry was very much their own development. And again, the Viking age seemed to suddenly come upon Europe, but it too didn't develoip in a vacuum. When someone looks closely at Scandinavian archaeology and history, it's pretty obvious that the Viking Age didn't suddenly appear. There was lots of evidence for the lead up into that period. But of course, I find many of these consipiracy groups tend to ignore this or are too lazy to look it up on their own.
Anyway, the documentary is long over and I think I've been typing too much on the subject at this point and I just got mooned by my Tamagotchi pet (a Christmas gift to myself) so it's time for me to go clean the kitty box and clean the place up some. So, until the next rant, I'll shut up sign off now.