Ancient Aliens

[Nonton]

Anyone seen Ancient Aliens on Netflix?

Half way through and not sure what to make of it tbh. Really entertaining and the theories are an interesting way of looking at things we take for granted. Is it credible though?

Any thoughts?

I think it's a fascinating series. Lots to think about, it certainly challenges orthodox theories and archaeology. I like Giorgio, he's so enthusiastic! The programme about the Great Pyramid was good - it's never made sense to me.

@Maireas

I think it's a fascinating series. Lots to think about, it certainly challenges orthodox theories and archaeology. I like Giorgio, he's so enthusiastic! The programme about the Great Pyramid was good - it's never made sense to me.

For me it’s the theory that our ancestors mistook aliens for divine beings (angels and gods) makes a lot of sense. The example of Jacob’s ladder translated to a modern equivalent of climbing up to an airplane or something made sense to me. It’s de-familiarising technology we know well and putting it in our ancestors’ contexts.

Yes, lots of stories like that take on a new meaning. Ezekiel going for a ride in God's chariot also intrigued me. There's also technology that's hard to explain. How was the Great Pyramid built? Or Macchu Picchu?

For me it’s the theory that our ancestors mistook aliens for divine beings (angels and gods) makes a lot of sense.

Yes it sounds good. But look at his hair... he's mad as a bag of frogs and so are his theories.

I watched a few and would scream, "OF COURSE YOU BLOODY THINK IT'S ALIENS". He thinks everything is aliens.

This type of bad archaeology has been around for decades. It’s easy to make it sound plausible if you don’t include actual archaeologists in the programme, while making claims like “no-one knows how the pyramids were built”. We do.

Aren't these the kind of claims made in 'Chariots of the Gods'?

@MrsTerryPratchett

For me it’s the theory that our ancestors mistook aliens for divine beings (angels and gods) makes a lot of sense.

Yes it sounds good. But look at his hair... he's mad as a bag of frogs and so are his theories.

I watched a few and would scream, "OF COURSE YOU BLOODY THINK IT'S ALIENS". He thinks everything is aliens.

Yeah he looks like a mad scientist type, but that look is purposeful too. Also, that old adage 'don't judge a book by it's cover".

Sure, he thinks everything is aliens, but maybe there is a grain of truth to what he's saying as well. Some of his ideas are just a new way of looking at things we take for granted.

@TheLeadbetterLife That is a good point, but there seem to be enough experts featured in the show to suggest it's not just one crazy haired guy's theories. Sometimes I wondered if the experts in the show knew they were going to be featured in something called 'Ancient Aliens' as the association might adversely impact their perceived credibility in professional and academic circles!

As for archeology, I don't know enough, but is what they know factual or just theories too? “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.”

Very entertaining show, even if it is a bit out there. Makes you think twice and a show that gets people thinking at all is usually a good thing...

I mean... whether it’s “just theories” rather depends on your definition of science I suppose!

Not to argue from authority, but when I did my archaeology degree there was no “did aliens do it?” module.

@MrsTerryPratchett

For me it’s the theory that our ancestors mistook aliens for divine beings (angels and gods) makes a lot of sense.

Yes it sounds good. But look at his hair... he's mad as a bag of frogs and so are his theories.

I watched a few and would scream, "OF COURSE YOU BLOODY THINK IT'S ALIENS". He thinks everything is aliens.

Thats part of the fun though!

@TheLeadbetterLife

I mean... whether it’s “just theories” rather depends on your definition of science I suppose!

Not to argue from authority, but when I did my archaeology degree there was no “did aliens do it?” module.

But don't you secretly wish there was

Yeah kind of...

@TheLeadbetterLife

I mean... whether it’s “just theories” rather depends on your definition of science I suppose!

Not to argue from authority, but when I did my archaeology degree there was no “did aliens do it?” module.

That must have been a really interesting degree to do! You have more authority on it than most people...

Maybe universities need a module in "Did Aliens Do It?" to assess the possibility. Would be fascinated to see what the conclusions of that module would be! So funny if the majority come to the same conclusions as Giorgio A. Tsoukalos: "It was aliens".

I blame George Lucas for this kind of stuff. You never get this, “but did aliens do it?” in any other academic discipline! Only archaeology, because of the likes of Indiana Jones.

Humans are really very clever, even the ones from the past. There’s no need to throw our hands up and go, “this is impossible, must have been aliens”.

In the area around the Great Pyramid, there are several earlier pyramids, some of which are quite shonky. There’s a clear trajectory of the development of the technology, over centuries. Why would aliens do that?

@TheLeadbetterLife

I blame George Lucas for this kind of stuff. You never get this, “but did aliens do it?” in any other academic discipline! Only archaeology, because of the likes of Indiana Jones.

Humans are really very clever, even the ones from the past. There’s no need to throw our hands up and go, “this is impossible, must have been aliens”.

In the area around the Great Pyramid, there are several earlier pyramids, some of which are quite shonky. There’s a clear trajectory of the development of the technology, over centuries. Why would aliens do that?

I’ll play along and try answering. Maybe aliens engage in trial and error like any other species? They’re not perfect? I don’t know and I’ve never been to the site, so I have no authority on the matter.

The archeology is one thing, but there’s more, What did you make of the religious stuff? I thought it was an interesting idea that many ancient ideas on angels and gods came from our ancestors mistaking aliens for divinity. Some of the examples they gave seemed compelling, like the Jacob’s ladder one being like aliens climbing up to an aircraft.

Like Carl Sagan said, we are stardust. I guess what Ancient Alien theorists are saying is that aliens are stardust too; Stardust is the common ground.

@TheLeadbetterLife After watching this show I think it would be interesting if a lot of departments had “did aliens do it’ module, not just archeology. Theology, History and even some of the sciences too.

Maybe universities need a module in "Did Aliens Do It?" to assess the possibility.

We had a Freud module in my psychology degree so we could laugh at him. I suppose you could do the same...

@MrsTerryPratchett

Maybe universities need a module in "Did Aliens Do It?" to assess the possibility.

We had a Freud module in my psychology degree so we could laugh at him. I suppose you could do the same...

Well it's still learning something, I suppose.

But why do you need an alien explanation at all, when there’s no reason to think it’s not human technology and storytelling?

To a hammer, everything looks like a nail. To someone obsessed with aliens, it’s always aliens.

@TheLeadbetterLife

But why do you need an alien explanation at all, when there’s no reason to think it’s not human technology and storytelling?

To a hammer, everything looks like a nail. To someone obsessed with aliens, it’s always aliens.

Because they don't teach Occum's razor in school and people think their 'reckons' have the same weight as scientific theories by experts.

@TheLeadbetterLife

But why do you need an alien explanation at all, when there’s no reason to think it’s not human technology and storytelling?

To a hammer, everything looks like a nail. To someone obsessed with aliens, it’s always aliens.

I agree that running a module based on an obsession of “knowing” it’s aliens wouldn’t be helpful.

I do think that having a go at exploring alternative theories is useful for critical thinking and developing a more philosophical mindset. It’s naive to believe that everything we are told must be true. Having a module to challenge and test firmly held scientific theories by experts could lead to other breakthroughs. Even experts don’t know everything.

Science isn’t being told stuff. It is the process of testing theories. There’s nothing to falsify in “aliens might have done it”.

I could come up with just as plausible a theory that the pyramids were built by time travelling humans from the future, and they were mistaken for gods by the idiot ancient Egyptians. I could make it just as convincing as the aliens hypothesis, because I would have just as much evidence (I.e. I pulled it out of my arse).

@TheLeadbetterLife

Science isn’t being told stuff. It is the process of testing theories. There’s nothing to falsify in “aliens might have done it”.

I could come up with just as plausible a theory that the pyramids were built by time travelling humans from the future, and they were mistaken for gods by the idiot ancient Egyptians. I could make it just as convincing as the aliens hypothesis, because I would have just as much evidence (I.e. I pulled it out of my arse).

Is the theory about how the pyramids were built a tested scientific theory?

I really don’t know enough about the pyramids to know, but am intrigued by the methods used to find out how they were built in their historical and anthropological contexts.

I've not seen this programme but it looks like fun.

I do think we often underestimate earlier societies and what they were capable of though. I've studied Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs for a number of years and am constantly amazed at how clever and nuanced a language it is. I don't doubt that the Ancient Egyptians had the skills, some perhaps now long lost to us, to build the pyramids without help from E.T. .

Ancient Aliens is great fun, equally interesting is this website - www.ancientaliensdebunked.com/ - which goes through most of the theories and gives a more balanced perspective.

Scientific theories are compared like nature nurture etc. But not nature nurture aliens! You compare realistic options all the time in all sciences.