I will refrain from waxing eloquent about the massive amount of snow that has fallen this weekend. Suffice it to say that my back is tired and I hate shoveling. As an addendum, I would like to add that Little Man enjoys trailblazing in 24 inches of snow. When I download the pics I will put on up here.
Anyway… this weekend had a bunch of TV shows dedicated to one of my favorite myths, the Myth of the Lost Continent of Atlantis. Oooooh Atlantis… Now there are many theories associated with the lost continent/civilization of Atlantis, but the one that always makes me both giggle and rage is the super-advanced civilization theories. You know... the theories that Atlantis was a super-technological wonder civilization with hover bikes and laser spears. In this theory the surviving Atlanteans impart the knowledge of pyramid building to nascent civilizations (early Egyptians and Mayans) by becoming part of the civilization. I have a couple of bones to pick here.
Bone the first: pyramids as a building concept is not very hard. The execution of it is difficult, but the theory behind it is pretty darn simple. The bottom is not as big as the top. The taller you want it, the bigger the bottom needs to be. Not rocket science. This is not a “technology” that an ancient civilization couldn’t smurf out. Given time and nearly inexhaustible man-power with enough incentive, pyramids happen. Deal with it. The process is not elegant, the process is brute force.
If, all of the sudden, the Old Kingdom Egyptians started making 14 story tall office buildings with steel girder construction methods, I would assume some outside influence from a more advanced culture.
Bone the second: I highly doubt that the skills a super-advanced society would bring to bear on a stone/iron/bronze age society would revolve around building large edifices of stone; I think it would more likely revolve around bathing and the brushing of teeth not being the precursor to demonic possession. Maybe they would have taught them not to shit in their streets or to wash their hands. If a culture has achieved the micro-processor or the ability to focus light into a laser, I am positive that they have gotten the rudiments of hygiene down pat.
Hey, Bob, should we teach our Iron Age cousins that sanitation is one of the keys to staving off massive amounts of disease?
Nope, let’s teach Anok Sabé over there how to stack stones on top of each other.
Yeah, you’re right. They couldn’t handle “clean.” Let’s go native and crap in the corner and wipe our ass with our hand.
To recap:
So much shoveling
My back is quite angry with me
Not like “Screw you! I’m outta here!” angry
But unhappy nonetheless
Lord Pithy is heading to Ireland tomorrow
Lsig has procreated
That unfortunately means that ksig has as well...
Congratulations to the whole sig clan
I think I should make a T-shirt of “Pyramids Happen: Deal with it”
Any takers? I could Café Press something up real quick like
Anyway… this weekend had a bunch of TV shows dedicated to one of my favorite myths, the Myth of the Lost Continent of Atlantis. Oooooh Atlantis… Now there are many theories associated with the lost continent/civilization of Atlantis, but the one that always makes me both giggle and rage is the super-advanced civilization theories. You know... the theories that Atlantis was a super-technological wonder civilization with hover bikes and laser spears. In this theory the surviving Atlanteans impart the knowledge of pyramid building to nascent civilizations (early Egyptians and Mayans) by becoming part of the civilization. I have a couple of bones to pick here.
Bone the first: pyramids as a building concept is not very hard. The execution of it is difficult, but the theory behind it is pretty darn simple. The bottom is not as big as the top. The taller you want it, the bigger the bottom needs to be. Not rocket science. This is not a “technology” that an ancient civilization couldn’t smurf out. Given time and nearly inexhaustible man-power with enough incentive, pyramids happen. Deal with it. The process is not elegant, the process is brute force.
If, all of the sudden, the Old Kingdom Egyptians started making 14 story tall office buildings with steel girder construction methods, I would assume some outside influence from a more advanced culture.
Bone the second: I highly doubt that the skills a super-advanced society would bring to bear on a stone/iron/bronze age society would revolve around building large edifices of stone; I think it would more likely revolve around bathing and the brushing of teeth not being the precursor to demonic possession. Maybe they would have taught them not to shit in their streets or to wash their hands. If a culture has achieved the micro-processor or the ability to focus light into a laser, I am positive that they have gotten the rudiments of hygiene down pat.
Hey, Bob, should we teach our Iron Age cousins that sanitation is one of the keys to staving off massive amounts of disease?
Nope, let’s teach Anok Sabé over there how to stack stones on top of each other.
Yeah, you’re right. They couldn’t handle “clean.” Let’s go native and crap in the corner and wipe our ass with our hand.
To recap:
So much shoveling
My back is quite angry with me
Not like “Screw you! I’m outta here!” angry
But unhappy nonetheless
Lord Pithy is heading to Ireland tomorrow
Lsig has procreated
That unfortunately means that ksig has as well...
Congratulations to the whole sig clan
I think I should make a T-shirt of “Pyramids Happen: Deal with it”
Any takers? I could Café Press something up real quick like