I started looking into this after reading one of the comments in the "Is Atheism a Religion?" thread. The paranormal is what is not yet explained or considered normal, which leaves room for it to become normal or gain an explanation, so I figure it wouldn't be hypocritical for an atheist to believe in. I play with the idea of the paranormal sometimes, but I wouldn't say that I believe in anything like that other than UFOs and ghosts/spirits.
What about any other people out there? You don't have to be an atheist to answer, though this is aimed more towards them than others. I'm sure religion would cause conflicts with the paranormal as well.
You do realize of course, that said technique would have to be far superiour to the technology that we have now? And what about moving these giant blocks? Some of them way so much that it would take several of our heaviest-lifting machinery to lift them, and that's modern technology.
We could create such structures using modern technology. Just because something appears to require a modern method doesn't mean it does.
As I pointed out the same had been said of Stonehenge on moving and placing the blocks but we have found ways they could have done it without modern technology in that case. Now that doesn't mean that is how it was done, nor does it mean even if this was the case here that it was the case elsewhere. But it does make the possibility a likely scenario.
I think this may be one way of recreating Stonehenge using the non modern technology that MageGrayWolf mentioned. Obviously it doesn't really explain why they did it so we're kind of back to square one, but as a Graduating philosophy major(yay! so excited) who has taken many Philosophy of belief classes I feel that many Atheists would remind you that they are not in the business of believing in things that have no concrete evidence, namely, scientific evidence. The paranormal may be something that an atheist would be willing to look into, but if there is no real explanation or proof of the actual act happening, they will likely continue to say they do not know.
The alien hypothesis is not without merit, yet at this point is untestable and as far as I know there is no way to go back in time to see why these ancient people's did what they did, so for now it will remain a mystery. Atheists, as many of you know, are not in the practice of believing something just because there is no real explanation for it. I guess we'll just have to wait and see, I for one am willing to wait forever rather than chalk it up to some paranormal or alien encounter. Many ancients did ingest considerable amounts of psychoactive plants as a sacrament (See:Ayahuasca ) So perhaps some of their ideas came from their visions. Of course, there is not enough evidence to prove that(at least not that I know of, I'm still learning and probably will continue to learn until the day I die)Anyone have any comments on that? Perhaps they had the vision and spent decades trying to figure out how to do it.
Melimouse, what you wrote includes some of the points I was trying to make. The alien hypothesis does carry some merit. Furthering my point, that it cannot be dismissed entirely, even if it does sound silly.
I'm not saying I necessarily believe that there were aliens that revealed themselves to the ancients, just that it could have happened, we weren't there so we cannot say for sure. I said it's not without merit because there are ancient drawings that have been discovered: ancient aliens?
Whether these are real, I don't know, so I am withholding my assent, but I cannot say no for sure. Of course I also made the point that it may have to do with some of them ingesting psychoactive substances. Many people who have taken N,N-Dimethyl tryptamine (DMT) have experienced "visions" of beings that they said might have been aliens or gods...perhaps the ancients experienced this. Also, DMT is produced by our bodies and found in high levels in people with schizophrenia. Perhaps they didn't even need to ingest it to have the visions. Here's a reputable link about DMT produced by our bodies:DMT
Melimouse, what you wrote includes some of the points I was trying to make. The alien hypothesis does carry some merit. Furthering my point, that it cannot be dismissed entirely, even if it does sound silly.
Exactly, I am not asking people to accept an alien hypothesis(nor am I saying I believe it) but what I am saying is that if there is even a little bit of information to go on, we should look into it more. I hate it when people just want to sweep something under the rug because it doesn't conform to their set beliefs. I wouldn't rule anything out, I guess that's why I always answer "I don't know" when people ask me about my beliefs.
Hmm, you seem to have ignored that I have said a couple of times that I do not necessarily believe in aliens, just that I wouldn't completely rule it out. To say that they do or do not exist is to stop the quest for knowledge on that subject. Clearly, you are sure, so I won't waste your time anymore. It is interesting that you only pick out small pieces of my argument instead of focusing on my main point. I have one bit of advice for you: You aren't the only one who's read Dawkins, so please credit him when you use his arguments.
Actually it seems that he was pointing out that your logical basis for requesting such things are merit-worthy could apply to many things which we already know are not merit-worthy and thus you need to find a new line of reasoning to support your argument. Also, I don't think it was a direct usage of Darwin, and also an entirely logical line of reasoning which could very easily come about in one not versed in Darwin's works.
First of all, it's Dawkins...not Darwin. Second of all, I think I was right in saying that he is choosing to argue the word "merit" rather than looking at the entire argument as a whole. If the word "merit is bothering people so much, then replace it with "in need of further study" Merit: claim to respect and praise; excellence; worth. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/merit) I am using worth as the definition, I believe that it is WORTHY of study. Note that I am not saying that it is the subject MOST worthy of study, but I think it should be looked into. There was a time when we only knew about our galaxy, if we had stopped there, would we have ever discovered the others? I think not
I do agree with you that we should continue to investigate everything we can. And we currently are investigating the possibility of extra-terrestrial life and intelligence. We have satellites out in space looking, we look when we land on asteroids and foreign planets, and we have SETI working around the clock, in addition to numerous private and independent scientific researches.
Yet again, it appears to me that Mage wasn't taking issue with that part of your argument, he was pointing out the logical fallacy in your statement:
I said it's not without merit because there are ancient drawings that have been discovered
Yes, I can see that this may be 'nit-picking' or whatever, but it is a fallacious statement and if you are going to use fallacies to support your arguments, no matter how valid they are then the fallacies will be pointed out.
Hmm, you seem to have ignored that I have said a couple of times that I do not necessarily believe in aliens, just that I wouldn't completely rule it out.
What Walker said. I wouldn't completely rule it out either, but I wouldn't say the possibility has merit.
To say that they do or do not exist is to stop the quest for knowledge on that subject. Clearly, you are sure, so I won't waste your time anymore.
No it's reasonable to assume something doesn't exist without evidence. It doesn't stop our quest for knowledge on the subject but simply allows us to better focus that quest.
I have one bit of advice for you: You aren't the only one who's read Dawkins, so please credit him when you use his arguments.
Actually I haven't read any of Dawkins books yet. I did just recently get my hands on The God Delusion, which I hope to get to over the weekend or early next week.
So I take it that neither of you feel that it is important to study the reasons behind ancient drawings and sculptures? I'm pretty sure an archeologist would disagree with you. We have learned so much from ancient drawings and sculptures(since this is one of the only ways left for us to understand their world) so I feel that it is correct to say that it is worth researching, even if some things(like fairies and dragons) turned out not to be true(although I won't say I'm sure of that either, unlikely, but you cannot disprove that something exists)
I am saying that there are ancient drawings about aliens that occur all over the world, in different times. Artwork
How does this NOT merit further research? It's important for understanding and illuminating their culture, psychology, and modes of artistic expression, regardless of whether or not the artifacts were inspired by actual alien visitations.
No it's reasonable to assume something doesn't exist without evidence. It doesn't stop our quest for knowledge on the subject but simply allows us to better focus that quest.
It seems unlikely that you will be willing to open your mind to a possibility if you have already made a judgment about it.
As Bertrand Russell said: "Either something is true or it isn't, if it is true, you should believe it. If it isn't you shouldn't. And if you can't find out whether it's true or whether it isn't you should suspend judgment."
You should not make a decision and then wait for something to come along and change your mind, you should not have any preconceptions because they will shape how you interpret new information.
