An Autonomous Agent

exploring the noosphere

Category: history (Page 3 of 17)

Magicians of the Gods – Graham Hancock

In Magicians of the Gods, Graham Hancock presents the hypothesis that a civilization existed and prospered sometime either before or during the Younger Dryas. Whoever these people were, their society was wiped out due to the cataclysm of The Flood. The same flood mentioned by almost every historical culture on every continent. This comet struck the polar ice cap in the northern hemisphere; the resulting impact vaporized an enormous amount of water, leading to flooding and climate disruption. It was either this initial impact or perhaps related events which caused massive worldwide displacement in the ocean’s sea levels. The reason we have little archaeological evidence, as Hancock suggests, is due to the rise in sea level which totally submerged all structures. Additionally, there have been few thorough searches in likely locations due to the disbelief of modern institutions. Hancock proposes that a likely location would be the Indonesian subcontinent, which around the Younger Dryas time was vastly larger and contained numerous river basins and plains.

It is fascinating to learn that the debris stream of this comet could be the source of the Taurid meteor stream. There is even evidence that a bigger chunk of the comet lurks in this Earth crossing debris field.

The entire book is littered with footnotes and source references. Hancock did a lot of research and it shows. Like all human theories, I am sure some parts of it will be dis-proven while other parts shown to be entirely correct. As researchers continue to investigate underwater ruins and the mysterious underwater past of Indonesia becomes unraveled, we may indeed find evidence which requires a total renewal of our understanding of human history.

Supernatural – Graham Hancock

Graham Hancock’s book Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind is a great synthesis of various ideas regarding the origin of religion, the visions of shamans, UFO encounters, DMT, elves, fairies and other supernatural phenomenon. I recently read Rick Strassman’s DMT: The Spirit Molecule and Alan Shoemaker’s Ayahuasca Medicine. Thus, I had background knowledge on some of these subjects. This did not prepare me for the incredible connections made by Hancock.

Some of Hancock’s previous books, like Heavens Mirror, Fingerprints of Gods, Sign and Seal, and Underworld, I read and enjoyed more than seven years ago. I saw Supernatural when it came out in mid 2000’s, but I was not interested. At the time I thought, “Clearly Hancock has gone too far into the abyss of crazy.” It took me more than ten years to mature and discover the greatness of this work. I must say that Hancock does an incredible job and I can not wait to read his newest book, releasing in a few days. Supernatural has the power to shape your perceptions of reality and everything you thought you knew and understood. It is not to be taken lightly and I would suggest first reading Strassman’s DMT: The Spirit Molecule and perhaps even Jeremy Narby’s The Cosmic Serpent.

Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes – Savnte Pääbo

The ability to take a bone from a Neanderthal who lived tens of thousands of years ago and extract genetic information about that individual boarders on the unbelievable. Yet, if you read Savnte Pääbo’s book, Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes, you will find out how such an achievement was made possible. The book provides a well written account of the journey Pääbo and his team took to ensure that our society would be able to learn about our ancient biological relatives — the Neanderthal, and more recently, the Denisovan.

My own genome, according to 23andMe has an estimated 2.8% from the Neanderthal genome — putting me in the 65th percentile. My father has an estimated 3.0%, which puts him in the 87th percentile. Entire DNA composition posted here. Even though I think I will have a low percentage, I hope 23andMe decides to include the Denisovan estimate in the future.

Hopes and Prospects – Noam Chomsky

A sobering critique of modern history, Noam Chomsky’s Hopes and Prospects shows just how easily the mind can be mislead. Human behavior tends to create herd-like mentalities and if people fail to question and logically investigate everything they are told, it is easy for lies and propaganda to spread. Fortunately, there are people like Chomsky who help lift the blinders from our eyes so that we may better see reality. Most of the time the truth is awful and against self-held morals and ethics. And it is depressing to know the ugly raw reality. However, I think that accurate knowledge of the past is the first step in improving the present and future.

Secular Cycles – Peter Turchin and Sergey A. Nefedov

Secular Cycles by Peter Turchin and Sergey A. Nefedov investigates the nature of biological and economic growth in combination with the characteristic social structures and power relationships unique to humans. This combination of Marxian and Malthusian analysis provides an interesting approach which can be developed to help predict future developments and understand how history develops.

The book (really an academic paper) is an analysis based on various data which have survived the ravages of time. It looks at cycles which occurred in various regions and times in the past, including Rome, France, England, and Russia. It shows how time after time humans progress, only to regress. And this “dis-integration” may be caused by either biological constraints and/or existing political structures. There also appears to be characteristic times which tend to correspond to successive generations or every other generation. And this wave or cyclical behavior is inherent in the complex system of homo-sapiens — being a social animal who spends 20+ years acquiring the knowledge and skills of ancestors.

I can only wish that more quantitative data were available to study ancient humans; ironically it is the “dis-integrative” phases of growth where data, observations, and history are destroyed and lost forever. Perhaps the next “integrative” phase of societal growth is a function of how much information is preserved from the previous “integrative” phase (think about Library of Alexandria). Formulaic conclusions based upon detailed and consistent data extending to the remote reaches of the past may forever be lost. Sometimes this data can be cleverly reconstructed (see here). Most of the time the data can not be obtained and this should serve to emphasize the importance of preserving the Noosphere for the sake of future societies.

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