Ancient Technology

2faded · #1 03-05-2007, 04:09 PM

Ive been reading about how ancient cultures (like the ones that built the great pyramid) had far more advanced technology than the technology we have today, such as planes, space travel, weapons of mass destruction, etc.

I think this is very plausible and I want to buy a book on this subject. Im trying to decide between "Technology of the Gods" or "Secrets of the Lost Races". I think im going with the 2nd one but i would like any opinions from anyone thats read these.

Also, id like to here any opinions or comments on this subject that you want to throw out there to discuss.

vhawk01 · #2 03-05-2007, 04:12 PM

Ummm....what? A couple thousand slaves>space travel and the internet?

2faded · #3 03-05-2007, 04:43 PM

So, no one thinks this is plausible? On a planet thats 4 billion years old we are the first civilization to invent this technology? Esp when there are so many things unexplained and undiscovered. Some disaster wipes out everything on earth and buries it under land and ocean, and civilization starts over.

Sun Wukong · #4 03-05-2007, 05:07 PM

Although it's very unlikely the ancients had anywhere near the kind of technology we now possess their are many secrets that have been lost in time thanks to events like the burning of the Library of Alexandria.
I read an interesting article about something found in Egypt that could possibly be a battery.
However I'm not exactly sure what they would use a battery for. The truth of the matter remains to be decided but i thought it was intersting nevertheless, I'll try and find the link...

Sun Wukong · #5 03-05-2007, 06:11 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Although it's very unlikely the ancients had anywhere near the kind of technology we now possess their are many secrets that have been lost in time thanks to events like the burning of the Library of Alexandria.
I read an interesting article about something found in Egypt that could possibly be a battery.
However I'm not exactly sure what they would use a battery for. The truth of the matter remains to be decided but i thought it was intersting nevertheless, I'll try and find the link...

[/ QUOTE ]

OK slight mistake the article i mentioned was regarding discoveries made in Baghdad (therefore Persian). Still interesting IMO...

BBC Article

kurto · #6 03-05-2007, 05:10 PM

[ QUOTE ]
So, no one thinks this is plausible? On a planet thats 4 billion years old we are the first civilization to invent this technology? Esp when there are so many things unexplained and undiscovered. Some disaster wipes out everything on earth and buries it under land and ocean, and civilization starts over.

[/ QUOTE ]

It seems at best highly unlikely. Wouldn't there at least be some signs of it left behind? (think Planet of the Apes where the talking doll is found... ) What kind of disaster are you picturing that eradicates all evidence of a prior civilization? And if this disaster happened... how does it do this without wiping out all life?

2faded · #7 03-05-2007, 05:41 PM

It would wipe out all life, or at least 99% of it. If a disaster like this happened today and only a few people were left on earth could you recreate this technology? Or would you be concerned with survival and be living a more primitive life. Wouldnt this technology be lost for thousands of years until someone rediscovers it. It would be passed down through stories and the stories would changed over many generations. If this disaster happens today and thousands of years from now someone reinvents this technology wouldnt a story of us having it sound unlikely?

Again i dont know much about this, i just read a little and thought it was very interesting.I just wanted to bring it up and see what others thought. It could very well be highly unlikely.

kurto · #8 03-05-2007, 05:59 PM

[ QUOTE ]
It would wipe out all life, or at least 99% of it. If a disaster like this happened today and only a few people were left on earth could you recreate this technology? Or would you be concerned with survival and be living a more primitive life. Wouldnt this technology be lost for thousands of years until someone rediscovers it. It would be passed down through stories and the stories would changed over many generations. If this disaster happens today and thousands of years from now someone reinvents this technology wouldnt a story of us having it sound unlikely?

Again i dont know much about this, i just read a little and thought it was very interesting.I just wanted to bring it up and see what others thought. It could very well be highly unlikely.

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Let's pretend this happened. We once had the technology for space travel and planes and lost it. That would imply a civilization that could create metals, electronics, advanced chemistry, etc. This likely implies cities and such. So... what is this disaster that not only wipes out life but all signs of the civilization? We have found pyramids and all that they buried. Shouldn't we find remnants of technologies from this previous civilization? Advanced forged metals? Circuits? Plastics?

We have articificial materials now that probably would remain on the earth for a few 100K years. Its pretty hard for an advanced civilization with the technologies you suggest to simply disappear UNLESS the entire earth turned into a molten ball again eradicating all signs of what rested upon it (including all life).

Silent A · #9 03-05-2007, 06:04 PM

[ QUOTE ]
It would wipe out all life, or at least 99% of it. If a disaster like this happened today and only a few people were left on earth could you recreate this technology? Or would you be concerned with survival and be living a more primitive life. Wouldnt this technology be lost for thousands of years until someone rediscovers it. It would be passed down through stories and the stories would changed over many generations. If this disaster happens today and thousands of years from now someone reinvents this technology wouldnt a story of us having it sound unlikely?

Again i dont know much about this, i just read a little and thought it was very interesting.I just wanted to bring it up and see what others thought. It could very well be highly unlikely.

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You'd have to postulate that their technology was so advanced that we wouldn't be able to recognize it as technology in the first place.

The problem (for your scenario) is that we have lots of archological evidence of simple technology from these civilizations but nothing remotely suggesting that they had technology even close to ours (let alone more advanced). The idea that they had simple technology and super complex technology, but nothing in between is implausible beyond reason.

In the case of the Pyramids, we have examples of early failures followed my moderate to total sucesses spanning over several hundred years. Remember, these projects were the single most important thing for the entire civilization. A huge fraction of their surplus labour and thought went into these for hundreds of years. The fact it's hard for an individual to figure out the best way to put a 10 tonne block on top of a pyramid with minimal technology means squat. The Egyptians would have had their best minds working on the problem around the clock for generations.

Think for a moment about what our best minds have done in the same time frame and see if you still think what they did suggests they might have had superior technology.

Dr. Strangelove · #10 03-08-2007, 03:55 AM

[ QUOTE ]
So, no one thinks this is plausible? On a planet thats 4 billion years old we are the first civilization to invent this technology? Esp when there are so many things unexplained and undiscovered. Some disaster wipes out everything on earth and buries it under land and ocean, and civilization starts over.

[/ QUOTE ]

If there were previous human civilizations as advanced or more advanced than us I would not expect there to be vast amounts of easily recoverable oil 100 years ago.