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Notes from tired Egyptian whose job is explaining that humans built the pyramids

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Re: Notes from tired Egyptian whose job is explaining that humans built the pyramids

#111

Post by AlotOfReading »

kulahan wrote: post #94
bji9jhff wrote: post #92

I think the more likely explanation is racism. If the pyramids were in Europe, nobody would challenge their human origin but pyramids are in Africa Surely aliens are involved.

This is such a weirdly misanthropic view of humanity. Why are people so desperate to find evil in this world when ignorance is not only nicer to believe, it’s insanely more accurate? Like I get it, you’re depressed, but this doesn’t automatically make everyone everywhere that doesn’t believe some random facts “racist”.

If we interpret the grandparent charitably, they're saying the centuries-long history of people suggesting Africans couldn't have built the pyramids to justify their own racial bias [0] also applies to modern people. It doesn't seem like an outrageous position, nor does it preclude ignorance being involved.

[0] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-white-southerners...

Re: Notes from tired Egyptian whose job is explaining that humans built the pyramids

#112

Post by gaiagraphia »

bji9jhff wrote: post #92

I think the more likely explanation is racism. If the pyramids were in Europe, nobody would challenge their human origin but pyramids are in Africa Surely aliens are involved.

the article has a huge 'flash sale' and is selling shit. Not the best evidence to declare huge swathes of people racist. c If you search "extraterrestrial origins of Stonehenge" you'l find the same shit. 'Muh aliens' crowd are happy to attribute anything to aliens. The pyramids of bosnia? Nazca lines? Moai?

And why is it bad that people feel wonder at places literally called "wonders" and build stories around them? That's universal, not sinister. Egypt is steeped in religion, myth, and all kinds of craziness; most Egyptians don't hold a strictly secular, "logical" view of the world either, and no one calls them "racist" for it. From my time living in Cairo, people attributed most things to Israel and god, lol.

I also don't get tying a whole continent (an arbitrary construct) to a single race. There's no such thing as "the African race."

Weird comment. Hammers and nails, imo.

Re: Notes from tired Egyptian whose job is explaining that humans built the pyramids

#113

Post by jmclnx »

It would be interesting to know who by Country or Language who believes ETs built the pyramids.

Personally I expect US would be the leader. The reason is because over the last 50 years there have been lots of shows describing how and why Space Aliens built the pyramids. Some of these shows were well produced.

In the US, it seems we are at the point if a show is based on fantasy, it is believed as fact.

Re: Notes from tired Egyptian whose job is explaining that humans built the pyramids

#114

Post by prmph »

yongjik wrote: post #34

> People dramatically underestimate what thousands of organized humans can accomplish when they are adequately fed, aggressively supervised, and denied alternative career paths. Somehow I feel personally attacked.

The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them..."

Re: Notes from tired Egyptian whose job is explaining that humans built the pyramids

#115

Post by AngryData »

card_zero wrote: post #59
FLHerne wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but no-one on Earth today is willing to pay for a pyramid - or anything like it - even with the convenience of modern construction. I have a similar feeling looking at the great cathedrals. These structures took up a huge proportion of the community's money, labour and talent, for decades on end. They're orders of magnitude bigger than any 'normal' building of the time or for centuries later. All with no prospe…

Eiffel tower: 10,000 tons Great pyramid: 5 or 6 million tons So only around 500 times as much moving material around, feasible I guess. You might need a dedicated rail line built direct to the quarry. Funny to mention cathedrals considering that they finished one in Spain just recently. There's also Guédelon Castle in France, still being slowly built.

To be fair you got to also move a lot of ore to refine that metal. But there was also a lot of mechanically generated power used to get it.

Re: Notes from tired Egyptian whose job is explaining that humans built the pyramids

#117

Post by ianburrell »

an0malous wrote: post #79
AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #17

"I personally can't conceive of how one might built this, and I must be a million times smarter than people 4500 years ago, ergo people didn't build this." is how the Ancient Aliens theory always sounds to me.

This is a strawman argument, their real one is: "These megalithic structures would be tremendously difficult for anyone to build even today with all of our modern technology, and yet they did it hundreds of times before even inventing the wheel, in several places across the world."

It is a weird argument because we totally could build a Great Pyramid replica. Ships and trains hauling stone and tower cranes plopping them into place. We are really good at moving things and lifting them. It would probably be the quarries that be the bottleneck.

If wanted it in concrete, would be faster. Or could do it in steel or steel/concrete with some interior space (Luxor in Las Vegas is size of smaller pyramid).

Re: Notes from tired Egyptian whose job is explaining that humans built the pyramids

#118

Post by gherkinnn »

throw2ih020 wrote: post #110
marshray wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many years did these production floor changes take to engineer?

Over a period from 1960 to 1969: > Landing humans on the Moon by the end of 1969 required the most sudden burst of technological creativity, and the largest commitment of resources ($25 billion; $187 billion in 2024 US dollars)[24] ever made by any nation in peacetime. At its peak, the Apollo program employed 400,000 people and required the support of over 20,000 industrial firms and universities.[25] A large chunk o…

I remain in awe at the Apollo program, it is a most marvellous thing, and I am aware that it was not always received well at the time.

Comparing the cost, the Iran war cost the US between 25 billion and 113 billion, so 187 spending billion over 9 years is not insurmountable. Political will provided. Alas.

Re: Notes from tired Egyptian whose job is explaining that humans built the pyramids

#119

Post by pseudalopex »

card_zero wrote: post #77
bjt wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with the "steal an ancient roman baby" premise. The "roman citizen" example is not as strong. Cognitive ability is not just genetics. The grown-up roman would be missing a lot of advantages during their upbringing that weren't available back then. Also, limiting it to just "citizens" means limiting it to their upper class. Compared to Roman times, we've had pretty big advances in nutrition, healthcare, educat…

Well no, not even as good. For instance, your comment invokes the idea of prejudice, and the value of being unprejudiced. Did Romans know about that, and consider it important? Maybe, I couldn't say offhand, but my point is that they might not have had some valuable idea like that. I think we can say with certainty that they must have lacked some idea of great value to thinking. That makes the ancients all worse at t…

Seneca wrote slaves and free men were equal essentially. The Torah said foreigners should be treated as natives.

You lacked the idea of begging the question seemingly.

Re: Notes from tired Egyptian whose job is explaining that humans built the pyramids

#120

Post by sscaryterry »

crazygringo wrote: post #24
sscaryterry wrote: post #6

I can sympathise and understand why people don't believe this is within human capabilities. Look at how fractured the government and political systems of the west have become. Humans forget. We've forgotten how to build pyramids, we've forgotten the second world war and the lessons learned.

> We've forgotten how to build pyramids What exactly has led you to believe this...?

Taking what I said literally :D
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