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The Antikythera mechanism reveals new secrets

scientificamerican.com

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Re: The Antikythera mechanism reveals new secrets

#41

Post by kej »

skunkworker wrote: post #22

Every time I think about the Antikythera mechanism the quote by Arthur C. Clarke comes to mind "If the insight of the Greeks had matched their ingenuity…we would not merely be puttering around on the Moon, we would have reached the nearer stars." It's a little sensational but also makes me think of what could've been, if certain paths had been realized in past times, and also makes me put the technical knowledge of p…

You comment reminds me of one of my favorite short stories, Harry Turtledove's "The Road Not Taken": https://eyeofmidas.com/scifi/Turtledove_RoadNotTaken.pdf

Re: The Antikythera mechanism reveals new secrets

#42

Post by Terry_Roll »

marcosdumay wrote: post #32
areoform wrote: post #24

The Antikythera mechanism gives me nightmares. Just as the suggestion that a lack of transmissions from intelligent life means the existence of a great filter. The Antikythera mechanism is a strong indicator of technological regression in human beings. Perhaps more terrifying is the fact that it is not the first time we've regressed or collapsed. The mysterious Late Bronze Age Collapse is another example, https://en.…

> The Antikythera mechanism is a strong indicator of technological regression in human beings. Is it evidence of widespread technological regression, or "this small group with strong leadership did amazing things, too bad nobody can do that anymore", or just people not wanting it anymore? For centuries after it was built, there was no large scale collapse that could bring a widespread regression (there were many loca…

Well some ancient alien conspiracy theories suggest nuclear bombs have been dropped on different parts of the planet.

Mahabharata a short distance from Jodpur in India, which Oppenheimer commented on.

Mohenjo Daro in Pakistan

Nuclear destruction of Sumer linked with the Anunnaki.

Pyramids in other places around the planet besides Egypt, its possible mainstream history isnt telling us everything or we have a sanitised version of history.

Re: The Antikythera mechanism reveals new secrets

#43

Post by tehjoker »

FpUser wrote: post #40
lisper wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is inconceivable for us to imagine a rapid regression today To the contrary, I'm finding it increasingly likely that I will see the collapse of civilization within my lifetime, and I'm 57. I see two prospective tipping points on the horizon: the collapse of democracy in the U.S. leading to nuclear war, and climate change leading to world-wide food shortages. The former seems likely within 5-10 years, and the lat…

Why would collapse of democracy in the US lead to nuclear war?

they'll fight other countries to deflect from internal problems

Re: The Antikythera mechanism reveals new secrets

#44

Post by kingcharles »

lisper wrote: post #36
areoform wrote: post #24

The Antikythera mechanism gives me nightmares. Just as the suggestion that a lack of transmissions from intelligent life means the existence of a great filter. The Antikythera mechanism is a strong indicator of technological regression in human beings. Perhaps more terrifying is the fact that it is not the first time we've regressed or collapsed. The mysterious Late Bronze Age Collapse is another example, https://en.…

> It is inconceivable for us to imagine a rapid regression today To the contrary, I'm finding it increasingly likely that I will see the collapse of civilization within my lifetime, and I'm 57. I see two prospective tipping points on the horizon: the collapse of democracy in the U.S. leading to nuclear war, and climate change leading to world-wide food shortages. The former seems likely within 5-10 years, and the lat…

I don't think any of those events will come to pass, but I suspect you might live long enough to see The Singularity arrive, and that might be the harbinger of doom you are seeking.

Re: The Antikythera mechanism reveals new secrets

#45

Post by marcosdumay »

areoform wrote: post #35
marcosdumay wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The Antikythera mechanism is a strong indicator of technological regression in human beings. Is it evidence of widespread technological regression, or "this small group with strong leadership did amazing things, too bad nobody can do that anymore", or just people not wanting it anymore? For centuries after it was built, there was no large scale collapse that could bring a widespread regression (there were many loca…

The mechanism suggests a strong "industrial" base to support it. They had to get the metals from somewhere, find the expert artisans to craft from somewhere else, source the parts, find the tooling etc. Just as a mass produced pencil isn't just a pencil, it is the capacity to produce the pencil. They had the capacity to create precision gearing, which suggests a level of mechanical prowess that isn't matched until a…

Commercial metalworking stayed around all the time until today. It only increased and improved. (It's made of bronze, it's not like bronze working was lost.)

The tooling may evidence some kind of regression. I really don't know what kind of tooling was needed to create this, although gears by themselves and high precision in a single mechanism do not say much. From the looks of it, this devices requires a lot of theoretical knowledge, but not so much practical one (but that's an uninformed opinion, if you have information, it would be great). The theory was not lost in any way.

Re: The Antikythera mechanism reveals new secrets

#47

Post by throw1234651234 »

Terry_Roll wrote: post #42
marcosdumay wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The Antikythera mechanism is a strong indicator of technological regression in human beings. Is it evidence of widespread technological regression, or "this small group with strong leadership did amazing things, too bad nobody can do that anymore", or just people not wanting it anymore? For centuries after it was built, there was no large scale collapse that could bring a widespread regression (there were many loca…

Well some ancient alien conspiracy theories suggest nuclear bombs have been dropped on different parts of the planet. Mahabharata a short distance from Jodpur in India, which Oppenheimer commented on. Mohenjo Daro in Pakistan Nuclear destruction of Sumer linked with the Anunnaki. Pyramids in other places around the planet besides Egypt, its possible mainstream history isnt telling us everything or we have a sanitised…

As fun as these speculations are, there is nothing cohesive about it. "which Oppenheimer commented on" - or he just wanted to say something that sounded badass and educated in his "I am become...the destroyer of worlds."

/* Mohenjo Daro in Pakistan Nuclear destruction of Sumer linked with the Anunnaki. */

0 evidence

"Pyramids in other places around the planet besides Egypt, its possible mainstream history isnt telling us everything or we have a sanitised version of history."

Very different pyramids. Other places had houses too. Some of them were square and some round. Could it be ancient aliens?!

Re: The Antikythera mechanism reveals new secrets

#49

Post by oh_sigh »

lisper wrote: post #36
areoform wrote: post #24

The Antikythera mechanism gives me nightmares. Just as the suggestion that a lack of transmissions from intelligent life means the existence of a great filter. The Antikythera mechanism is a strong indicator of technological regression in human beings. Perhaps more terrifying is the fact that it is not the first time we've regressed or collapsed. The mysterious Late Bronze Age Collapse is another example, https://en.…

> It is inconceivable for us to imagine a rapid regression today To the contrary, I'm finding it increasingly likely that I will see the collapse of civilization within my lifetime, and I'm 57. I see two prospective tipping points on the horizon: the collapse of democracy in the U.S. leading to nuclear war, and climate change leading to world-wide food shortages. The former seems likely within 5-10 years, and the lat…

I'll bet you $1M that civilization doesn't collapse within 30 years!
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