Ancient Aliens: Evidence of Stephen Hawking’s Claim that “Philosophy is Dead”
Note: This article was cited within the New York Times (July 22, 2018) as an counter that is intellectual the emerging religion of “Ancient Aliens.”
The Grand Design (2012), Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow claimed that “philosophy is dead” (p in the book. 5). They wrote: “We exist but for a short while, plus in that time explore but a tiny area of the whole universe. But humans are a species that are curious. We wonder, we seek answers. Living in this world that is vast is by turns kind and cruel, and gazing at the immense heavens above, individuals have always asked a variety of questions: just how can we understand the world by which we find ourselves? How can the universe behave? What is the nature of reality? Where d > philosophy is dead. Philosophy has not yet kept up with modern developments in science, particularly physics.” (p. 5).
Needless to say, philosophy is still alive in academic journals, Amazon books, as well as the shrinking philosophy section at the Barnes & Noble bookstores. But, as a force in popular culture, contemporary philosophy is essentially dead, primarily since it has neglected to keep pace with the discoveries in contemporary cosmology. When you look at the wake of the stunning achievements of the Apollo program plus the Hubble Space Telescope (just two examples), philosophy has neglected to generate a popular narrative that is cosmic integrates the origins and destinies of the human species in to the vast and wondrous cosmos—an expanding universe stretching across 100 billion light years and populated with 2 trillion galaxies and untold amounts of stars, planets, lifeforms, and black holes. This death began utilizing the crash of Apollo 8 and Earthrise.
This cosmic and failure that is philosophical ev >2001: a place Odyssey (1968) and Interstellar (2014), Hollywood populates the expanding universe with endless monsters (ex: the Alien series) and apocalyptic warfare (ex: Star Wars), complimented by very little awe, wonder, and discovery. The Star that is recent Trek are not that different from Star Wars. Here our company is fifty years after Apollo and thirty years after the Hubble telescope, together with dominant ideologies continue to be situated in cosmic narcissism and human super-specialness—pretending to be the center for the universe or under the delusion that a Creator or Ancient Aliens are looking out for us.
Within the lack of a meaningful space philosophy, the hit television series Ancient Aliens (2010-) has hijacked the cosmic narratives from Apollo and 2001 and claims to describe humanity’s origins and destiny within the universe. In Ancient Aliens, we can see philosophy’s corpse that is mediated where an attempted space philosophy and cosmic narrative have crashed and are still aflame in the us on the History Channel.
Two Val >The ancient-astronaut theory draws upon two val > may are suffering from space travel technologies that allow them to traverse the great distances with relative ease. At least that is the “wormhole” scenario depicted in touch (1997) and Interstellar (2014) . That sa we have been visited, precisely because the distances are so vast, the universe is so gigantic, and our planet is so tiny > it is highly unlikely.
Yet, such a possibility (however slim) is the one good reason why 2001 offers such a vision that is compelling of origins and destinies. Most likely, it could be an epochal moment to find a black monolith somewhere on Earth or the moon, beaming out a radio signal to an alert and curious species. Such a possibility is very appealing to me, at least in theory. As the astronaut Taylor says in Planet of this Apes, “Out there, there needs to be something better than man. Has to be.” Of course, if buy an essay ancient astronauts have visited Earth, they would have possessed extremely advanced technologies and been regarded as gods, angels, and miracle makers by premodern humans. Much like the apes in 2001, the humans would have looked at the technologies with amazement and fear. But have any astronauts that are ancient visited Earth?
Where’s the black monolith?
Where’s the same as the black monolith in 2001 — that single artifact of indisputable extraterrestrial design or origin? Where is the verifiable evidence that ancient astronauts or extraterrestrials visited our world to enlighten our species, perform great deeds, and guide our art, technology, and architecture? It’s possible some might be way more advanced and enlightened than our species, I am open to actual empirical evidence since I think extraterrestrial life forms surely exist and. Unfortunately, all of the ancient-astronaut theorists can point toward is a couple of mysterious artifacts, none of which is often linked to extraterrestrial visitations.
Where are the “Chariots of this Gods”?
Within my youth, I watched reruns or VHS tapes of 2001 and Planet regarding the Apes many times, along with many other science-fiction films. I also recall viewing reruns of Chariots for the Gods and Mysteries associated with the Gods, which aired from the television station that is local. The shows are currently available on YouTube, and my viewings that are recent the majority of my original memories of those. Both films clearly attempted to connect ancient astronauts to Apollo and space exploration, using the Voyager space probe and starship Enterprise appearing early in Mysteries of the Gods. Viewing the films that are above my youth inspired us to read Chariots of this Gods?, readily available at the time in local bookstores. I viewed the films and read the book with rapt attention, precisely because von Daniken appeared to be providing “evidence” for a person narrative that has been part of a more substantial celestial narrative outside the theism that prevailed in Texas, where I happened to be born and spent my youth (in a largely secular household). Initially, this thesis was quite attractive and appeared to reflect an alternative model for human origins and possible destinies. It seemed like a attack that is plausible the cultural and historical orthodoxy for the age, particularly the pre-Copernican ideologies associated with the proselytizing evangelicals within my suburb.
Upon later reflection, however, i discovered myself questioning the logic associated with the book’s assertions and came to comprehend that von Daniken’s “ancient-astronaut” thesis was deeply mistaken. The book’s flaws were exposed in a 1976 Skeptical Inquirer article along with a written book entitled The Space Gods Revealed that featured a forward by none other than Carl Sagan.1 By 1977, Chariot of the Gods? was debunked in a BBC-PBS production of Nova in an episode called “The Case associated with the Ancient Astronauts.”2 The episode refuted the next claims: a picture of an ancient astronaut was carved on a Mayan sarcophagus, the Nazca Lines in Peru were originally an ancient-astronaut spaceport, ancient astronauts inspired various carvings on Peruvian stones, and ancient astronauts built the pyramids in Egypt together with Moai statues on Easter Island.
The above assertions are among the most ludicrous and illogical interpretations of human artifacts made by the theorists that are ancient-astronaut and all sorts of are wholly unproven. In a variety of ways, the series is an attack on logic, rationality, together with nature of ev >Ancient Aliens has been on tv for seven seasons suggests you can find sizable audiences who will be quite gullible, struggling to think logically, and scientifically illiterate. Plus, there are irresponsible and television that is intellectually bankrupt, but that’s nothing new either.
When you look at the wake regarding the Trump pres >Chariots associated with Gods? and Ancient Aliens, practically all regarding the so-called ev >never be solved.
Practically all the claims of extraterrestrial influence made on Ancient Aliens assume that human consciousness and civilization don’t have a lot of creativity, originality, or capacity to innovate. The idea that is general that, without assistance from the ancient astronauts, humans will be helpless and may never build such great structures or make profound scientific discoveries. Plus, the show assumes there is no room for chance, surprise, emergence, singularities, or any of the insights of chaos and complexity theory. The series represents an assault on rationality and scientific methods, not unlike all other paranormal movies and television shows in the end.