Isla and Reindel believe that the drawings led people to water, but they were also used for rituals. This theory is supported by findings of broken ceramics and musical instruments.
Considering that about 20% of the lines align with astronomical events and these lines have been crafted over a thousand years, to me, these signs might have 4 root motivations:
astronomical markers
orientation signs
rituals or religious, and
pure art
Water is included in the orientation markers as far I am concerned. So there is nothing really new.
I consider the other hypothesis (UFO, aliens and air balloons for instance) as - how can I say - less probable...:-)
The conclusion of the analysis is valid if the following hypothesis (somewhat related, i know) are considered as true:
The rate of objects entering the atmosphere in the 10 years observation period is representative of the average rate of the 1000 years period of the conclusion
The rate is constant (no asteroids or comets storms like the Leonids shooting stars storm we just observed)
The sampling (300 meteors) is statistically significant
The extrapolation/interpolation to bigger size meteors is valid.
I don't want to blow any bubble here, but this involves optical interferometry - which require control devices capable of tracking and correcting mechanical systems at the optical wavelenght scale. Check here for more details (there are many other technical references, have a look on Google).
Amateurs will do radio interferometry way before optical. But hey! Amateurs now have access to CCDs... Maybe it is not THAT far off.
Actually, I went to a sensor data fusion conference back in 1994 in Florida and there were these guys doing sismic imagery. Basically, they were exploding caps which generated small sismic waves (sound waves) in the ground and, using an array of sismic detectors, were reconstructing in 3D the map of buried objects (it was a test field, objects they burried themselves, so they knew what to expect). The results were pretty amazing. Considering Jurassic Park 3 came out in 2001... maybe Crichton were in the room...
Nevertheless, this technique looks to me like non-destructive archeology... (well let's say a lot less destructive than conventional archeology). I don't know if someone gave it a try in Egyptology.
However, as stated before here, someone already used Electromagnetic scanning to do Egyptology...
:-) Depending on my "technology level", this hypothesis (the second one) might be way simpler than the first one, even including the hole in the wall and everrything - and this is my point: Occam's razor is highly dependant on the technology level of the analyst. So are the hypothesis might you answer me. But I might include a "magical" hypothesis on my list (like, in my example, the quartz story, or something fuzzier, or like the soul explanation at the root of this thread). To that, I will use Clark's third law: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Sometime, "magic" is the right answer... even if the details are still fuzzy.;-)
We have to be very carefull with Occam's Razor. This discriminator must be used to order hypothesis, not to rule them out. Moreover, the ordering is highly dependant on the technological level of the observer. And too often, we don't go beyong the first hypothesis in the ordered list.
Let me give you an example: I have a clock on the wall behind me. Here are some hypothesis:
1. A quartz is oscillating by feeding it using white noise generated by a device composed of chemical stuff (battery). The white noise triggers the quartz's natural resonnance frequency. The time is then indicated by a complex set of electronics dividing a quartz oscilation and driving a step motor to which is attached the hands we see.
2. Someone is hiding behing the wall and turning the handles.
Occam's Razor would put the second explanation as the simplest. I don't think it is the right explanation though.
It is not because an explanation is satisfactory that it is the right one. We have to keep an open mind.
This has been done before. Wired magazine published an article in november 1999 on this. The reshercher (Michael Persinger, neuropsychologist at Canada's Laurentian University in Sudbury) is doing research on using electromagnetic fields to induce feelings directly in the brain. Induced feelings include sensatgion of God's presence, sensation of out of body experiences, etc.
I remember when I read this article, I was blown away. Something to really make you think...:-)
What were the utility of the two sealed copper handles we saw on the first door? The two copper handles were well centered on the door as viewed from within the shaft. They're clearly not for pulling since they were seen from under. Why a seals since there is another door behind? Maybe the copper handles and the seals were supposed to be seen from the other way around... leading to the Queen's chamber.
The builders put a great deal of effort on these shafts. They were not added a posteriori, as an after thought. They were part of the original design. But, as far as I remember, no other (previous or later) pyramids present these features (correct me if I am wrong). So if these shafts were necessary for the Egyptian mythology, why are they only in Khufu? If they were not important for the mythology, why putting such an effort on their construction? Maybe there were "sects" within the egyptian mythology - and Khufu's builders were not following the mainstream beliefs. Consider that Khufu's is the only 'suspended' burial chamber discovered; all others were dug below the ground or placed at ground level, with the rest of the pyramid built above them.
There are scientific evidences that there are more hidden chambers within the great pyramid. A team of japanese egyptologists conclude (in this report): For instance, the electromagnetic wave radar exploration system is capable of exploring the internal space and of detecting any foreign material within the stone structure by the abnormal reflections from inside the stonework using radar. Appling this method, fruitful results have so far been obtained, including some unusual radar reactions, which suggest the existence of some inner space at the locations as the north side of the Queen's Chamber within the pyramid, and the south side of the Great Pyramid and the north side of the Great Sphinx. I remember reading that the Japanese team estimated that over 3% of the pyramid is free space. A french team estimated the empty space being around 10%. I am trying to locate the references of these numbers - if you have hints... Anyway, this is a lot more that what we currently discovered.
Funny, I remember back in 1984, a new computer came around. The Amiga had a handful of custom designed chips (running concurrently with the CPU) to handle display, I/O, animation, audio. You could actually move the mouse arount without seeing the CPU loosing cycles. Maybe the industry is finally moving a bit closer to this design which, back then, simply made sense... and still does.
Now add to this an OS that can be distributed accordingly to the type of operations operations (like Plan 9) and over multiple CPUs (Apple OS X, or Linux), with a solid filesystem (get the ideas from BeOS)...
Also, I don't want to upgrade my CPU anymore, I want to add CPU power to what I already have. Give me a scaleable hardware architecture (with a lot of empty CPU slots), with the OS supporting it. Add a 'cheap' factor. THIS would be my ideal computer... for now!;-)
The article sais that a stone hatch with copper handle were discovered in 1872. Wrong!.
In 1992-3, a team using a small robot with a video camera revealed a strange stone slab, which blocks the 40-degree, 200-foot southern lower shaft. This stone has 2 copper fittings. Rudolf Gantenbrink, the head of the research project narrates: The face of the inspector sitting next to me at the monitor has become chalk white. He draws my attention to two round, white marks on the copper fittings. "These are seals, these are seals!" he exclaims, visibly shaken.. Read this totally fascinating story here. The entire UPUAUT project scientific report page is available here too.
Actually, when the scenario supports it, It's fine with me if the known physic's laws are not adequatly represented (like in Matrix for instance) - and I am a physicist.
But otherwise, it really bugs me. And there are so many examples! The last Star Wars (Revenge of the clowns), when Anakim is playing with this beast in the grass field... it simply does not feel right (the laws on momentum are not respected) - and that kind of error is so common in CG scenes.
Considering the fact that some CG scenes are 'right'... this is clearly not a problem with the physics engines. I infer that the problem is behind the CG keyboard, and with the final editors. 'Wrong' scenes (at the physical feeling level) should never get passed post-production. Maybe there is a role missing here in the overall cinema process. There is the person in charge of continuity in the team - there should be someone in charge of common (physical) sense.
Anyway' I'll play this role in the screenplay I am writing...;-)
Just my two cents!
Been there, done that...
on
Emergence
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Ilya Prigogine (Nobel Laureate) extended a lot on that matter years ago. I *think* he is one of the first writing about 'emerging properties' of complex systems. Have a look at "Order out of Chaos", or "The End of Certainties", just to name a few...
Nevertheless, I think this is one of the most fascinating branch of fundamental research of the last 20 years.
This also relates to an article publisher here on Dec 4...
Slashdot Mirror
astronomical markers
orientation signs
rituals or religious, and
pure art
:-)
Water is included in the orientation markers as far I am concerned. So there is nothing really new.
I consider the other hypothesis (UFO, aliens and air balloons for instance) as - how can I say - less probable...
The rate of objects entering the atmosphere in the 10 years observation period is representative of the average rate of the 1000 years period of the conclusion
The rate is constant (no asteroids or comets storms like the Leonids shooting stars storm we just observed)
The sampling (300 meteors) is statistically significant
The extrapolation/interpolation to bigger size meteors is valid.
This is definitely not a sig.
I don't want to blow any bubble here, but this involves optical interferometry - which require control devices capable of tracking and correcting mechanical systems at the optical wavelenght scale. Check here for more details (there are many other technical references, have a look on Google).
Amateurs will do radio interferometry way before optical. But hey! Amateurs now have access to CCDs... Maybe it is not THAT far off.
This is not a sig.
Look at the first paragaph of this... I agree with you...
Actually, I went to a sensor data fusion conference back in 1994 in Florida and there were these guys doing sismic imagery. Basically, they were exploding caps which generated small sismic waves (sound waves) in the ground and, using an array of sismic detectors, were reconstructing in 3D the map of buried objects (it was a test field, objects they burried themselves, so they knew what to expect). The results were pretty amazing. Considering Jurassic Park 3 came out in 2001... maybe Crichton were in the room...
Nevertheless, this technique looks to me like non-destructive archeology... (well let's say a lot less destructive than conventional archeology). I don't know if someone gave it a try in Egyptology.
However, as stated before here, someone already used Electromagnetic scanning to do Egyptology...
:-) Depending on my "technology level", this hypothesis (the second one) might be way simpler than the first one, even including the hole in the wall and everrything - and this is my point: Occam's razor is highly dependant on the technology level of the analyst. So are the hypothesis might you answer me. But I might include a "magical" hypothesis on my list (like, in my example, the quartz story, or something fuzzier, or like the soul explanation at the root of this thread). To that, I will use Clark's third law: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Sometime, "magic" is the right answer... even if the details are still fuzzy. ;-)
We have to be very carefull with Occam's Razor. This discriminator must be used to order hypothesis, not to rule them out. Moreover, the ordering is highly dependant on the technological level of the observer. And too often, we don't go beyong the first hypothesis in the ordered list.
Let me give you an example: I have a clock on the wall behind me. Here are some hypothesis:
1. A quartz is oscillating by feeding it using white noise generated by a device composed of chemical stuff (battery). The white noise triggers the quartz's natural resonnance frequency. The time is then indicated by a complex set of electronics dividing a quartz oscilation and driving a step motor to which is attached the hands we see.
2. Someone is hiding behing the wall and turning the handles.
Occam's Razor would put the second explanation as the simplest. I don't think it is the right explanation though.
It is not because an explanation is satisfactory that it is the right one. We have to keep an open mind.
This has been done before. Wired magazine published an article in november 1999 on this. The reshercher (Michael Persinger, neuropsychologist at Canada's Laurentian University in Sudbury) is doing research on using electromagnetic fields to induce feelings directly in the brain. Induced feelings include sensatgion of God's presence, sensation of out of body experiences, etc.
:-)
I remember when I read this article, I was blown away. Something to really make you think...
What were the utility of the two sealed copper handles we saw on the first door? The two copper handles were well centered on the door as viewed from within the shaft. They're clearly not for pulling since they were seen from under. Why a seals since there is another door behind? Maybe the copper handles and the seals were supposed to be seen from the other way around... leading to the Queen's chamber.
:-)
The builders put a great deal of effort on these shafts. They were not added a posteriori, as an after thought. They were part of the original design. But, as far as I remember, no other (previous or later) pyramids present these features (correct me if I am wrong). So if these shafts were necessary for the Egyptian mythology, why are they only in Khufu? If they were not important for the mythology, why putting such an effort on their construction? Maybe there were "sects" within the egyptian mythology - and Khufu's builders were not following the mainstream beliefs. Consider that Khufu's is the only 'suspended' burial chamber discovered; all others were dug below the ground or placed at ground level, with the rest of the pyramid built above them.
There are scientific evidences that there are more hidden chambers within the great pyramid. A team of japanese egyptologists conclude (in this report): For instance, the electromagnetic wave radar exploration system is capable of exploring the internal space and of detecting any foreign material within the stone structure by the abnormal reflections from inside the stonework using radar. Appling this method, fruitful results have so far been obtained, including some unusual radar reactions, which suggest the existence of some inner space at the locations as the north side of the Queen's Chamber within the pyramid, and the south side of the Great Pyramid and the north side of the Great Sphinx. I remember reading that the Japanese team estimated that over 3% of the pyramid is free space. A french team estimated the empty space being around 10%. I am trying to locate the references of these numbers - if you have hints... Anyway, this is a lot more that what we currently discovered.
for now...
Funny, I remember back in 1984, a new computer came around. The Amiga had a handful of custom designed chips (running concurrently with the CPU) to handle display, I/O, animation, audio. You could actually move the mouse arount without seeing the CPU loosing cycles. Maybe the industry is finally moving a bit closer to this design which, back then, simply made sense... and still does.
;-)
Now add to this an OS that can be distributed accordingly to the type of operations operations (like Plan 9) and over multiple CPUs (Apple OS X, or Linux), with a solid filesystem (get the ideas from BeOS)...
Also, I don't want to upgrade my CPU anymore, I want to add CPU power to what I already have. Give me a scaleable hardware architecture (with a lot of empty CPU slots), with the OS supporting it. Add a 'cheap' factor. THIS would be my ideal computer... for now!
The article sais that a stone hatch with copper handle were discovered in 1872. Wrong!.
In 1992-3, a team using a small robot with a video camera revealed a strange stone slab, which blocks the 40-degree, 200-foot southern lower shaft. This stone has 2 copper fittings. Rudolf Gantenbrink, the head of the research project narrates: The face of the inspector sitting next to me at the monitor has become chalk white. He draws my attention to two round, white marks on the copper fittings. "These are seals, these are seals!" he exclaims, visibly shaken.. Read this totally fascinating story here. The entire UPUAUT project scientific report page is available here too.
But otherwise, it really bugs me. And there are so many examples! The last Star Wars (Revenge of the clowns), when Anakim is playing with this beast in the grass field... it simply does not feel right (the laws on momentum are not respected) - and that kind of error is so common in CG scenes.
Considering the fact that some CG scenes are 'right'... this is clearly not a problem with the physics engines. I infer that the problem is behind the CG keyboard, and with the final editors. 'Wrong' scenes (at the physical feeling level) should never get passed post-production. Maybe there is a role missing here in the overall cinema process. There is the person in charge of continuity in the team - there should be someone in charge of common (physical) sense.
Anyway' I'll play this role in the screenplay I am writing... ;-)
Just my two cents!
Ilya Prigogine (Nobel Laureate) extended a lot on that matter years ago. I *think* he is one of the first writing about 'emerging properties' of complex systems. Have a look at "Order out of Chaos", or "The End of Certainties", just to name a few... Nevertheless, I think this is one of the most fascinating branch of fundamental research of the last 20 years. This also relates to an article publisher here on Dec 4...