Suggestions

Suggestions

Jason (guest) 08 Sep 2010 21:18

Hey y'all,

Specifically, is there anyone here who is an expert at geology. Many of the 2012ers claim that a recent catastrophe ocurred roughly 11 to 12 thousand years ago. How do we know whether or not this is true? What do geologist use as far as dating disasters in the distant past?

Second, where do they come up with the ideas that the maya might have been linked to "atlantis?" The same goes for Egyptians. Astro, in the future, could you possibly do a podcast with a Geology specialist explaining plate tectonics and why that is a more realist theory than ECD?

Many thanks in advance,

P.S. This 2012 crap may have scared me, but it's gotten me interested in science as well! :-D

Re: Suggestions

Moo (guest) 08 Sep 2010 22:03

In regards to your first question, uh. Who cares if something happened? Why would it have any significance to 2012? Oh. I know why!

2012ers try to use ANYTHING to support 2012. ANYTHING.

This also answers your second question.

ANYTHING can be linked to 2012. Me passing gas? 2012

Me eating a sandwich? 2012

Me having sex? 2012!

… I LOVE 2012 :D

Re: Suggestions

Astrogeek 08 Sep 2010 22:19

Hi Jason;

I've run into that claim before, and I'm not quite sure where it originates. Basically if you go back to any point in time then geologically there was something going on.

As far as I know there was no major event 11-12 thousand years ago.

Another one I keep running across was a claim that there was a major event 26,000 years ago (about the length of time of a full cycle of precession). Again, no evidence.

As far as the methods used, there are various forms of radiometric dating (not "carbon" dating, because that only dates organic material). Geologists use various methods that compare ratios of radioactive isotopes and their decay products to date rocks. Not all rocks can be radio-metrically dated, and some are dated by the adjacent layers. So if you have a layer of rock that can't be dated (sedimentary rock is notoriously difficult to date) that is sandwiched between igneous rock that can be dated, then you can approximate the sedimentary layer.

A good place to go to brush up on the various methods is the FAQs at http://talkorigins.org (where creationists have been losing the argument over radiometric dating for decades).

The idea that the Maya and Egyptians were both descendants of prior cultures comes from Ignatius Donnelly and James Churchward (although technically Churchward called his lost continent "Mu"). See http://jcolavito.tripod.com/lostcivilizations/id23.html for a good discussion.

I'll see what I can do about getting a geologist on the podcast.

Thanks for the suggestions, and keep asking questions!

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"Do you ever think about things you do think about?" - Henry Drummond to Matthew Harrison Brady in Inherit the Wind

Last edited on 08 Sep 2010 22:20 by Astrogeek Show more

Re: Suggestions

Jason (guest) 08 Sep 2010 22:37

That was an interesting article on the ethnocentricity(spelling) of many of the 2012ers.

My next question is about a guy that isn't brought up too much, but he seems to be a MAJOR player in it all. His name is Maurice Cotterell. Geryl even admitted to taking an interest in his "Sun Spot Theory." Does anyone know anymore about him?

Thanks,

Re: Suggestions

UndeadxNurse 09 Sep 2010 08:10

That's a name that I haven't heard before, so I really can't say much about that individual.

As for 11-12 thousand years ago, wasn't there an ice age? Or, am I thinking of something else?
Most likely, I'm thinking of something else, it's 3:10 and I can't sleep.

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Wie Sie säen, so sollst du ernten.

Re: Suggestions

Jason (guest) 09 Sep 2010 15:22

Well,

Many of them state that ice age was more than likely a product of a Poleshift. In the ProjectCamelot video, Geryl says that older scientific journals mentioned pole shifts regularly everyh 10 to 15 thousand years. Now they say differently according to him. Geryl says that he got many ideas from Maurice Cotterell from his book the Mayan Prophecies. Cotterell also supposedly can caclulate longer Sun Spot cycles because the Mayans knew about them. I know, it sounds crazy, but I'd like to know why it is.

Re: Suggestions

UndeadxNurse 09 Sep 2010 16:02

This is one thing that I really can't help much on, you may have to wait for Astrogeek or, Alene Y to pop up with an accurate answer.

To the best of my knowledge, though, predicting sunspots are incredibly difficult and some have said that it's almost beyond our capabilities, but that statement may be an exaggeration by some people, not 100% certain.

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Wie Sie säen, so sollst du ernten.

Re: Suggestions

Astrogeek 10 Sep 2010 05:52

I'm not familiar with Maurice Cotterell, I'll have to look him up.

I think Geryl is wrong about "older scientific journals" mentioning pole shifts every 10 to 15 thousand years. I would be interested in seeing if he can come up with some citations for that claim. After all, the 'older scientific journals' are archived.

As far as the Maya calculating longer sunspot cycles… in my opinion, that is utter nonsense.

First of all, this claim would elevate the Maya to a very distinctive position among ancient cultures. Because, as far as I know, you can't see sunspots with your naked eyes. Solar activity, by and large, goes unnoticed by people who don't have a way to see it.

It is technologically possible that the Maya invented an ancient pinhole projector, but the critical piece of that idea, namely some evidence, appears to be missing. There is absolutely no evidence in archaeology, or Mayan literature, that these devices were known to them.

The ancient Greeks were astronomers long before the Maya were. They apparently actually did record a particularly large solar flare (or so I have been told…. I don't have a reference for it).

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"Do you ever think about things you do think about?" - Henry Drummond to Matthew Harrison Brady in Inherit the Wind

Re: Suggestions

Astrogeek 10 Sep 2010 05:58

Oh my.

Re: Maurice Cottrell

Apparently your typical physics crank. His explanation of gravity is that atoms produce a helically polarized electromagnetic radiation from their 'poles'.

Uh…

OK, wow, I don't even know where to begin with that one.

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"Do you ever think about things you do think about?" - Henry Drummond to Matthew Harrison Brady in Inherit the Wind

Re: Suggestions

Astrogeek 10 Sep 2010 05:33

The so-called "Younger-Dryas Event" was about 12,000 years ago. I say "so-called" because the Younger-Dryas was a period (about 1300 years) and not an 'event' which brings to mind an instantaneous change. The wikipedia article on it discusses some of the difficulties in even defining what it was, and when it was.

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"Do you ever think about things you do think about?" - Henry Drummond to Matthew Harrison Brady in Inherit the Wind

Re: Suggestions

Jason (guest) 11 Sep 2010 01:29

Very Interesting.

Maurice cotterell has some of his own predicions that the Mayans knew about the "extended sun-spot cycle." However, I have not read his book, so I can't comment if he mentions pole shifts or that other non-sense. The co-author is Adrian Gilbert

Re: Suggestions

Jason (guest) 11 Sep 2010 01:33

Interesting. It's like I've seen this before……..lol

http://www.adriangilbert.co.uk/books/mayan.htm