Atlantis

MattShizzle
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Atlantis

The idea of there being a "lost continent of Atlantis" is an irrational concept favored by the same people who believe in UFOs and Bigfoot. For the background, it was originally mentioned by Plato. Plato often spoke in allegories and it is likely that's what he was doing in this case. Even if he himself believed it, he actually got the story 3rd or 4th hand!

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Here's an episode of BBC

Here's an episode of BBC Horizon called Atlantis Reborn, which is about Graham Hancock and his theory of atlantis, although he doesn't actually mentioned Atlantis by name (wonder why).

See him get his ass scientifically owned!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8732955067742201714

"It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring" -- Carl Sagan


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Atlantis probably isn't

Atlantis probably isn't true, but the idea of a submerged city isn't.  And the Bimini Road makes you wonder...

I hope that when the world comes to an end I can breathe a sigh of relief, because there will be so much to look forward to.


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When looking at the time

When looking at the time period atlantis is supposed to have existed in, it actually becomes a possible explanation for the rise of the flood tale in the bible. It was a time when an island could be concieved to be a whole continent. And there are plenty of submerged cities around the world.

So it may be irrational to believe it existed as told, but it is also still a possibility. And there is a hole in the pangea supercontinent that an atlantis could fill.

Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.


MattShizzle
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Actually Plato said it

Actually Plato said it happened about 9,000 years before his time, which is a bit early for the Babble (long before the Earth existed in fact.) However, one interesting idea I have read was it may have been a description of the eruption of a volcano at Thera - which was actually about 900 yrs before Plato's time (an easy error to make with pre-zero mathematics.)

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Vastet
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MattShizzle wrote: Actually

MattShizzle wrote:
Actually Plato said it happened about 9,000 years before his time, which is a bit early for the Babble (long before the Earth existed in fact.) However, one interesting idea I have read was it may have been a description of the eruption of a volcano at Thera - which was actually about 900 yrs before Plato's time (an easy error to make with pre-zero mathematics.)

It's been a very long time since I've seen anything explorational on atlantis, but wasn't Plato only working with what he was told, not something he saw? Messages can be confused when passed from one to another. Especially in those days.

I also seem to recall ancient civilizations documenting a disaster that could have been attributed to an atlantis. Though as I mentioned above, it's been a long time since I saw it.

Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.