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The Silurian Hypothesis
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Ideas & Questions
- Hits: 1416
It's generally understood that we are the first "civilization" on earth, but I had a friend once propose that what if we weren't? Would anything have survived deep time and the churning of the continental plates to prove that we weren't? Now I dismissed this as preposterous, when later I examined the evidence and gave it a little more thought I realized my dismissal was preposterous, that, from an evidentiary point of view there was nothing to justify my presupposition that humans alone had developed civilization. "Absence of Evidence...." and so forth.
Considering that the fossil record is supposed to preserve only the tiniest fraction of a percentage of the life that has existed on earth, think of what might yet to be discovered? And what would we have to discover to convince us that there were civilizations that preceded us? What extraordinary conditions would be required for these artifacts to survive deep time? Food for thought.
Links:
- https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/267855-silurian-hypothesis-what-if-humans-arent-the-first-civilization-on-earth
- https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/04/are-we-earths-only-civilization/557180/
- https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/could-an-industrial-prehuman-civilization-have-existed-on-earth-before-ours/
Cinema Paradiso
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 1292
Watching it, again, it's been a long time.
This is an excellent movie. Even so, the version I watched, corrupted and edited (read "Dumbed Down") for the North American audience - deserves a lot better than the reviews it's gotten. And I was disappointed in the ending - the original ending I had seen - well, it was different, but I'll leave no spoilers. If you've never seen it make it a holiday staple.
The Irishman
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 1303
Good. The digital effects, a bit off, watching Robert DeNiro taken back to a younger version of himself - not - just not right. Otherwise a good history of the US from the 50's forward, strung on the story told by Charles Brandt - the classic unreliable narrator who people will believe if only because his point of view became a movie (I'd suggest reading a little criticism of it...the movie is better than the source material, and that doesn't necessarily make it true...).
Mandy
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 1156
This was more than a little bit disturbing. A peculiar film, with some surreal and humorous moments, not critique-able with normal film standards, more a vehicle for the insanity of Nicholas Cage. Worthwhile, after the fashion of an entertaining nightmare, I'd give it a review of "Nicholas Cage turns it up to 11", and that about sums it up.
I should note that while I found it disturbing, for many people it's just another day in Middle America, and therein lies the horror...
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