Note: This article was cited when you look at the New York Times (July 22, 2018) as an intellectual counter to 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 also for a few days, and in that time explore but a little part of the universe that is whole. But humans are a curious species. We wonder, we seek answers. Staying in this world that is vast is by turns kind and cruel, and gazing in the immense heavens above, folks have always asked a multitude of questions: how do we understand the world in which we find ourselves? So how exactly does the universe behave? What’s the nature of reality? Where d > philosophy is dead. Philosophy has not yet kept up with modern developments in science, particularly physics.” (p. 5).

Of course, philosophy is still alive in academic journals, Amazon books, and also 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 did not carry on with utilizing the discoveries in contemporary cosmology. In the wake associated with stunning achievements of this Apollo program plus the Hubble Space Telescope (just two examples), philosophy has did not generate a popular cosmic narrative that integrates the origins and destinies regarding 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 with the crash of Apollo 8 and Earthrise.

This cosmic and philosophical failure is ev >2001: A Space 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 almost no awe, wonder, and discovery. The Star that is recent Trek are not too distinct from Star Wars. Here we have been fifty years after Apollo and thirty years following the Hubble telescope, therefore the dominant ideologies are still situated in cosmic narcissism and human super-specialness—pretending to function as center regarding the universe or underneath 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 generally are still aflame in the us from the History Channel.

Two Val >The ancient-astronaut theory draws upon two val > may are suffering from space travel technologies that enable them to traverse the distances that are great relative ease. At least that is the “wormhole” scenario depicted in touch (1997) and Interstellar (2014) . That sa > it is highly unlikely we’ve been visited, precisely due to the fact distances are incredibly vast, the universe is indeed gigantic, and the planet is indeed tiny.

Yet, such a possibility (however slim) is one good reason why 2001 offers such a compelling vision of human origins and destinies. After all, it might be an epochal moment to find a black monolith somewhere on Earth or even the moon, beaming out a radio signal to an alert and curious species. Such a possibility is very attractive to me, at the least the theory is that. Because the astronaut Taylor says in Planet regarding the Apes, “Out there, there must be something much better than man. Needs to be.” Of course, if ancient astronauts have visited Earth, they might have possessed extremely advanced technologies and been viewed as gods, angels, and miracle makers by premodern humans. Much like the apes in 2001, the humans will have looked upon the technologies with fear and amazement. But have any astronauts that are ancient visited Earth?

Where’s the black monolith?

Where’s roughly the same as the black monolith in 2001 — that single artifact of indisputable extraterrestrial design or origin? Where is the evidence that is verifiable ancient astronauts or extraterrestrials visited our planet 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 the ancient-astronaut theorists can point toward is a few mysterious artifacts, none of which is often connected to visitations that are extraterrestrial.

Where are the “Chariots associated with Gods”?

In my own youth, I watched reruns or VHS tapes of 2001 and Planet associated with Apes times that are many along with a great many other science-fiction films. I also recall viewing reruns of Chariots of this Gods and Mysteries associated with the Gods, which aired regarding the local television station. The shows are now available on YouTube, and my recent viewings confirmed most of my original memories of those. Both films clearly attempted to connect ancient astronauts to Apollo and space exploration, with all the Voyager space probe and starship Enterprise appearing early in Mysteries associated with the Gods. Viewing the films that are above my youth inspired us to read Chariots regarding the Gods?, readily available during the time in local bookstores. I viewed the films and browse the book with rapt attention, precisely because von Daniken seemed to be providing “evidence” for a human narrative that was section of a larger celestial narrative outside of the theism that prevailed in Texas, where I was born and spent my youth (in a largely secular household). Initially, this thesis was quite attractive and seemed to reflect an alternative model for human origins and possible destinies. It seemed like a plausible attack on the cultural and historical orthodoxy of this age, particularly the pre-Copernican ideologies regarding the proselytizing evangelicals within my suburb.

Thesis was deeply mistaken upon later reflection, however, I found myself questioning the logic of the book’s assertions and came to realize that von Daniken’s “ancient-astronaut. The book’s flaws were exposed in a 1976 Skeptical Inquirer article as well as in a book entitled The Space Gods Revealed that featured a forward by none aside from Carl Sagan.1 By 1977, Chariot of this Gods buy essay online? was debunked in a BBC-PBS production of Nova in an episode called “The Case associated with Ancient Astronauts.”2 The episode refuted the following claims: An image 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 in addition to Moai statues on Easter Island.

The above mentioned assertions are being among the most ludicrous and illogical interpretations of human artifacts produced by the theorists that are ancient-astronaut and all are wholly unproven. The series is an attack on logic, rationality, and the nature of ev >Ancient Aliens has been on television for seven seasons suggests there are sizable audiences who are quite gullible, unable to think logically, and scientifically illiterate in many ways. Plus, there are irresponsible and intellectually bankrupt television programmers, but that’s nothing new either.

Within the wake associated with the Trump pres >Chariots of the Gods? and Ancient Aliens, practically all of the so-called ev >never be solved.

Almost all the claims of extraterrestrial influence made on Ancient Aliens assume that human consciousness and civilization have little creativity, originality, or ability to innovate. The general idea is that, without assistance from the ancient astronauts, humans could be helpless and may never build such great structures or make profound scientific discoveries. Plus, the show assumes there’s 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.