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And I think they didn't exist. I am convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt and will defend this point strongly and passionately.
Let's just say I have enough pieces of the puzzle of history to see the picture, that I don't need anymore.
Okay Kandinsky, I admit to being a little narrow in my world view and understanding of history. In future, I'll try harder. I'll read other opinions. I won't just use 'India' as a default term in all my searches. It's true that simply looking to confirm my ideas is sorta self-limiting. You're really great Kandinsky, can I date your sister?
1) They are describing real historical people such as kings, major religious figures, who are utilising these machines. We do not find references to real histoical people, say George Bush flying in starships do we? If we found a record saying, "George Bush was flying in the sky in his aeroplane, airforce" We are likely to infer it is a real event and not a fictional event, correct? In the same way finding records like, "Then Krishna flew up into the sky on his airship" means it is likely a reference to a real event and not a fictional event.
Originally posted by Indigo_Child
And I think they didn't exist. I am convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt and will defend this point strongly and passionately.
You're entitled to that. I think the evidence favours that they existed, rather than the opposite. Your argument for then not existing is a fallacy anyway. The absence of physical evidence of these aeroplanes does not mean the evidence of absence of these aeroplanes.
Suppose I was having this discussion with you before the antikeythra mechanism was found. I claimed that the ancient texts describe an analog mechanical computer as a real machine that was used by people. You say to me, "Preposterous! There is no physical evidence of such a contraption existing. It is a myth" Then later the actual contraption is found.
The same ancient texts describe an aeroplane as a real machine, replete with instructions on flight, engine etc. Again I say to you that the ancients describe an aeroplane as a real machine that was used by people. Would you again say to me, "Preposterous! There is no physical evidence of such a contraption existing. It is a myth!"
Now suppose that we did actually find remains of an ancient aeroplane. The ancient texts also describe robots as real machines. Again I say to you the ancients describe robots as real machines that people used. Would you again say to me, "Preposterous! There is no physical evidence of such a contraption existing. It is a myth"
As usual, it is your "perfect Indian Logic" that fails here.
That is, unless you intend to imply that there can be no evidence for a thing's nonexistence.
After all, the only evidence for nonexistence is an absence of evidence.
In fact, no ancient "analog computer" of any kind has ever been found.
The Antikythera mechanism has been erroneously described that way, I realize. However, that mechanism is a clockwork mechanism that performs only one set of functions (more like a simplistic computer program than like any kind of computer) - completely different from an analog computer which can be "programmed" to perform any number of different types of functions.
The airplanes would require an industrial base, would they not? I mean, a single plaything like a clockwork man (which here you're calling - for some unknown reason - a "robot") could be built by an individual. But the Vimanas claimed in Vedic texts are far too numerous for that. The evidence for this industrial base has to be there - but it is not - so it never existed, hence no vimanas.
In fact, much of what you claim here as "Vedic knowledge" is simply your interpretation of the words in these texts. Interpretations you have made with an eye toward spinning it into something similar to the minute portion of science that you betray yourself to be aware of.
Most of these texts only parallel modern science in the most vague ways - and then only if you purposefully read your own meanings into them.
In short, you, Indigo Child, are (mostly) making this stuff up as you go along. You appear to be motivated by some warped sense of nationalism - as if India isn't responsible for it's share of modern society. Why do you persist in this inferiority complex and why do you not realize how obvious it is to readers here?
After much reading, mainly on wikipedia (my time, unlike Brahma, IS limited ) I can say that in MANY cases I agree that the ancient Hindus were ahead of others. I wouldn't go as far as handing around the word "perfect" for everything Hindu in origin though.
Most of these texts, with the exception of the medical texts ascribed to Sushruta and Panini, are dated to the first millennium AD by most scholars involved in their study. This is as good as fact, until PROVEN otherwise, can we agree on this? (No, but I will continue anyway)
To claim that these texts "go back" many tens of thousands of years (not these texts themselves, their supposed origin texts, kinda like the "original Vedas", right?) is a leap like very few made so far by anyone. There is absolutely no solid ground to attest to this, just conjecture, supposition, stretched estimation and wishful thinking (wow, a LOT of big words from someone with no grasp of English). Given that the Rig Veda (something like the Hindu Bible, the way I understood it) is vague at best as to the times it describes it could be anything from 1,000 years to a Brahma year (now THAT would be cool to prove!!).
There are parts, Sutras, that are conveniently "unclear" as to what they mean. Given the complexity of the Sanskrit language itself, the complexity of some matters discussed and the ways they use to give proof about certain things (yes, they do provide proof for matters that CAN be proven), they could be interpreted as saying anything, anything ones WISHES to read in them (I am not counting leaps one wishes to make, that's another story). So, in themselves, they hardly constitute PROOF, the best I can live with is "indication", strong or not so strong from case to case.