are we the advanced race that forgot our heritage?

are we the advanced race that forgot our heritage?

First of all, we have to define 'advanced' because in the grand order of things, we really have no idea how we stack up in the universe. If I may, I prefer the term, 'sentient'.

Second, there is more of human history that we don't know than we do... or ever will know. Some of this is due to a lack of good record keeping, some is due to the tidal flows of memory and the telling of tales but some is because we chose NOT to remember it as it was. Most often, this purposeful mis-memory is the result of political rewriting. One fairly recent example is the US Civil War which is now almost universally seen as a war to end slavery. This gives the winning side the shining armor but neglects its now almost sainted leader, as someone who was ready to look the other way on the subject of slavery if it would have saved the union without a war.

So, we have to accept that even those historical records we do have in hand, from all ages and all theaters of human endeavor, are likely tainted to one degree or the next.

This brings us back to who we are and the question that has no single, definitive answer. Did God create us? Did we spring from random chance in a world that was only lucky enough to avoid catastrophe long enough for one species to evolve into this state of self awareness? Were there civilizations before our own so lost in the mists of yesterday that no direct record survives? Or were we created by way of manipulating an already existing species in such a way as to allow our further evolution into what we are today?

There are artifacts that utterly defy modern scientific time lines. In fact, they are so troublesome that those so-called 'experts' avoid the issue altogether by refusing to acknowledge their very existence. Of course, this flies in the face of the logic that science claims to embrace, but it is allowed to go on because there are no good answers that fit with current scientific, theological, political or historical thinking.

So, in this ending... the answer is... we don't know whether or not we are a race, advanced or otherwise, that has forgotten our heritage. Moreover, if allowed to proceed, the current system of thinking will likely prevent us from ever knowing.