The Man from Earth and Survivor from Atlantis: what would you do?

Hi,

I have a question for all ATS members If a person possess entire and accurate knowledge of all human history as if they lived through it may have some revelations that can destroy the foundations of today's society then should than knowledge be told or hidden.

Here is the case some time ago I saw a movie The Man From Earth in which the story line is "What if a man from the upper echelons of the Paleolithic age survived till today?"

I go further and present another scenario that what if someone survived the destruction of Atlantis?

in both cases both person will be repository of vast knowledge and can answer many questions about ancient civilizations.

So Here is the question:

If you were in there shoes will you keep the knowledge to yourself or reveal it to the society even if what you know could destroy the foundations of modern society?

Thank you

I would personally speak out and tell the world what I knew in bites. I would risk destroying our way of thinking for the furthering our knowledge.

reply to post by lordvader


I for one would love to know what happened back then. If society as we know it is structured on a lie then its foundations won't last anyway.

Q. How would one know the truth if he/she heard it?

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

Didn't Jesus say that in the end all truth will be revealed?

reply to post by lordvader


I watched The man from earth, it is a great movie.
To your question I wouldnt tell anyone just in case they found a way to kill me or worse experiment on me.

reply to post by lordvader


Although I understand your question, “If you were in their shoes will you keep the knowledge to yourself or reveal it to the society even if what you know could destroy the foundations of modern society?” You are asking in general, but the movie specifies other.
The movie emphasizes. One man, one interpretation, at one time at whichever specific place. The character could not answer all the questions.
Sorry, just thought I’d clear that up. But again, you did propose a “What if…” scenario

If I thought that I could help the world in general then I would release information. The hardest part would be doing it anonymously and in a way that people would believe it.

reply to post by SwergKrater


Hi,

Its more of a general question if you were a survivor from atlantis would you tell some one or write or recore the events that took place?

If you are person that lived on from paleolithic age till today will you tell the world the secrets of the roman empire, the details of march of alexander's armies the rise of modern religious movements?

Man from Earth is a great movie. I have a critique of it here. The thing is, even if you knew something special, that does not mean that one person can give it to the world and it will take hold. The advancement of civilization needs a combination of circumstances to take hold.

For example, there are many instances of the discovery of the American continents by Europeans and others throughout history. The Vikings were here for sure. No question, but so were a lot of other people. These include the Portugese thousands of years prior, the Chinese, and even the Romans. Evidence varies, but it is available. Yet as far as the Europeans were concerned, it didn't really "take" until Columbus. So did Columbus "discover" America? Of course not. Many people were here before him, including so-called "Native" Americans, native because they beat him by about 12,000 years. But as far as European civilization actually comprehending the fact that America existed, yes, he did "discover" America in that sense. And it didn't take that long to get the ball rolling, either. About 130 years later my ancestors showed up at Jamestown.

Another aspect of this is that you would actually have to be there. What started the discussion in Man from Earth was Oldman saying he had a chance to sail with Columbus, but he did not because he was afraid he might fall off the edge of the Earth. (This is kind of strange since he was also a Roman, an Etruscan, etc., and these people knew darn well the Earth was round, but the point remains.) If he was going to report on Alexander's army movements he would not only have to be there and not get killed, but remember the whole thing well enough to write an account when the time came. Oldman never claimed having super powers.

So let's say John Oldman knew all about the Theory of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. It would remain a philosophical story, kind of out there out of the mainstream, until the civilization itself had the context to understand it.

And ironically, the more advanced the civilization, the less impact he would have. If in his travels Oldman came across a primitive society, he could say, "Hey guys. This is a wheel!" and they could adapt it. But once civilization has learned the basics, it's a lot harder to pull off a transformation. Oldman could not say, "This is an integrated circuit made out of silicon" because the technological infrastructure would not be in place to support it.

reply to post by lordvader


Yes, I understood it as such. I did not mean to offend. I guess I just wanted to brag that I also saw the movie more than once. Love the debate in the film.

I guess my argument would be as follows. A while ago I was thinking about a conversation I had with a very nice but conservative Christian cousin of mine. He asked me why I do what I do, why I am not a Christian, although I was brought up one. My answer was, “Experience everything and keep the good.” I never told him why I am not a Christian, I did not want to go into it then and this is not the thread for that.

So, I was “scootering” around the streets of Taiwan, lost in my own thoughts about, experiencing everything. Why do I want to do it? My conclusion was… Although I was taught, right from wrong in the world, what to do, and what not to do. See, this is a Nurture VS Nature thing again. I knew for a fact, I was only taught what was believed to be right and wrong, what to do and what not to do, because my parents told me, and I knew, especially my mother, did not experience the world, she only listened to her parents and did what was thought to be right. You know, blind faith.

So here I am, believing that I should go out in the world by myself and experience. I should see the good and the bad for myself. Bump my head where I go wrong.
So, my final conclusion. Yes, I would tell the world in detail. Would I have proof of my stories? I would surely hope so. Would it change anything? I doubt it strongly, humans are headstrong, you can show them concrete evidence of history, events and such, but they will still follow their own belief. People will always step in the dog$h!t no matter how many times you warn them.

Haha, I hope I articulated myself well here, it is late, and I need sleep. Peace!

reply to post by lordvader

in both cases both person will be repository of vast knowledge and can answer many questions about ancient civilizations.

Why do you make that assumption?

Additionally if their knowledge was about ancient civilisations in what way is that relevant to a modern technological world?

reply to post by SwergKrater


No you did not offend me its just a lively discussion and I just wanted to have a discussion on a topic that does not always come to our thoughts.

reply to post by PuterMan


Hi,

The assumptions i am indirectly making here is that what if there was one man who knew or can point us to the evidence that demonstrates the fact that ancient civilizations were more advanced than us. Today we only have scant evidence to go come to the conclusion that ancient civilizations "may" have been more advanced than us. But if the person knew of a smoking gun then should that person revel it knowing fully well that most ordinary people will refuse to believe it and in order to maintain the status quo may take extreme steps.

Similarly in the second scenario today for most people Atlantis is a figment of imagination and no evidence has been found to support that Atlantis ever existed. So now if towards the end of Atlantis someone survived and had the knowledge of what really happened to destroy Atlantis even though the truth may be ugly and beyond comprehension then should that survivor tell the story to others or remain quite and take the truth to his/her grave.


Ignorance is a bliss and most people on earth live behind its curtain but thank god for ATS we are here to discuss what may seem foolish to other people.

But the fact is will it be selfish for than person to remain quite knowing that it may lead to betterment of the society in the long run?

reply to post by lordvader


Yes I see what you are saying. Along similar lines to Atlantis the Incas were reputed to have atomic energy (though somehow I doubt it). They survived yet no one can say for sure?

I wonder if your Altantis survivor would fare any better?

reply to post by lordvader


Being the type of person I am, I would reveal it. I would pass down the knowledge man needs to know. Now that question made me think a little, because, what if some did survive, and their agenda is to keep control of this planet with the lies they created. I truly think something major did occur in the past that it placed us, man, in the cave man state only to rebuild our civilization. The question still lies, what happened. I know of the floods that occurred, but what about the nuclear events that took place, there are so many questions that still need to be answered. I am open minded enough to accept the knowledge, are you?

reply to post by lordvader


When Hermes recovered the pillar after the great flood (the one on which the sciences were inscribed) he did not openly give the teachings to the world because those same teachings or rather the misuse of that knowledge caused the destruction in the first place. Instead he taught the secrets only to priests who were initiated into those teachings.

This was the beginning of "secret society's" and was their original purpose i.e. to persevere the teachings for a time when man would be ready for them. Eventually these same society's either became corrupt themselves or lost the knowledge they were supposed to be the guardians of.

What happened in Atlantis was a race war which resulted in the misuse of technology for destructive purposes. In Greek mythology the races are represented by the war between the Olympians and the titans (atlantians), In India its the war between the devas and asuras (atlantians) in Ireland its the war between the Tuatha Dé Danann (atlantians) and the Fir Bolg, in Norse mythology its the war between the vanir and the Aesir.

Personally I would do what I suspect a few select members of our society are still doing today, keeping that information away from the general public while sharing it only with a select few who have been selected by the general public to oversee matters.

Here are my reasons:

1. The "average Joe" who is "ignorant" of subject matter you and I may be fluent in will likely not react well to any sort of information that is contrary to big players like the Church or various other religious societies.

2. Personal Safety. When one man threatens to undermine a system operated by wealthy financiers they pay a guy to put a bullet in said person's head.

3. Who would believe you. Sure the open-minded would but you would immediately be discredited and lose job prospects as well as other opportunities for yourself and your loved ones.

reply to post by lordvader

I have a question for all ATS members If a person possess entire and accurate knowledge of all human history as if they lived through it may have some revelations that can destroy the foundations of today's society then should than knowledge be told or hidden.

"Hidden" is what we have today with wars, global tension, monetary enslavement, unnecessary deaths, etc. Could it really be any worse to tell the truth for a change?

I would endorse the full disclosure of said hypothetical history, but in a guarded fashion. Bits and pieces as mentioned above could lead to certain misunderstandings because the release could not be controlled. Everyone would run into the dreaded "Well". Well in order to understand this, you need to know that, and in order to know that, you need to understand this first, etc. It could take a very long time for people to get their this's and that's straitened out.

As a salesman would say, its all in the pitch. And it really would not be that hard because most all people already know something just isn't right.

Now, hypothetically, if lets say I was elected to head up this daunting task I would first like to meet this caveman for myself. Get his story straight from the horses mouth, no middle men, or Politicians. We would have a nice cozy get together and discuss his situation.

Once I had his story I would go to the Government and procure a budget, (I would suggest they can find the money by redirecting funds from the military and certain alphabet agencies) for a collage level class to be offered at various locations. The class itself would be broken down into 10 parts to cover the timeline in question. A group of people be secured for the instructor positions who are somewhat open minded to the materials, and love history.

The class can not be mandatory for the general public, but it can be for all government employes. It could be strongly suggested to certain people in positions of power to attend, and greatly encouraged for the average Joe and Jane.

The class would have certain safety features included such as medical staff and security built in for any contingency.

Since I see this as a Government responsibility there should be a mission statement as to why this is being done, and what outcome is expected. Once the groundwork, planning, timing, required resources are worked out, the government can go public with the knowledge of the class.

Hypothetically, of course.