MEDIA ROOTS — Graham Hancock, arguably the world’s foremost expert on ancient mysteries, has devoted his life to uncovering and demystifying the rituals, legends, and wisdom of ancient cultures.  In this video, he investigates oft-ignored inconsistencies.  For example, he discusses the true age of the Great Sphinx of Giza, which remains under debate.  Scholars’ estimates vary widely, though mainstream Egyptologists generally believe it was constructed approximately 4,500 years ago, whereas Hancock asserts heavy water erosion indicates the Sphinx was built quite earlier than believed, at a time when the Giza Plateau wasn’t even a desert yet. 

Hancock also questions how Egyptian culture could have attained, such an advanced state so quickly.  As he explains, cultures generally undergo evolutionary processes before reaching a point of historic greatness or iconic status.  There is usually a progression, in which the building blocks of a society are gradually created over time, giving rise to increased sophistication as the civilization matures.  However, with ancient Egypt this does not seem to be the case.  Egypt seemingly appeared out of nowhere, complete with massive, architectural wonders, a complex mythology, and an eerily accurate astronomy.  Yet, no concrete evidence links Egypt to a previous culture.  So, where did ancient Egyptians develop their wisdom?  Or should we be asking:  Where did the Egyptians come from?

In the video, Hancock lays out a fascinating theory.  He believes an ancient culture existed far earlier than contemporary scientists believe, which laid the foundation for Egyptian civilization.  He suggests around the end of the last ice age, approximately 10,500 BCE, a cataclysmic natural disaster altered the course of mankind by disrupting this ancient culture.  Because most people at this time were living close to water, flooding from the disaster killed the vast majority of them.  However, the small minority, which survived retained the wisdom of their antecedents.

Who were these people?  Hancock believes they were from Atlantis, the mythical lost island, which most scholars have concluded to be non-existent.  For example, Alex Cameron wrote in Greek Mythography in the Roman World (124), “It is only in modern times that people have taken the Atlantis story seriously; no one did so in antiquity.”

Hancock also investigates a number of other ancient artifacts, mysterious discoveries, and cultural anomalies.  With cultivated elocution and an erudite demeanor, Hancock tempers his non-traditional theories with cool, detached logic and reasoning.  Whether one’s persuaded by him or not, one can’t deny his ability to bring excitement and attention to the study of ancient cultures.  For example, Hancock tells us ancient cultures were much more in tune with nature, astronomy, and the Earth itself, all of which helped shape their worldview.  Consequently, their wisdom and spirituality was much deeper and more encompassing than modern cultures.  In fact, Hancock’s theories may cause you to wonder whether humanity has progressed at all since the time of the ancients.

Written by Adam Miezio

Edited by Alex Starace

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Photo by Flickr user S W Ellis

MEDIA ROOTS– What is is that enhances and what is it that inhibits our empathic capacity? Matthew Taylor explores the concept of 21st century enlightment in this RSA animate video, suggesting that the new enlightenment should champion a more self-aware, socially embedded model of autonomy that recognizes the frailties and limitations of the human race and the planet in which we live. Matthew discusses how the idea might help us meet the challenges we face today, and the role that can be played by certain organizations to help in the evolution of our global consciousness.

Matthew Taylor on RSA Animate

Abby

Photo by flickr user digitalbob8

POPULAR SCIENCE– A lot of the debate about when modern humans became modern humans has to do with the head–when our brains evolved into the functional equivalent of that of modern mankind. But while that particular argument continues, a team of UK researchers using a new kind of statistical technique have analyzed ancient footprints at a site in Tanzania and found that if our feet are allowed to tell the tale, our early ancestors were becoming human-like as much as two million years earlier than we previously thought.

The study relies on eleven well-preserved footprints at the Laetoli site in Tanaznia that the researchers subjected to a new statistical technique derived from methods used in functional brain imaging. Using this technique, they created 3-D average of the 11 prints there, comparing them with data obtained from the study of modern humans and living great apes.

The researchers also used computer simulations to model a variety of gaits–and the footprints they would have produced–for the likely maker of the Laetoli prints, a species known as Australopithecus afarensis. It was previously thought that this ancestor walked crouched over, putting pressure on the side of the foot and pushing off from the middle, like a modern ape.

Read more about Early Man Walked Upright 2 Million Years Earlier Than We Thought, Says New Analysis

© 2011 Popular Science

Photo by Flickr user Grabthar

MEDIA ROOTS– Howard Zinn challenges the philosophy that acts of aggression are integral to human nature and discusses how one’s society and surrounding environment is what creates of hostility. The excerpt is taken from the documentary You Can’t Be Neutral On a Moving Train.

Howard Zinn, “On Human Nature and Aggression.” From You Can’t Be Neutral On a Moving Train, 2004.

DVD available from firstrunfeatures.com.