[Angelos]

Do you think on some levels, our ancesters were more advanced than us?, i dont mean in the tec side of things, but more in the mind. Could they induce (O)OBE's, could they communicate with their dead, or be able to heal themselfs and others by the use of thought. The list could go on. Have we lost the abilities of the past by the way we are conditioned? Why do only a small number of people claim to have these abilities. What do you guys think?

[Shadowynne]

I have often wondered about this, as I watch a lot of history programs, and am sometimes amazed at how knowledgeable they were in some areas. For instance, there was an Egyptian mummy found with a pin in his knee that was of a spiral shape. This shape allows the knee to bend and move without the pin shattering it. This technology was only rediscovered in the 1950's or so (from what I remember the documentary said - I could be mistaken about some of this info). Also, the ancient Egyptians used honey to disinfect wounds, and honey is indeed bactericidal.

The question is, how did they come across this information? Did they just slather a bunch of stuff on wounds until they found something that worked? Or did they have some inner knowledge of healing? Perhaps there is a reason why so many primitive cultures have "supernatural" rituals and beliefs. Today, we tend to think they were naive and didn't understand science. But obviously they did, or they would not have been able to built the pyramids, discover medicines, etc. Perhaps they were just more in tune with a spirit world, or with a subconscious knowledge of the human mind and body that we don't have today. This in-tunedness (sorry, I'm not sure of a better word - intuition?) may have allowed for things like mental healing, communication, visions, etc.

Perhaps as we have become more technologically advanced, we lost these abilities, which is a real shame. Good topic Angelos! I'd like to hear what more people think as well.

[Wei]

Yes, I do believe that humanity was more advanced in a lot of ways in the past.

As Shadowynne mentioned, there have been a lot of medical treatments or procedures that can be traced back to long before we 'discovered' them. The pin in the knee, honey as antibacterial (both of which Shadowynne mentioned), and maggots being used to clean the wounds (something hospitals still do today when 'conventional' methods do not work).

Ancient Medicine

There are examples of plastic surgery have been found dating back as far as 100 B.C., only to disappear, then be 'discovered' in the 1700's when a British surgeon saw it being done in India. A number of the techniques are still in use today. Taking a flap of skin from one part of the body to repair another part of the body has existed for over 2,000 years. Cataracts were being removed in ancient Rome. A technique called 'couching' was developed in 30 A.D. by Cornelius Celsus, and was used well into the 20th century. Claudius Galen (130-200 A.D.) wrote a book on human atatomy that was in use for almost as long. In fact, people still use one of his techniques on a regular basis - taking a pulse. Even before that, the Chinese were using the pulse to connect high blood pressure to eating too much salty foods.

Brain surgery has existed since the Stone Age, which ended in 3,000 B.C. Trephining is a technique that cuts a hole in the skull to relieve the pressure building from brain swelling. Trephined skulls have been found over 10,000 years old. Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese technique that the West 'discovered' in the 1970's.

Ancient Construction

A lot of this is probably well known among the posters here. Things like the Great Pyramid were built with such precision that we could not reconstruct them today with-out massive computer models, computer-run lasers cutting the stones, and computers-run machines placing the stones.

There are, of course, plenty of others. Stone Henge and the Malta temples. The Egyptian Labyrinth, the Sphinx, the Hanging Gardens, the Tower of Babel, the Pantheon, the Great Wall... These would be difficult to recreate even with modern technology.

There are more things that can be pointed to; the fact that no new animals have been domesticated in what, 2,000 years?

[Laural]

They were in some ways. Honey on wounds was definetly a good idea. So was asprin which was discovered, in a more natural form, by "primitive" Indians. Still, they thought many diseases were due to evil spirits. In most cases, I'd rather have the modern variety. I'd probably be dead several times over without antibiotics. I got pneumonia three winters in a row as a kid. Still, we shouldn't turn our nose up at old stuff that works.

This post has been edited by Laural: 02 October 2008 - 05:37 PM

[Angelos]

Shadowynne, on Oct 1 2008, 02:58 PM, said:

Perhaps as we have become more technologically advanced, we lost these abilities, which is a real shame.

True i feel this would be why we lost the know how. technology makes our life run fast and smoothly. In the past, things may have taken time to work so people will tend to favour the quicker option.

Plus the need to do things might have change so in return not practised, why pass on knowledge when you no longer need it. It's a shame we have lost the knowledge of our ancesters

[Byron]

I may be stating the obvious, but I think that's one of the reasons it's pretty important to study and investigate history as much as it is important to study sciences to gain an understanding of many concepts.

If we had access to the information and knowledge that ancient civilizations once had, we could expand that process with what we now know.

I once saw a documentary several years ago based on ancient medicinal practices. I'll have to see if I can find it somewhere because it was very fascinating to see the kinds of things ancient civilizations did. Trepanation was mentioned. Some people did it for reasons other than medicine- beliefs that it may affect their consciousness in some way? Though, nowadays, I don't think that would seem advantageous at all.

[Crash]

I think we are the same. Just advanced in a different way. Spiritually there are a lot more options as well now because of technology we are more aware of all the options to everything we have which psychology says makes us less able to make a decision when inundated with options.

You can still use holistic medicine and western medicine, you can still practice druidism or things of that sort and feel connected. Some would argue that discussing things like this and being reflexive brings you closer to "the divine" and "spirituality."

No one can deny that ancient remedies were pretty legit, but they also failed at some simple things as well. Then again some of that ancient voodoo has saved me at least once in my life so I can't discredit it fully.

And you have to realize, it's not like the "ancient" civilizations are really that ancient. it's not like our brain activity increased 10 fold or anything, people are capable of many great and terrible things now and in the past.

[Angelos]

Crash, on Apr 18 2009, 05:47 AM, said:

And you have to realize, it's not like the "ancient" civilizations are really that ancient. it's not like our brain activity increased 10 fold or anything, people are capable of many great and terrible things now and in the past.

Good point, but you can also say that because of technology etc, we stopped using parts of the brain which we once used before technology made things easyer. For example, we all use calculator, we are also shown how to do maths without tham, but when you leave school your going to use a calculator because it's easyer and quicker, you then forget how to work things with the brain. That might be a bad or poor example, but i think you get the idea. So in the days before calculators all workings would have to be done using the old way, our brains.

[Stan Cold]

I often wonder this myself. Luckily this is Globide so I can openly say that I believe that aliens made contact with Atlantis and created a thriving civilization. You know, until the whole sinking part. Glad to be back.