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May 5, 2024, 2:19 am UTC    
July 16, 2007 08:46AM
Alcibiades Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------


>
> As for meaning, there are two types as I see it.
>
>
> There is the original contemporary, intentional
> meaning - cultural, religious, symbolic - actually
> built into the structures by their creators, which
> we piece together bit by bit by painstaking
> empirical method against a backdrop of what we
> know about the culture which produced them.



THis is really the only meaning that matters to a serious, disciplined student of Egyptology.



>
> And then there is "meaning" in the greater sense,
> the kind of higher, nobler motive that it is
> always tempting to look for in large ancient
> projects when we look back at them through the
> foreshortening telescope of history - we see them
> as a completed whole, and we want them to "mean"
> something more, something greater than just the
> products of insular religious custom or large
> scale human vanity. We flatter ourselves that
> they are a "message" to us, or a designed or
> implied mechanism that speaks to the technology or
> science of our age, simply waiting all these eons
> for people like us who are smart enough to
> interpret them.




Ethnocentrism at its finest (or worst, as the case may be).



>
> The search for the latter type of meaning says far
> more about us than it does the AEs, and I think
> for some people it is hard to accept that the
> mundane former type of meaning is all there is.



The part I find most ironic is that the "former type of meaning" is the really fascinating one. The superimposed ethnocentric meanings (New Age, Geomantic or Numerological) are the mundane, uninteresting ideas.



> Unravelling history in my view - if I can steal a
> quote from Edison - is 99% perspiration and 1%
> inspiration. There's a lot of dull, worthy
> ground to be covered, but if you want to find the
> truth you must be prepared to follow it out into
> the dry places. That's the price, but ultimately
> you appreciate the real rewards.



Brilliantly stated. Thank you for putting it so succinctly.




>
> There will always be those who come along and set
> the cat amongst the pigeons with theories that are
> 99% inspiration - but I actually think that this
> is healthy in terms of debate - these theories and
> ideas are all grist to the mill, and ultimately
> they serve to remind us that we should always have
> solid ground beneath our feet before we even think
> of taking the next step.
>

Some of my most important discoveries were made while I was desperately trying to find out why I was wrong about another quasi-related discovery. Good academicians, I think, spend more of their time trying to find out why their new idea is wrong... not trying to prove it is right. Coming up with "plausible scenarios" that encompass most of the evidence is probably the easiest part of real historical research. Making the effort to find out why one's idea cannot be right is the mark of a serious student of a subject.

Anthony

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him think.
Subject Author Posted

Genesis of a theory

Robert Bauval July 13, 2007 12:41AM

Re: Genesis of a theory

Robert Bauval July 13, 2007 01:01AM

Re: Genesis of a theory

Joe_S July 13, 2007 02:43AM

Re: Genesis of a theory

Ken B July 13, 2007 06:05AM

Re: Genesis of a theory

Joe_S July 14, 2007 02:17PM

Re: Genesis of a theory

Greg Reeder July 14, 2007 02:39PM

Re: Genesis of a theory

Joe_S July 16, 2007 03:41PM

Re: Genesis of a theory

Ken B July 14, 2007 03:58PM

Re: Genesis of a theory

Robert Bauval July 14, 2007 04:38PM

Re: Genesis of a theory

Hermione July 15, 2007 09:29AM

Re: Genesis of a theory

Joe_S July 16, 2007 04:26PM

Re: Genesis of a theory

Greg Reeder July 14, 2007 04:39PM

Re: Genesis of a theory

Joe_S July 16, 2007 04:23PM

Re: Genesis of a theory

Anthony July 16, 2007 04:30PM

Re: Genesis of a theory

Dave L July 13, 2007 05:26AM

Re: Genesis of a theory

Ronald July 13, 2007 06:21AM

Re: Genesis of a theory

Ken B July 13, 2007 06:37AM

Re: Genesis of a theory

Dave L July 13, 2007 06:50AM

Re: Genesis of a theory

Robert Bauval July 13, 2007 01:04PM

Re: Genesis of a theory

Thadd July 14, 2007 12:45AM

Re: Genesis of a theory

Robert Bauval July 14, 2007 01:05AM

Re: Genesis of a theory

Scott Creighton July 13, 2007 10:38AM

Re: Genesis of a theory

Ronald July 13, 2007 10:54AM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

Alcibiades July 13, 2007 01:23PM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

Greg Reeder July 13, 2007 02:38PM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

Alcibiades July 13, 2007 03:02PM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

Scott Creighton July 14, 2007 12:44PM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

Greg Reeder July 14, 2007 01:40PM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

Robert Bauval July 14, 2007 05:02PM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

Ken B July 14, 2007 05:17PM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

Scott Creighton July 14, 2007 07:12PM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

Anthony July 14, 2007 07:51PM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

Scott Creighton July 14, 2007 08:02PM

Oral Traditions for literate cultures?

Anthony July 14, 2007 08:37PM

Re: Oral Traditions for literate cultures?

Scott Creighton July 14, 2007 08:51PM

Re: Oral Traditions for literate cultures?

Thadd July 14, 2007 10:50PM

Re: Oral Traditions for literate cultures?

Scott Creighton July 15, 2007 05:56AM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

Ken B July 14, 2007 09:02PM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

Scott Creighton July 14, 2007 09:07PM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

Ken B July 14, 2007 09:22PM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

Thadd July 14, 2007 10:52PM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

Warwick L Nixon July 15, 2007 12:47PM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

Scott Creighton July 14, 2007 07:58PM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

Scott Creighton July 15, 2007 02:43PM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

Scott Creighton July 13, 2007 03:43PM

Fact versus theory

Anthony July 13, 2007 03:46PM

Re: Fact versus theory

Scott Creighton July 14, 2007 06:04AM

Re: Fact versus theory

Thadd July 14, 2007 08:05AM

Re: Fact versus theory

Scott Creighton July 14, 2007 09:33AM

Re: Fact versus theory

Thadd July 14, 2007 10:25AM

Re: Fact versus theory

Scott Creighton July 14, 2007 10:35AM

"Soft science"

Anthony July 14, 2007 11:12AM

Re: Fact versus theory

Thadd July 14, 2007 10:53PM

Re: Fact versus theory

Anthony July 14, 2007 10:21AM

Re: Fact versus theory

cladking July 14, 2007 06:02PM

Re: Fact versus theory

Thadd July 14, 2007 10:56PM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

Alcibiades July 13, 2007 04:03PM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

Scott Creighton July 13, 2007 04:34PM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

Anthony July 13, 2007 05:05PM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

Scott Creighton July 14, 2007 12:38PM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

lobo-hotei July 14, 2007 12:50PM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

Scott Creighton July 14, 2007 01:21PM

Flawed logic

Anthony July 14, 2007 12:53PM

Re: Flawed logic

Scott Creighton July 14, 2007 01:03PM

Re: Flawed logic

Anthony July 14, 2007 01:12PM

Re: Flawed logic

Scott Creighton July 14, 2007 01:28PM

Re: Flawed logic

lobo-hotei July 14, 2007 02:36PM

If the Boot Fits...

Scott Creighton July 16, 2007 12:55PM

Re: If the Boot Fits...

lobo-hotei July 16, 2007 04:55PM

Re: If the Boot Fits...

Scott Creighton July 16, 2007 05:54PM

Moderation Note!

Katherine Reece July 16, 2007 05:58PM

Re: Flawed logic

Alcibiades July 14, 2007 01:54PM

Re: Flawed logic

Anthony July 14, 2007 08:50PM

Re: Flawed logic

Alcibiades July 15, 2007 01:53PM

Re: Flawed logic

Anthony July 15, 2007 02:05PM

Re: Flawed logic

Alcibiades July 15, 2007 03:57PM

Re: Flawed logic

Jammer July 16, 2007 06:57AM

Re: Flawed logic

Anthony July 16, 2007 08:46AM

Re: Flawed logic

Warwick L Nixon July 16, 2007 10:58AM

Unanswered Questions

Scott Creighton July 16, 2007 01:45PM

Questions answered

Anthony July 16, 2007 02:40PM

Questions Still Unanswered

Scott Creighton July 16, 2007 06:19PM

Moderation note ... end of subthread

Katherine Reece July 16, 2007 06:29PM

Re: Questions Still Unanswered

Anthony July 16, 2007 06:32PM

Re: Flawed logic

Thadd July 14, 2007 11:00PM

**Moderation note**

Hermione July 14, 2007 02:40PM

Apologies

Scott Creighton July 14, 2007 07:14PM

Re: Genesis of a theory - the very point never proved

Thadd July 14, 2007 12:47AM

Re: Genesis of a theory

Warwick L Nixon July 13, 2007 10:59AM

Re: Genesis of a theory

Hermione July 13, 2007 11:53AM

Re: Genesis of a theory

cladking July 13, 2007 05:40PM

Death of a theory

Anthony July 13, 2007 12:50PM

Addendum

Anthony July 13, 2007 02:44PM

Moderation Note

Katherine Reece July 17, 2007 05:32PM



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