What does everyone think about that new study that make pose the question of whether or not there was civilization tens of millions of years before us?
I dismiss it as just speculative nonsense. It is easy and doesn't take any intelligence to make a claim for anything you can possibly imagine in a human brain and people do it all the time. That is how religion started.
No, it's science. This is how it works.
Amazing to me how many people leaped to the conclusion that this study was saying there is evidence for pre human civilizations. No, that's not even remotely what it was about. It was about, what sort of geological evidence would a pre human civilization leave? No different than "If the Big Bang happened, what sort of evidence would we see?" There's no evidence for a pre human civilization, but it's not impossible, and this study just clarifies what any scientist seeking evidence for same should look for.
Well put. That was the point of the study, what would be there if there had been one, not the assumption that one was there.
There being no evidence to suggest such a civilization existed on Earth, it's become more a study to determine what kind of evidence OUR civilization might leave behind which could be discoverable millions of years from now.
I have one word for you: plastics.
So they doubt that there has been, 'civilisation' but are putting forwards a hypothesis of things that may prove it if it had happened? Well clearly if it did they were more sucessful at being sustainable than us if they have gone undetected all this time
Science at its best. If there was a pre human industrial civilization, what traces would it leave? The preservation of ruins or fossils are extremely unlikely after tens of millions of years, but there are things in the geologic record to look for. None have been found yet, but but this study may encourage scientists to look further. Seems unlikely, but certainly can't be ruled out.
That's what I took from the 'article'. Traces, if they exist, may be present so it pays to keep an eye out, however long the odds.
It's all conjecture. There is no evidence for it. It's a nice little thing to ponder on a rainy Sunday afternoon, but that's it.
Whilst tens of millions of years ago, isn’t very long ago, it’s still a magnitude of time greater than the 120,000 years odd that Homisapiens have been around. It’s an even smaller amount of time before Homosapiens had anything that could be called a civilisation.
Any “evidence” in this un-cited “study”?
Highly Skeptical since there is No Fossile Evidence of the sort you would need.
On Earth? If such a civilization had existed, we would have found evidence.
There have been hominins for a few million years, but none that could create a civilisation. I can readily accept some civilisations in the 10s of thousands of years range. Maybe a rudimentary hunter gatherer civinisation of primates about 2 million years back, I seriously doubt it though.
10s of millions of years, no way.
It's nothing new. Theosophists have believed in such things for a long time.
How is going to change rest of my life?
@Sealybobo My life already been in jeopardy more than once and now I am happy to say I don't watch tv.
@DanDanDanDan -- What new study is that? Where can I find it?
[arxiv.org] Here ya go