An Open Mind

Here's a cute little saying: "keep your mind open, but not so open that your brain falls out."

Hilarious!
And so true.
But what exactly does this mean?

When you hear something new, if you're anything like me, you'll initially take it at face value, then activate your sense of critical thinking and ponder the subject for a while, trying to determine whether it's something you find credible or not. And if it tickles you enough, you might even do some extra research and reading in order to feel "sufficiently informed."

In a world where news is literally everywhere, you'll, more likely than not, be quite selective about what you spend your time on. The latest in agriculture? Hmm maybe I'll pass on that one today. Newest pictures from Mars? Hmm this sounds interesting, let's have a look. A controversial bill trying to make its way through Senate? Ehm. Depends on the day.

Now, what happens when the information you receive is "controversial"? What if the views are starkly polarized? Some say it means one thing, others say another. Which side do you fall on, if you happen to feel strongly about the subject? How do you go about figuring out where you stand?

Do you seek the truth? Or do you follow personal preferences? Where do you stop? How do you express your support (or opposition) to a given idea? How deeply does it affect you?

Let's take some examples just to get the ball rolling.

Face and ruins on Mars.
Trick of light and shadow as NASA tells us?
Or evidence of a lost civilization as people like Richard C. Hoagland so eloquently espouse?

The oldest civilization in the world.
Is it Egypt as archeologists would have us believe?
Or is it Sumer?
Or somewhere else entirely (say, the Black Sea area or even South America?)

Vaccinations
Are they 99% safe and good for you?
Or are they potentially deadly and you should resist them?

Evolution
Was Darwin right?
Or is our design intelligent in nature?

9/11
Was it 19 highjackers doing Osama's bidding?
Or was it an inside job?
Or something inbetween?

Free Energy
Is it even possible?
Or is it all myth and urban legend?
Are all these supposed inventors lying through their teeth?
Or is the government actively trying to stop them?

Goverment
Can you trust them?
Or are they all crooks?
Or just some of them...?

Global Warming
Is it happening because of us?
Or is it a Solar-system-wide phenomenon (or even a galactic one)?
Or is it actually Global Cooling?
Oh no, is it my SUV?

Federal Reserve
Are they responsible for the economic boom we've seen over the last 100 years?
Or are they really making money out of nothing in a giantic Ponzi scheme and are the cause of all recessions and inflation?

Politics
Are we heading for totalitarianism?
Or is the New World Order a way to a better future for everyone?

Anti-gravity
Is this the energy source and propulsion of tomorrow? And is it already available today (as some claim)?
Or is it contrary to the laws of physics and just another stupid urban myth?
So how do you explain the Coral Castle? Or the pyramids? Or Baalbek...?

JFK
Was he killed by the lone gunman (Lee Harvey Oswald) as the government insists?
Or was there a conspiracy? But whose? The government? The mafia? The Cubans? The French? The Russians?
Or is Oliver Stone simply nuts?

UFOs
Are they real?
Are they government secret ops?
Are they a collective delusion?

Crop Cricles
And what about those weird things? Are they all faked?
Or are some of them messages from the stars....?

2012
Is the end near?
Or is it just a Mayan holiday?

ESP and Remote Viewing
Is this even possible that we can all do this? Or perhaps just some of us?
Or is it all a lot of hooey and a cool way to keep naive people dreaming?

I could go on. And on and on...
(And something tells me I will - soon enough!)

There are SO MANY fascinating mysteries. Some sinister, some not. And the more you learn about them, the more complex the answers become. And the more still you learn and you suddenly discover how interlinked everything appears to be...

So... how DO you figure out which side of the fence you fall on?

Unless you're a professional investigator of any of these mysteries, chances are you're just an "informed layman" who simply wants to know the TRUTH - whatever it might be.

You may also have a preconceived idea of what's what, and you may simply be looking for any and all CONFIRMATION that what you think is true.

Or, perhaps, you have a method for figuring all this out? Maybe it's a scientific method, based on logic? Or maybe it's just the way something makes you feel?

And how do you deal with DOGMA? (On BOTH sides of the argument, to be absolutely sure)

If there's one thing I really HATE in life, it has GOT to be dogma. That unmovable pseudo-intellectual position which is anything but intellectual, and it's RIGHT - because IT IS RIGHT.

You want to see me MAD? Just be dogmatic with me, and I don't care what we're talking about.

I need REASON and UNDERSTANDING. And even 2+2 for me is only "under most circumstances" equal 4. I would only say 2+2 IS MOST DEFINITELY 4 under specific circumstances where such a statement makes perfect sense in its context. And this means, in such a case - just about everywhere. Except perhaps in quantum mechanics, hehe.

Okay. So let's start this INSPIRATIONAL blog with one of the topics I mentioned above. Which one...? Awww that's a tough one.

But okay. Let's start with the pyramids. I was into this when I was still a kid.

The Pyramids

The question of whether or not the Egyptians built them and how is, to me, secondary to a much more fundamental question: HOW?

When you know the "how" you can move on to everything else.

But since answering this seemingly simple question has proven such a tough task, I'll CAUTIOUSLY look at other questions, such as "who" and "when" and "why."

Ah, but here the mystery only deepens. There is no agreement on ANY of those questions, even among the professionals. And when you add the alternative people to this mix... you get one unholy mess.

So what's the starting point? It has to be Mainstream Egyptology. These guys are the experts. Surely, they have the best answers. This was, in fact, my view to start with - for a very long time. Until I took deeper interest and started seeing inconsistencies. And then I started reading the alternative peeps' books... and I don't need to tell you what happened next!

So what do the pros (generally) say?

• The pyramids are tombs, with the Great Pyramid having been built by Khufu, the other two by Chepren and Menkaure.
• They were built over some 20 years with 100,000 laborers working 3 months in a year, using ramps and rolling stones on logs.
• They were built using primitive copper tools with primitive knowledge of sciences, although some astronomical knowledge is admittedly there.

Let's stop here and look at the alternativists' (typical) view.

• The pyramids are NOT tombs. They may be energy machines or temples or simply mystical "messages to posterity", astronomical markers, etc.
• They were built relatively quickly, probably using small human resources, but with hugely advanced technologies.
• They were not built by primitives with only basic knowledge of tools or astronomy, but by a civilization equal to (or greater) than our own, using technologies which we haven't even invented yet.

Let's stop here.

I look at these two diverging views (actually many more, because both the mainstream and the alternative people have a multitude of sub-views, often starkly at odds with one another).

Still, I'm able to gather the following basic information:

The Great Pyramid alone consists of 2.3 million blocks of limestone, of which 90% are about 2.5 tons in weight (each), and there are many blocks which weigh 20 tons - and some which are somewhere in the area of 100 tons.

The blocks are cut and assembled extremely precisely, and the ratios of sides, perimeter, height, and other key features of the whole (especially the Great) pyramid are extremely precisely aligned with astronomical coordinates, and have an inner harmony which reveals a tremendous knowledge of mathematics, not to mention engineering.

There is very little solid proof that Khufu (Cheops) built the Great Pyramid (only something like 3 relatively shaky, not to say dubious artifacts with his name on it), but there's lots of evidence suggesting that Khufu was at best only a renovator, not the original builder.

OK. This seems to be pretty persuasive evidence for me that perhaps the mainstream guys should have another look. But then again, are the alternative guys perhaps just making all this up?

As I dig deeper and unearth facts from both sides of the argument, I also "listen in" on how they argue their positions. Sometimes you can learn a lot about a subject just by listening to its proponents - and opponents.

And it is at this point where I'm beginning to get upset. Remember what I said earlier? There's only one way to piss me off, and that's to get domatic with me.

I'm hearing these two general positions: the mainstream guys (almost always) seem CLOSED to alternative arguments, while the alternative guys, while sometimes quite possibly a little nutty, are certainly no less logical and compelling in their "proof" - but most certainly they're often much more SCIENTIFIC in their BASIC approach. And are only rarely dogmatic! Only interpretation of available facts seems to matter to them. Granted, it MIGHT be a false interpretation, by for me, it's a heck of a lot better start than "I'm right because I'm right."

And when you look at the egyptological dogma up close, you'll not fail to see just how shockingly flimsy some of it appears to be. Take the #1 "weightiest" argument for Khufu being the builder of the Gret Pyramid: a (poorly) hand-carved cartouche in one of the most inaccessible to areas of the Great Pyramid (otherwise 100% devoid of any inscriptions), which is not only HIDDEN, but also MISSPELLED and almost definitely a forgery. Even some mainstream Egyptologists now admit the possibility that this isn't really all that strong as far as evidence goes.

And yet... open a school-book or an encyclopedia. Turn on the History Channel or Discovery Channel. Or go to a museum. And you'll find out that the Great Pyramid's author is Khufu. Not "maybe" not "probably" not "most likely" but "absolutely certainly 100% only him and no one else." And if you say otherwise, you're LAUGHED AT, SCORNED and DOGMATICALLY shut-out from any discussion.

Huh?

Have they forgotten that the mainstream theories may be very compelling, but they are still JUST THAT: theories?

So WHY are they presented as FACTS? And why are alternative views dismissed out of hand?

Is this something about human psychology? Is this a way to "win an argument"? Simply claim you're right (because YOU ARE) and remind everybody that YOU are the expert (because you've been to a school which taught you dogmatic thinking to begin with), and now everybody else can go screw.

I won't even remind everyone that MANY of the major archeological discoveries were made by outsiders and amateurs IN SPITE of active (and often aggressive) discouragement by the mainstream experts.

So, the pyramid question is, for me, one of human psychology as much as anything else.

As for my opinion on the "how" and "when" and all that - I must say that the alternative camp have (so far) put up much stronger arguments than anything I've read from the egyptological experts. And it's been quite a lot!

I'm not ready to declare with an "absolute" degree of certaintly that the alternative people are right (i.e. "high technology" of either extra-terrestrial or terrestrial origin, including anti-gravity machines), but I'm just about 99% sure that it was NOT Khufu, and it was NOT 4.500 years ago, and it was NOT tombs.

I reserve that 1% for anyone who can RATIONALLY and UN-DOGMATICALLY convince me otherwise.

Hey, don't get me wrong. I thnk archeologists are great and they're right 90% of the time. Just NOT about the pyramids. Sorry. Give me logic please and some SOLID evidence. You ain't got it? Then give the alternative theories the SAME platform until you can!

Here are some video links for anyone who's interested, some arguing for one view, some for another (just to preserve at least SOME balance). Admittedly, most of these are "alternative" but that's simply because the mainstream views are EVERYWHERE ELSE - starting with all the encyclopedias.

Sphinx & Great Pyramids -True Ages Revealed
Great Pyramid Mystery Solved?
Connecting Pyramids from China to Egypt - Straight Line
1/2 Did Aliens Help Build The Pyramids?
The True History Of All Pyramids Part 1
EGYPTIANS could not build Pyramids

Now... can you write a song about THAT?