David S. Anderson @DSAArchaeology explains why casual engagements with ancient alien narratives are not harmless, discussing a show put out on US TV, he points out:
The central claim of the show is that humans could not have achieved feats of engineering and science without the help of aliens. If they’re right, humans are pretty dumb. If they’re wrong ... well the whole show is an exercise is denigrating human achievement. There’s no evidence that aliens visited earth in the archaeological record. The show takes objects out of context, dims the lights, squints, and says “doesn’t this look like an alien/ufo to you?” If you ask an archaeologist you’ll find they leave out lots of data in this process. [...] Promoting [ancient alien narratives] promotes a show that makes a dishonest presentation of data to cast the human race as dumb! [...] A disproportionate number of the show’s alleged examples of ancient alien contact come from places colonized by Europeans. The colonizers couldn’t believe that the ancestors of their subjects built the fabulous ruins found in places like Egypt, Central America, and Asia, so... They made up stories of lost white races and suggested these people must have built the ruins. 'Ancient aliens' claims are ideologically and historically connected to the idea that indigenous people were incapable great feats, the show has just replaced “lost white race” with aliens. The show is also radically anti intellectual. Archaeologists are regularly maligned as too narrow minded to see the truth and thus not capable of telling us about the real past. If you believe this, please visit a real estate agent the next time you need a root canal.
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