It never ceases to amaze me just how pompous and arrogant scientists, and the scientific community in general, can be. Believing they can hide in plain sight with their utterly confounding assumptions and pronouncements is a modern-day mystery.
Speaking of mysteries, the headline at that website oasis of news called THE WEEK boldly proclaims that the meaning of the building of Stonehenge has finally been solved! I have to thank the folks there for putting together such an amusing piece of humor -- I hadn't had a good laugh all week until I read the mercifully brief drivel that passes for scientific discovery.
Now, I have to tell you that I have been reading for many years on such topics as the paranormal, metaphysics, the occult, UFO-logy, magick, and so on and so forth. Periodicals such as FATE and FORTEAN TIMES are no stranger to my bathroom magazine rack, and I am a devoted listener of Coast to Coast AM radio, albeit one who subscribes and listens during the day to downloaded MP3 files.
All this has made me neither a skeptic or a true believer. One thing that I have learned over thousands of hours of scrutinizing and simply paying attention to the words I am reading, the speech I am hearing, and the images I am watching, is the ability to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to outre claims such as the one you will read here shortly.
Many, many books and articles regarding life's multitude of mysteries are written in a kind of Codex Temeritus, so to speak, where the sky is, indeed, not the limit, but only the starting point. The authors or the speakers are so busy gushing out their so-called well-researched and vetted (but really baseless) ideas, that the average audience barely has time to pick the fly poop out of the pepper.
Following is the Stonehenge article from THE WEEK website, in its entirety. I have highlighted key "code words" in red and added comments in green.
Forget the druids and aliens. Scientists in Britain say they've figured out the real story behind the puzzling megalith
PUBLISHED JUNE 22, 2012
Theories surrounding Stonehenge's origins seem to go back nearly as far as the stones themselves. Over the course of centuries, philosophers, scientists, and innumerable crackpots have tried to decode the meaning of the monument — composed of several enormous stones arranged in a circle thousands of years ago. Some said Stonehenge was brought to the English county of Wiltshire from Ireland by the wizard Merlin; others posited that it was a druidical temple, an architectural paean to the ancient Egyptians, or a kind of calendar; and still others insisted that aliens must have been involved, since prehistoric humans could not possibly have dragged the giant slabs from quarries more than 130 miles away. However, a research team from Britain now says it has the definitive answer to the riddle of Stonehenge. Here, a guide to the findings:
How was this study conducted?
The research team, made up of scientists from five universities in Britain, conducted "the largest program of archaeological research ever mounted on the iconic monument," according to Science 2.0. Researchers "worked to put Stonehenge in context, studying not just the monument but also the culture that created it," says CBS News. [This sounds less in context than just comparing the ancient world with our modern world -- a high-handed and assumptive method of reasoning.]
So why was Stonehenge built?
Researchers say the monument symbolizes the unification of Stone Age Britain, which for centuries had been riven by an East-West divide. The stones are thought to [my, isn't that conclusive!] represent different tribal factions, brought together in concentric circles to commemorate the peace. The erection of Stonehenge coincided with the development of an "island-wide culture," in which previously insulated and isolated communities began making similar houses, pottery, and tools.
How did they decide where to put it?
The scientists say the spot had a "pre-ordained significance," because it sits "upon a series of natural landforms that, by chance, form an axis between the directions of the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset," says the BBC. The scientists speculate that Stone Age Britons might have viewed the solstice-avenued site as the center of the world. [Speculate? Might have? Does this sound conclusive to you?]
How did the stones get there?
The construction of Stonehenge was simply a "massive undertaking, requiring the labor of thousands to move stones from as far away as west Wales," says Professor Mike Parker Pearson, a member of the team. "Just the work itself, requiring everyone literally to pull together, would have been an act of unification."[Can you spell presumptuous?]
So — mystery solved?
Perhaps. [Perhaps? Your misleading headline lead me to believe that the mystery was solved.]The research team says Stonehenge is not as uncannily unique as it appears to be [Oh, yeah. Stonehenge ain't nothin' special. That's why there's always tons of comparisons shown with every picture of Stonehenge I've ever seen.]. "All the architectural influences for Stonehenge can be found in previous monuments and buildings within Britain," says Pearson. Stonehenge was likely one of the last expressions of Britain's Stone Age culture, which Pearson says was "isolated from Europe and from the new technologies of metal tools and the wheel." However, the mystique of Stonehenge, which attracts thousands of visitors a year and endures as a pop-cultural symbol of ancient mystery, will likely continue [No sh*t, Sherlock!].
Sources: BBC, Daily Mail, The Guardian, Science 2.0, Telegraph, TIME, University of Sheffield.
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So, tell me, what is it again that these so-called "scientists" are basing their conclusions on? I'll tell you -- their petards!
The shoddy rhetoric masquerading as "science-speak" is the same stuff that I have seen over and over again in so-called "investigative" literature across the panorama of controversial topics. Ten years of research? Give me some grant money and I could come up with something just as profound by staring at a photograph for a couple of hours. They should be ashamed of themselves.
I am afraid that the context that these fellows based their decisions on were more about modern-day political correctness and wishful thinking than ancient culture. It would be nice to think that everybody ended up getting along, but, based on history, the halycyon days of a one-world/one culture Stonehedge were short lived at best.
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