Time as a Construct
Time is an important social construct for Lemuria and Atlantis. Until the 1780s, scientists believed the earth to be about 6,000 years old, based on calculations according to the Bible. However, the science of geology revealed a different time when the earth transitioned over millions of years. Scientists saw their work as unlocking the secrets of nature and providing a method to understand God. It was not until their discoveries contradicted some information in the Bible that they found their work more difficult.
In the nineteenth century, searching for fossils and extinct species became a preoccupation for history, geology, ethnology, and prehistory scientists. Eventually, the science of geology was split into two camps: the uniformitarians and the catastrophists. Uniformitarians argue that the earth’s gradual changes have occurred over thousands and millions of years. The catastrophists argued that earth changes are sudden and without warning.
Doctrine of Eternal Ice (published in 1913)
In his Doctrine of Eternal Ice, Hans Hoerbiger (1860-1931) explained land mass rising, sinking, and destruction. He argued that until 15,000 years ago, the Earth had no moon. The erratic elliptical course of Luna traveled between the Earth and Mars. When it passed Earth, the tides rose, and earthquakes occurred. Because of the gravitational pull of the Earth and the sun, Luna and the once independent planet became a satellite of the Earth. Consequently, the earth’s gravitation pull was distorted. The new gravitational conditions would cause a redistribution of water.
Catastrophism
Investigations of Atlantis and Lemuria are expected to look to the geological record for evidence to substantiate their existence. In the eighteenth century, scientists began to develop laws explaining the earth’s formation. Geology, the science of the world, was based on catastrophe. Disasters were seen as God’s way of creating, aligning perfectly with church teachings, pleasing religious scientists, and keeping people scared and obedient. Historically, geologists sought to fit the earth’s geological record into the literal time of biblical chronology, especially the catastrophic events related to Exodus and Genesis in the Old Testament.
Knowledge of the existence of fossils dates back to the ancient Greeks, who regarded fossils as the remains of mythological creatures. The Greek historian Herodotus was one of the first to take notice of fossils. Two other writers, Xenophanes of Colophon (570-480 BC) and Xanthus of Sardis wrote about fossils, but their original works have been lost. All agreed that ocean levels had been higher in the past, which explained why sea animals, like mollusks, were discovered on mountains. In addition, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) noted that some areas must have been covered by the sea in the past.
Greek philosophers Aristotle and Theophrastus (371-287 BC) believed fossils to be inferior to what nature intended and was generated within rocks. Theophrastus succeeded Aristotle as leader of the Peripatetics and refined his works of natural history, logic, and metaphysics. The ancient Romans held superstitious views about fossils that continued into the Middle Ages. For the Romans, fossilized bones were attributed to a giant race before humans. During this same time, Christian clerics proposed that fossils were the remnants of the pre-Deluge world.
- Scottish geologist James Hutton (1726-1797) first developed the basic concept of catastrophism in his Theory of the Earth (1788).
- John Playfair further expanded it in his Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory (1802).
Punctuated Equilibrium: Eldredge and Gould
Uniformitarianism does not explain rapid catastrophic environmental changes because it is a theory based on gradual change. Niles Eldredge and Steven Jay Gould proposed the concept of punctuated equilibrium. Punctuated equilibrium is often confused with catastrophism and, thus, mistakenly thought to oppose the idea of gradualism; it is more appropriately understood to be a form of gradualism. Even though changes are considered to be occurring relatively quickly in terms of geological time, they are still occurring gradually, with no significant changes from generation to generation.
Eldredge and Gould argue that without a major environmental disturbance, evolutionary changes would stagnate. Thus, small upheavals are useful for evolution. Catastrophism complements punctuated equilibrium only in this way.
Author: mountshastamyths
Lurking around here with more questions than answers