¿Y si los humanos no fuimos la primera civilización de la Tierra?
Summary
TLDREste video explora la posibilidad de que una especie inteligente haya existido en la Tierra antes de los humanos. A lo largo de su guía, se discuten los desafíos para encontrar evidencia de tal especie, como la rara preservación de fósiles y la erosión geológica. Se sugiere que para detectar una civilización pre-humana, es necesario buscar señales indirectas en el registro geológico, como cambios climáticos o anomalías en las capas sedimentarias. Finalmente, se invita a los espectadores a reflexionar sobre la posibilidad de que una civilización anterior haya coexistido con la naturaleza sin dejar rastro.
Takeaways
- 🌏 La posibilidad de que una especie inteligente haya existido antes de los humanos es discutida, pero no hay pruebas concretas.
- 🕵️♂️ Existe la hipótesis de que si una civilización anterior hubiera dejado rastros, podrían ser difíciles de encontrar debido a la erosión geológica y la actividad tectónica.
- 🗓️ Los humanos, como especie 'Homo sapiens', han estado en la Tierra aproximadamente 300,000 años, y nuestra apariencia física actual se adquirió hace unos 200,000 años.
- 🌱 La agricultura dio lugar a las primeras comunidades estables y, con el tiempo, a ciudades y civilizaciones, que han evolucionado hasta la sociedad industrial moderna.
- 💥 Una guerra nuclear podría llevar a la extinción de la humanidad, como ha sucedido en el pasado con otras especies durante las cinco extinciones masivas.
- 🦋 La explosión de la vida en el Período Cámbrico, hace unos 540 millones de años, fue un evento significativo en la diversificación de especies, incluyendo los vertebrados.
- 🔍 Los científicos debaten sobre las causas de la explosión de la vida en el Período Cámbrico, sugiriendo factores como el aumento de oxígeno, la competencia ecológica y la fragmentación del supercontinente Pannotia.
- 🦴 La formación de fósiles es un proceso sumamente difícil y poco probable, lo que limita lo que podemos aprender de las especies pasadas.
- 🏙️ La mayoría de las evidencias de civilizaciones humanas anteriores provienen de hallazgos arqueológicos, como herramientas, armas y creaciones artísticas.
- 🌌 La hipótesis Silúria, planteada por Frank y Schmidt, sugiere buscar cambios en el clima o en la composición química de sedimentos para detectar señales de civilizaciones industriales pasadas.
- 🚀 La exoarqueología es un campo de la ciencia ficticio que se centra en la búsqueda de rastros de civilizaciones extraterrestres, pero hasta ahora no ha habido hallazgos concretos.
Q & A
¿Es posible que una especie inteligente diferente a la humana haya existido antes de nosotros en la Tierra?
-La posibilidad es teórica y no hay pruebas concretas de que haya existido una especie inteligente diferente a la humana antes de nosotros. El guion sugiere que, dada la larga escala de tiempo de la historia de la Tierra, no se puede descartar completamente, pero tampoco se ha encontrado evidencia directa o indirecta de tal existencia.
¿Cuánto tiempo ha pasado desde la aparición del género Homo hasta el presente?
-Desde la estimada aparición del género Homo en África, aproximadamente 2.5 millones de años atrás, hasta el presente, ha transcurrido mucho tiempo. El Homo sapiens, nuestra especie, se considera que ha existido aproximadamente durante los últimos 300,000 años.
¿Qué eventos llevan a la especie humana a dejar de ser nómadas y comenzar a establecerse en asentamientos permanentes?
-La aparición de la agricultura, que permitió la generación de excedentes de alimentos y, en consecuencia, el comercio y la especialización de tareas, fue el evento clave que llevó a la especie humana a establecerse en asentamientos permanentes hace unos 10,000 años.
¿Qué es la 'Expansión Cámbrica' y cuáles fueron sus efectos en la vida en la Tierra?
-La 'Expansión Cámbrica' fue un período de rápida diversificación de especies que ocurrió hace aproximadamente 540 millones de años. Se caracterizó por el aparecido de una increíble diversidad de animales, incluidos muchos de los grupos principales presentes en la actualidad, como los vertebrados.
¿Cuáles son las causas propuestas para la 'Expansión Cámbrica'?
-Los científicos debaten sobre las causas de la 'Expansión Cámbrica'. Algunos señalan el aumento de oxígeno en la atmósfera, otros la competencia ecológica entre organismos, y hay quienes destacan la fragmentación del supercontinente Pannotia como un factor crucial.
¿Cuántas extinciones en masa han ocurrido en la historia de la Tierra y cuáles fueron sus efectos?
-Han ocurrido cinco extinciones en masa en la historia de la Tierra, que erradicaron a grupos enteros de especies. Estas extinciones tuvieron lugar hace 439, 367, 251, 201 y 66 millones de años, y en cada una de ellas, entre el 76 y el 96% de las especies desaparecieron.
¿Qué eventos globales llevaron a las cinco extinciones en masa de la Tierra?
-Las cinco extinciones en masa fueron causadas por eventos letales de alcance global, como erupciones volcánicas masivas, cambios en los niveles del océano debido a la glaciación, impactos de meteoritos enormes, e incluso una supernova que causó una ráfaga de rayos gamma capaces de eliminar la protección de la ozonoatmósfera.
¿Por qué es poco probable que se encuentren restos fósiles de una civilización pre-humana si existió hace más de 4 millones de años?
-La probabilidad de que los restos de un organismo se fosilizan después de la muerte es muy baja, y solo un 15% de las rocas cumplen las condiciones adecuadas para preservar fósiles. Además, la actividad geológica de la Tierra y el paso del tiempo pueden haber borrado la mayoría de los posibles rastros.
¿Qué indirectas evidencias podrían indicar la existencia de una civilización industrializada antes de la humana?
-Para detectar la existencia de una civilización industrializada anterior, se podrían buscar cambios rápidos en la temperatura o el clima, anomalías en las capas de sedimento, la detección de plásticos en el lecho oceánico, o isótopos radiactivos como el plutonio-244 o el curio-247, que persistirían en el tiempo geológico.
¿Qué es la hipótesis Silúria y qué sugiere sobre la posibilidad de encontrar una civilización pre-humana?
-La hipótesis Silúria es un experimento de pensamiento propuesto por Adam Frank y Gavin Schmidt, que sugiere que la probabilidad de encontrar evidencia directa de una civilización industrializada antes de la humana es pequeña si se considera un período de más de 4 millones de años.
¿Qué diferencia hay entre exobiología y astrobiología?
-La exobiología se dedica al estudio de la vida fuera de nuestro planeta, mientras que la astrobiología investiga la vida en todo el universo, incluida la Tierra. La exobiología puede considerarse como una rama dentro de la astrobiología.
¿Qué es la exoarqueología y por qué no se ha desarrollado como disciplina científica hasta ahora?
-La exoarqueología es el estudio hipotético de las ruinas de civilizaciones extraterrestres. No se ha desarrollado como disciplina científica porque aún no se han encontrado sitios ni evidencias concreta de dichas civilizaciones.
¿Qué es el concepto de 'ancient astronauts' y por qué la mayoría de los académicos lo rechazan?
-El concepto de 'ancient astronauts' sugiere que alienígenas inteligentes visitaron la Tierra en tiempos antiguos o prehistóricos y tuvieron contacto con humanos, influenciando el desarrollo de culturas y religiones. La mayoría de los académicos lo rechazan por ser no científico y no respaldado por estudios revisados por pares.
¿Cómo podría interpretarse el hecho de no encontrar evidencia de una civilización pre-humana en el contexto de la sostenibilidad y la armonía con el planeta?
-Si no encontramos evidencia de una civilización pre-humana, podría interpretarse no como una prueba de que nunca existió, sino que quizás sobrevivió mucho tiempo y lo hizo en armonía con el planeta, dejando una huella tan pequeña que no ha sido detectada.
Outlines
🌏 La posibilidad de una especie inteligente antes de los humanos
El primer párrafo plantea la hipótesis de que antes de la existencia de los humanos, otra especie inteligente podría haber prosperado en la Tierra y reflexiona sobre la posibilidad de encontrar rastros de su existencia. Se menciona la duración del tiempo que nuestra especie, 'Homo sapiens', ha estado en el planeta y se compara con la edad de la Tierra y los primeros signos de vida. Además, se explora el concepto de la explosión cambriana y las causas posibles detrás de este evento que llevó a la diversificación de especies, y se plantea la idea de que podría haber habido otras inteligencias en los más de 500 millones de años previos a nuestra aparición.
🦴 Evidencia fósil y la improbabilidad de su conservación
El segundo párrafo se enfoca en la improbabilidad de que los restos de un organismo se fósilizan tras la muerte y las condiciones necesarias para que esto ocurra. Se destaca que solo un 15% de las rocas son adecuadas para preservar fósiles y que la probabilidad de un hueso se fósilice es extremadamente baja. Además, se discute la limitación de la evidencia fósil para determinar la existencia de especies inteligentes no humanas y cómo la actividad geológica de la Tierra puede haber borrado la mayoría de las pruebas de civilizaciones anteriores.
🏞 Dificultades en la conservación de la evidencia de civilizaciones pasadas
El tercer párrafo examina las dificultades para encontrar evidencia de civilizaciones prehumanas, incluidos factores geológicos y biológicos que pueden haber borrado la mayoría de las huellas de una civilización anterior. Se menciona que las sociedades de caza y recolección, como los neandertales, dejaron poca evidencia material, y se especula sobre cómo una civilización que hubiera desarrollado la agricultura y la vida sedentaria podría haber dejado más restos, como estructuras y herramientas más duraderas.
🕵️♂️ Búsqueda de evidencia indirecta de civilizaciones industriales pasadas
El cuarto párrafo explora la idea de buscar evidencia indirecta de civilizaciones industriales anteriores a la nuestra, tal como cambios rápidos en la temperatura o el clima, anomalías en las capas de sedimento y la presencia de plásticos o isótopos radiactivos en el fondo del océano. Se discute el 'Hipótesis Silúrica' propuesta por Adam Frank y Gavin Schmidt, que sugiere formas de detectar una civilización industrial que existiera hace millones de años, y se reconoce la posibilidad de que muchos eventos antiguos permanecerán siempre enigmáticos.
🌌 Exoarqueología y la búsqueda de vida extraterrestre
El quinto párrafo introduce el campo de la exobiología y la distinción entre ella y la astrobiología, así como la hipotética exoarqueología, que se enfocarían en la búsqueda de evidencias de civilizaciones extraterrestres. Se menciona la rechazo de la comunidad científica a las teorías de los antiguos astronautas y se cuestiona la idea de que las civilizaciones antiguas requirieran de contacto alienígena para desarrollar sus avances tecnológicos y culturales.
🔮 La posibilidad y el impacto de una civilización prehumana
El sexto y último párrafo reflexiona sobre la posibilidad de que una civilización prehumana haya existido y dejó una huella tan pequeña que no ha sido detectada, sugiriendo que tal vez haya sobrevivido en armonía con el planeta. Se cuestiona si nuestra falta de evidencia de una civilización anterior puede indicar no su inexistencia, sino una larga supervivencia en equilibrio con la naturaleza. El párrafo concluye con una invitación a la curiosidad y el pensamiento crítico sobre la historia y el futuro de la vida en nuestro planeta.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Especie inteligente
💡Homo sapiens
💡Cambio climático
💡Catastrofismo
💡Fósil
💡Artefacto
💡Exoarqueología
💡Extinción en masa
💡Cambrian Explosion
💡Astrobiología
💡Paradójicamente
Highlights
Es posible que antes de los humanos existiera otra especie inteligente en la Tierra.
La especie humana, 'Homo sapiens', ha existido aproximadamente 300,000 años.
Los seres humanos adquirieron su apariencia física actual hace aproximadamente 200,000 años.
Los 'Homo sapiens' se comportaban de manera moderna hace 70,000 años.
Agricultura dio lugar a los primeros asentamientos estables y ciudades.
La sociedad industrial podría haber llevado a la autoextinción de la humanidad en apenas tres siglos.
La Tierra formó aproximadamente 4.55 mil millones de años atrás.
El primer ser viviente en la Tierra emergió hace 3.77 mil millones de años.
El 'Cámbrico Explosión' fue un período de diversificación rápida de especies.
Han ocurrido cinco extinciones masivas que erradicaron grupos enteros de especies.
El género Homo emergió en África hace aproximadamente 2.5 millones de años.
Existieron casi veinte especies humanas diferentes que no sobrevivieron.
Los restos fósiles son difíciles de preservar y solo un 15% de las rocas son adecuadas para ello.
La actividad geológica de la Tierra puede enterrar capas superficiales, dificultando la detección de restos.
La probabilidad de que un hueso se fosilice es de uno en mil millones.
Solo se han encontrado fósiles del 0.1% de las especies que habitaron la Tierra.
Para detectar una civilización industrial antigua, buscar cambios en temperatura o anomalías en capas sedimentarias.
La detección de plásticos en el lecho oceánico o isótopos radioactivos podría ser evidencia de actividad industrial.
La mayoría de lo ocurrido hace más de 50 millones de años permanecerá enigmático.
La exobiología es el estudio de la vida en el universo más allá de la Tierra.
La exoarqueología, hipotéticamente, estudiaría las trazas de civilizaciones extraterrestres.
No hay evidencia de una civilización terrenal antes de los humanos, pero tampoco se puede descartar completamente.
Es posible que una civilización anterior haya sobrevivido durante mucho tiempo y dejado poca huella en la Tierra.
Transcripts
Welcome, curious minds!
Is it possible that before humans existed, another intelligent species thrived
on Earth? Would we be able to discover the traces of its passage through our planet?
If tomorrow – let's hope not – a nuclear war were unleashed
on a global scale that completely extinguished humanity, our species, 'Homo sapiens',
would have spent the last 300,000 years on the face of the Earth, more or less. People
acquired our current physical appearance about 200,000 years ago and it is estimated that
behaviorally modern sapiens emerged 70,000 years ago. We stopped grouping together in nomadic bands
of hunter-gatherers just 10,000 years ago, thanks to the appearance of agriculture,
which successively gave rise to the first stable settlements, cities,
civilizations and, just 300 years ago , to industrial society, which in just three
centuries would have led to the self-extinction of humanity, using nuclear weapons.
Now, let's put the chronology of our species into perspective. The Earth formed
approximately 4.55 billion years ago; and the first living being on our planet emerged sometime in
the next billion years, since the first signs of life that we know of
date back to 3.77 billion years ago. Much later, about 540 million years ago,
the so-called Cambrian Explosion took place, a particularly rapid period in the development of
life forms that gave rise to the appearance of an incredible diversity of animals, including
many of the main groups present in today, such as chordates, among
which are vertebrates, that is, animals with a backbone, like us.
What was the cause of that burst of life in the Cambrian period? Scientists continue
to debate about it. Some point to the increase in oxygen in the atmosphere;
others, to ecological competition between organisms; There are also those who highlight
the fragmentation of the supercontinent Pannotia as a crucial factor... In any case,
the truth is that it is not entirely appropriate to talk about an
"explosion" taking into account that that process of species diversification,
although it was relatively rapid, , developed over about 40 million years.
But what really interests us in today's video is that, since the Cambrian Explosion,
five mass extinctions have occurred on our planet that eradicated
entire groups of species. In fact, many more species have become extinct over time than
those that currently populate the Earth. The five mass extinctions took place,
respectively, 439 million years ago, 367, 251, 201 and 66 million years ago. And in each
of them, between 76 and 96% of the species on the planet disappeared. And
what caused those extinctions? Various lethal events of global reach,
such as massive volcanic eruptions, the rise and fall of ocean levels due to
glaciation, impacts of enormous meteorites... Even a supernova,
a stellar explosion that caused a burst of gamma rays capable of eliminate the protection
of atmospheric ozone that protects us against ultraviolet radiation from the Sun.
Having occurred so many mass extinctions, and taking into account that it has taken us
300,000 years – since we emerged as a species – to reach the point of expanding throughout the world
planet and even travel outside it, is it not possible that some other intelligent species has
arisen and disappeared in the immense time frame represented by the more than 500 million
years that elapsed between the Cambrian Explosion and the appearance of 'Homo sapiens'?
Returning once again to the origins of humanity, it is estimated that the genus Homo,
that is, the human being, emerged in Africa about 2.5 million years ago,
although those first humans bore very little resemblance to those of today. Because, although the members
of our species, the 'Homo sapiens', are the only humans that inhabit the Earth today,
there were also many other human species, almost twenty, that stayed along the way,
but that did not mean they left of being human, such as, for example, 'Homo habilis', 'Homo ergaster',
'Homo erectus', 'Homo neanderthalensis', 'Homo floresiensis'... In other words:
although from our current perspective we tend to think of the evolution of the
human being as a single path full of evolutionary successes, in reality, The paths of the
human being have been multiple and all have ended in annihilation, except for ours.
We have knowledge of extinct human species mainly
through the discovery of fossils, but in some cases tools,
weapons and even artistic creations have also been found. Does this mean that, since we have not
found fossils or artifacts of any intelligent species prior to the genus Homo,
the existence of a past civilization is impossible? No.
On the one hand, it is not at all easy for the remains of an organism to end up fossilized after death.
And the fact is that only 15% of the rocks meet the appropriate conditions to preserve
fossils. The remains of the living being must have been quickly buried in a sediment in
which it is possible to leave an impression and that completely isolates them from any element
that could deteriorate them, such as oxygen, water or scavengers. Only in this way can
the mineralization process that will make up the fossil be carried out. Although it is true that,
in addition to bones, feathers and some soft parts of the organism can also be fossilized,
the difficulty of creating the right conditions for fossilization is very high:
it is estimated that the probability of a bone becoming fossilized is one in a billion.
That is to say, if there are currently about 8,000 million people in the world, at a rate of 206 bones
for each one, if we all went extinct at once, we would leave only 1,650 fossil bones
spread throughout the planet. Yes, okay, those of you who are more detailed will say that the calculation is
wrong because children have more bones, since babies are born with around 300 and
then some of these join together and weld together as they grow until the number
is reduced. reduces to 206; but the calculation we have made is only a rough estimate to illustrate
the idea that, if a hypothetical pre-human civilization had become as
numerous as ours, it would not have left many fossils to be found. Not to mention that the
geological activity of the Earth causes the most superficial layers to become buried
deeper and deeper as time goes by. The Negev Desert, which covers more than
half of Israel, is the oldest undisturbed surface on Earth, only 1.8 million
years old. That is to say, if we want to find the fossil remains of a pre-
human civilization that existed in that range of 500 million years that we talked about before,
it is very likely that it will be necessary to excavate, whether in land, ice or at the bottom of the oceans.
And you can reply: “Yes, but we have found dinosaur fossils, right?” Yes it's correct. In
the last two centuries, since the first dinosaur fossils were identified in England,
almost 11,000 have been unearthed around the world. And we even have cyanobacteria fossils
from 3.5 billion years ago. However, the special conditions for the
fossilization process that we have already described generate large biases in the fossil record;
For example, beings that lived in mountainous or jungle environments rarely
left fossils behind. The first, due to geological erosion processes;
the latter, because in the jungles there are an abundance of scavengers. In contrast, 99% of all
fossils found belong to aquatic creatures, given that the bottom of oceans,
lakes and rivers, due to the continuous deposition of sediments, are more likely to cover
and protect organic remains. . In summary: scientists estimate that we have only found fossils
of 0.1% of the species that have ever inhabited the Earth.
And, of course, no fossils have yet been discovered of any non-human species
suspected of possessing intelligence superior to that of animals. Or at least,
they have not identified themselves as such. Because how do you know if a species was intelligent or not? Just
because of the size of his skull in relation to his body? That's not enough. The true sign of
that a species was intelligent to the point of establishing a civilization would be to find,
along with the fossils of their bodies, the remains of their works: tools, weapons, constructions,
paintings, sculptures, writings, etc. As to date no remains of any
artifact that is not the work of humans have been found, we can only infer that no
prehistoric creature reached a level of cognitive development comparable to ours. By the way,
as we are going to mention the word artifact several times, it is worth clarifying that we use it in its
first and broadest meaning: “Object built with a certain technique for a certain purpose.”
In case you are wondering... Yes. Everything we have mentioned so far could be applied,
not only to the native species of our planet, but also to a hypothetical
alien species that had settled on Earth millions of years ago. and whose civilization had
been extinct for some reason. Or I would have decided to leave this planet, which is another
possibility. Assuming that they had reached our planet by their own means,
they would undoubtedly start from a technological level much higher than that of current humans.
On the other hand, if a pre-human civilization had been
advanced enough to travel into space,
it would be easier to find its traces on the Moon or Mars than on Earth,
where erosion and erosion are much more likely. tectonic activity erases the evidence.
Let's return to the topic of artifacts. An intelligent prehuman species that had only reached
the level of development of nomadic hunter-gatherer societies
would have barely left us direct evidence of its existence. Just think of all the
species of the genus Homo that have already become extinct, such as Neanderthals. Although the
latter disappeared only approximately 40,000 years ago, and therefore
coexisted with 'Homo sapiens', not many Neanderthal artifacts have been found.
The traces of a hunter-gatherer species that had
existed millions of years ago would have been erased by biological and geological processes.
What if that supposed civilization had discovered agriculture and settled
in stable populations? Wouldn't it have produced many more artifacts? If we take
human beings as a reference, the answer is yes, without a doubt. When our societies became agricultural
and sedentary, we developed more complex tools made from stronger materials,
as well as building structures, both for housing people and for
other uses. The generation of food surpluses allowed trade and
specialization of tasks, which in turn led to the development of arts,
sciences and political systems. Human beings organized themselves into cities,
kingdoms and empires, and created monuments as durable as the pyramids of Egypt,
Stonehenge or the Great Wall of China, works whose remains can probably be detected, although
very deteriorated, within hundreds of thousands of years. years in the future. Extrapolating these estimates,
it would be reasonable to rule out the existence of a pre-human civilization with such a degree
of development in the last million years. But let's remember that the time frame
we are dealing with is 500 million years. Therefore, if a civilization had existed,
for example, 300 million years ago, we would not find direct evidence of it.
Now let's imagine an industrialized society from millions of years ago. To get an
idea of how long their mark would last on the geological record,
just think about what modern humans would leave if we became extinct.
Based on that idea, in 2018, the American astrophysicist Adam Frank, from the University of
Rochester, and the director of NASA's Goddard Institute, the British climatologist Gavin Schmidt,
published an article in which they detailed how we could detect an
industrial civilization prior to human. They named their thought experiment “the Silurian hypothesis.”
But not because of the Silurian period, which belongs to the Paleozoic Era, but because of the Silurians,
also known as terrestrial reptiles, a technologically advanced species that populated the
Earth before humans... in the science fiction television series 'Doctor Who'.
In their article, Frank and Schmidt concluded that the probability of finding
direct evidence – such as fossils or artifacts – of the existence of industrial civilizations from
more than 4 million years ago would be small. And, although we may have the impression that,
for example, a large urban center like New York or Mexico City will always leave some
type of trace, in reality, once the human species is extinct,
cities will take a few decades to be devoured by nature and,
in 4 million years, there will be no physical evidence that they ever existed.
To detect the existence of an ancient industrial civilization on our planet,
the two scientists propose looking for indirect evidence, such as rapid changes in
temperature or climate, since these could indicate the use of
geothermal energy sources. Another possible signal would be the detection of anomalies in the sediment layers,
such as an alteration in their chemical composition that would show massive use of fertilizers,
since these divert the flow of nitrogen to the bottom of the soil.
The discovery of plastics on the ocean floor could also be evidence
of industrial activity detectable for millions of years, given that plastics degrade
mainly by solar ultraviolet radiation and on the seabed,
where it does not reach, the degradation rates are much slower.
Similarly, there are two radioactive isotopes that would be detectable
for an enormous amount of time if deposited in sufficient quantities by,
for example, a nuclear war. One of them is plutonium-244, which has a
half-life of 80.8 million years. The second, curium-247, survives for 15 million years.
Despite all this, Frank and Schmidt acknowledge in their paper that most things that
happened more than 50 million years ago will forever remain mysterious. On
a personal note, they acknowledge that they highly doubt that any industrial civilization existed
prior to ours, but they consider it worth doing the exercise of asking how
it could be detected in the search for intelligent life on other planets.
A curious detail is that, in their article, which as we said was published in 2018, they
used the term Anthropocene, a name that had been proposed at the beginning of this century
by the scientific community to succeed or replace the Holocene, the era
current geology. The Anthropocene, which for some scientists would have its beginning with the
Industrial Revolution, owes its name and its meaning to the enormous global impact that human activities
are having on the Earth's ecosystems. However, to become
the official name of a geological epoch, the Anthropocene required approval from
the International Commission on Stratigraphy. And both it and the International Union of
Geological Sciences formally rejected the proposal in March 2024. Some of the
detractors of the new term saw in it, more than a scientific decision, a political statement.
Currently, the growing interest in discovering possible extraterrestrial life forms
has crystallized into a scientific discipline: exobiology. Exobiologists have knowledge
of biology, astronomy, physics, chemistry... and they combine all these sciences
to study the possibilities of extraterrestrial life existing, as well as the effects that
the different environmental conditions that exist can have on living beings. they give in the universe.
Surely you have also heard the term astrobiology,
but there is a small difference between this and exobiology. While astrobiology is
dedicated to investigating life throughout the universe – including Earth as well –
exobiology only studies life outside our planet. That is,
exobiology can be considered a branch within astrobiology.
The specific task of searching for archaeological traces of extraterrestrial civilizations would correspond,
hypothetically, to exoarchaeology, but, as you would guess, no
site has yet been found, so there are no archaeologists dedicated to it. In fact,
in the future it is most likely that exoarchaeologists will dedicate themselves to studying
the traces that humans leave throughout our expansion through the
Solar System as it becomes more complex than to investigating alien ruins.
For now, exoarchaeology is reduced to the field of science fiction; Although there are also those who
argue that evidence of the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations has already been found,
such as the famous Face of Mars, in which many see a gigantic face sculpted by Martians
in the Cidonia region of the red planet. This legend originated in 1976 following
photographs taken by the Viking 1 space probe. The supposed face measures 3 km long
and 1.5 km wide, but much more recent and better resolution photographs taken by
the Mars Global Surveyor probe and by the Odyssey at the beginning of this century, they have confirmed what
scientists have always stated: that it was just a natural formation of the terrain and
that it was the angle of incidence of sunlight, together with the low resolution of the first photos,
which caused that phenomenon of pareidolia, you know, the tendency of the human brain
to perceive familiar patterns, especially faces. Surely many of you have seen faces
or other recognizable figures when you have looked at a cloud or a peeling wall, right?
There are also those who believe in an ancient relationship between extraterrestrial civilizations and
our planet, as supported by the idea of ancient astronauts, according to which
intelligent aliens visited Earth and came into contact with humans from ancient times or
prehistoric times. Those who defend this belief suggest that it was thanks to this
contact with extraterrestrials, more technologically advanced, that some cultures, religions and human inventions
developed . Under the umbrella of the ancient astronauts are included a large
number of beliefs, some contradictory to each other and others cumulative, such as, for example,
that extraterrestrials were a mother culture from which
human civilizations sprang; that religions are founded by extraterrestrials, who were taken to be
gods coming from heaven, or that many great structures, such as the pyramids of Egypt or
the moai of Easter Island, were created by aliens or built with their help...
The vast majority of archaeologists and academics dismiss these claims
as unscientific and not supported by any peer-reviewed studies. In addition,
some experts point to the white supremacist bias underlying the
beliefs of ancient astronauts, sometimes relying on the argument
that indigenous cultures around the world would have been incapable of accomplishing
technological and cultural feats on their own. that they achieved. Did the Mayans,
Aztecs or Egyptians really need an alien to teach them how to build pyramids?
Returning to Frank and Schmidt, in their article they also mentioned an interesting paradox that
made us think. And, although logic leads us to think that the longer
our species survives, the greater the impact of our actions on the planet will be and we will leave a greater
trace in the geological record, in reality, if humans manage to survive for a long
time , it will be because we will have managed to develop a much more sustainable lifestyle and,
therefore, our footprint on the planet will be smaller. Following this line of thought,
it could be deduced that the fact that we are unable to find any evidence,
either direct or indirect, of the existence of a prehuman civilization
may not prove that there never was one, but quite the opposite:
that it survived for an enormous amount of time. of time, and that he was able to do it precisely
because he lived in such complete harmony with the planet that he left no trace on it.
In summary: did a terrestrial civilization exist before humans? There is no proof or
indication of this. Is it impossible that it existed? Well, it cannot be completely ruled out either.
Who knows? Perhaps on the least expected day we will all be in for a huge surprise... If so,
perhaps analyzing the historical trajectory of that species, including the reasons for its extinction,
could alert us to some potentially lethal risk for humanity that
we have not yet seen. we manage to perceive. In life, as on the road,
to be a good driver it is more than advisable to take a look in the rearview mirror from time to time.
And you? Do you think that another civilization could have existed on our planet
before humans? I would like you to tell us below,
in the comments. And if you want to know more interesting stories, subscribe to our
channel. Thank you very much for being there, curious minds! See you in the next video!
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