ManWithNoName

I mean with regards to the universe and the way of understanding it. No doubt the Romans believed in an earth-centred universe. Even Einstein believed the universe was static, etcetera...

seekn4

Funny you say that because it has been uncovered that 1000s of years ago they knew the planets revolved around the sun. And later the worldly belief was different. It seems like when people congregate and try to form their own little empire or govt or religion they actually regress in knowledge. And it always seem that the "worldly" perceptions are ALWAYS proved wrong in time of you study history. That kind of makes you want to open your mind up and think for yourself.

Guybrush

It has? Not saying this is incorrect; I'm merely curious. Do you have a link to some source that can back this up?

__________________
Something Completely Different

seekn4

Hey buddy haven't heard from you in a while, hope all is well. The ancient Egyptians, have carvings in stone that are the exact same model of our solar system that we have today, and it was also written in the ancient Sumerian texts that were translated by Zacharia sitchen, I belive its in his book called "the cosmic code". The Mayans also had that knowlege.

Guybrush

Really? Again, not saying I think it's rubbish, but from just reading your post, how do I know what you claim is true? If it is true, then it should be possible for you to find some credible sources that back up your claims.

You know, links to some articles or something.

__________________
Something Completely Different

seekn4

I don't know how to post links, there is enough there to do some Google searching and find what you are looking for.

Cinnamonics

Heliocentrism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here's a link that shows that at least some people in Ancient Greece thought the earth revolved around the sun. I don't know anything about Egyptians or other ancient civilizations believing the same.

Guybrush

Indeed, but it says the following :

But it would seem Mr. Aristarchus had little support among his peers and regardless of popularity, it is not very many "1000s of years ago". I can't really see anything in that article that supports Seekn4's claim.

The reason I'm bringing it up is really just to show that Seekn4 as well as some others in this thread will happily share some rather radical claims without backing them up even the slightest if pushed just a little. In other words, people should take whatever "facts" such guys write with a barrel load of salt - at least until they can find some sources to back up their claims.

__________________
Something Completely Different

Isuldor Nagan

I feel inclined to point out the Egyptians couldn't have had a model exactly like ours, in fact it would have been largely incomplete. I'm an amateur Astronomer so I know some about this. Neptune, Pluto, Cheron, and Eris are not visible without a telescope. And good luck finding Uranus without knowing EXACTLY what to look for, and where, because it looks exactly like a very faint star. Saying the other planets were known and modeled is hardly noteworthy, because even young children notice the motion of the other planets if they look up enough.

I think earlier arguments about knowledge always being proven wrong is valid mostly in regards to things like.. motion, time dilation(So me an ancient society with that knowledge and I'll be impressed), quantum physics, et cetera.. The Ancients had little or no functional knowledge of these things, and their explanations for the natural order of things proved to be wrong.(Spontaneous generation and things along those lines).

ManWithNoName

Well that was my main point. Perceptions change depending on the environment and time period. In other words, the environment we live in will always be bigger than the current common or not so common perception of it, essentially supporting the validity of agnosticism.

I was aware that some Romans may have had perceptions of the earth being a sphere due to measuring diameters and so on. However, it is severely doubtful that many people 1000 years ago realised the universe was bigger than to support human life on earth and that it was expanding - considering even Einstein did not realise the latter and many people to this present day are not bothered about it.