A Journey To Babel

There are two stories that fascinate me.  One is Noah's Ark and the other is the Tower of Babel.  They exist in nearly every single culture, tradition and myth on Earth, across vast spans of time, and on every inhabited continent (Antarctica has yet to yield its secrets).

The Ark story has been pretty much beaten to death, with tales of folks running up and down Mount Arat for a century looking for boats.  Boring.

But Babel...now there's a fun tale.  What exactly is going on here?  And why is it that so many cultures throughout our history record a similar event with similar circumstances at more or less the same time.  In each case, it is a single event, not multiple ones.  And in every case, the gods get worried about how far and how fast humans are progressing and decide to do something about it.

In every case, Man did not sin or do anything wrong, he simply had reached a point where he posed a direct challenge to the gods.  As Joseph Farrell says, it was a political, not ethical decision on the part of the gods to come down and stir things up.

Perhaps it would be instructive at this point to look at a couple of the stories.  Wikipedia starts us off:

The Tower of Babel (Hebrew: מגדל בבל‎ Migdal Bavel Arabic: برج بابل‎ Borj Baabel) forms the focus of a story told in the Book of Genesis of the Bible.[1] According to the story, a united humanity of the generations following the Great Flood, speaking a single language and migrating from the east, came to the land of Shinar (Hebrew: שנער‎), where they resolved to build a city with a tower "whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."
God came down to see what they did and said: "They are one people and have one language, and nothing will be withheld from them which they purpose to do." "Come, let us go down and confound their speech." And so God scattered them upon the face of the Earth, and confused their languages, so that they would not be able to return to each other, and they left off building the city, which was called Babel "because God there confounded the language of all the Earth".

The Sumerians have a similar tale involving the construction of a tower, the gods Enki and Enlil, and the confusion of languages.  The Sumerian word babel means "gateway of god(s)" or quite literally "stargate", while in Hebrew, it is similar in sound to the verb "to confound".

There are similar myths in various African cultures.  The Maya have a version that is nearly identical to the Biblical telling, except that it involves those pesky Giants who keep showing up in the old tales and myths:

After Creation and the Great Flood, there were Giants running around the Earth.  However, they weren't receiving enough sunlight, so they built a tower to reach the Sun.  This act angered the sky gods who destroyed the tower and confused the languages, scattering the people across the Earth.

The Aztecs, South Pacific islanders, Mongols, and many other cultures preserve this story in some form.  Most involve the people of Earth 'speaking the same language', which allows them to work together to 'build a tower' that will either allow them to reach the realms of the gods, or conversely, preserve the knowledge already received by having reached the realm of the gods or given by a renegade god (Enki, Prometheus, etc.).

The Hindu version is particularly interesting, as it combines the symbol of the Tree of Knowledge with the Tower/Babel myth:

There grew in the center of the earth the wonderful 'world tree,' or 'knowledge tree.' It was so tall that it reached almost to heaven.  It said in    its heart, 'I shall hold my head in heaven and spread my branches over all the earth, and gather all men together under my shadow and protect them, and prevent them from separating.' But Brahma, to punish the pride of the tree, cut off its branches and cast them down on the earth, when they sprang up as wata trees, and made differences of belief and speech and customs to prevail on the earth, to disperse men upon the surface.

So, let's dissect this story a bit.  First of all, the language thing.  There is no evidence in the historical record of Mankind ever having used a single language, right?  Or is there?  Even today, if you look around, there is one Universal Language that spans countries, cultures and time.  That language is mathematics.  All of our vaunted technology is based on some kind of mathematical discovery.  Radio waves, lasers, computers, even such mundane things as alternating current, convection ovens and headphones, are all mathematics brought into our physical world.

As Galileo Galilei said, “Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe.”  And don't we use mathematics to reach orbit and the other planets?  In other words, isn't mathematics a single language that allows us to reach the realm of the gods?

Well, not really, because mathematics is split into many different types and disciplines.  There's algebra and calculus and physics, and so forth.  In other words, our language of math has been 'confused' or 'confounded'.  And what is the Holy Grail of science but the Grand Unified Theory (GUT), which should unite all forms of mathematics under a single, elegant set of formulae.

Sounds a lot like the story of Babel, the fracturing of languages, and a current effort to restore what was lost to men.  And mathematics does indeed allow us to reach the realm of the gods, of that there is no doubt.  So if we are able to find the Holy Grail of the GUT, isn't it true that 'nothing would be withheld from us that we purpose to do'?

Nikola Tesla summed up the confusion of the Great Language quite nicely, "Today's scientists have substituted mathematics for experiments, and they wander off through equation after equation, and eventually build a structure which has no relation to reality."  This implies that if we can get our language straight, we can do 'anything we propose to do,' including engineer reality itself, as Tesla was attempting to do.

Now what about the 'tower'?  Folks have proposed dozens of locations and structures.  Alexander the Great destroyed the giant ziggurat of Babylon called Etemenanki.  But I think that if we accept that the One Language is/was mathematics, then the tower may have a completely different interpretation.

In Western culture, there are basically two main structures associated with towers: one is a place of worship, and the other is a university.  We can dispense with the first, since it preserves myth and superstition and keeps us afraid of obtaining the realm of the gods.  The other, however, is about preserving and advancing knowledge, and particularly the sciences, logic and philosophy, which are founded on the One Language, and indeed seek to obtain the realm of the gods.

Therefore, couldn't the Tower of Babel have been an enormous university or library?  After all, the great structures of the ancient world, such as the Library at Alexandria, were devoted to preserving and advancing knowledge.  The great universities of Europe are all dominated by large towers, and in fact the towers are emblematic of the universities.

Across the planet today, people are building taller and taller towers as signs of wealth and scientific prowess.  Towers have always been symbols of achievement, and they require lots of precise mathematical calculation to erect safely.  Many towers, such as the pyramids all over the Earth, not only required precise math to build, they encode all kinds of mathematical equations, formulae and constants in their structures.

Richard Hoagland's theories concerning Cydonia on Mars posit monumental structures built on profound mathematical knowledge that is embedded in the design and relationships of structures on that planet.

Thus, we can now tell the Tower of Babel story in a slightly different way.  Mankind had amassed a great amount of knowledge that either allowed or was on the verge of allowing him to reach the heavens, and perhaps even begin to engineer the fabric of space/time itself.  God-like powers, in other words.  The gods, a race of extraterrestrial, technologically advanced beings, were alarmed at Mankind's rapid growth that threatened their hegemony over the heavens and their exulted rank as gods.

So they took the decision to pop down and destroy the great university/library where all this knowledge was stored and substitute false or misleading science and mathematics that would prevent Mankind from obtaining god-like power.  This sent people off in a hundred wrong directions unable to work together because their mathematics were confused and fractured.

A perfect example of this, if you believe the official story, is the Mars Climate Orbiter - a multi-million dollar spacecraft lost because one set of scientists was using metric measurements, while another was using Imperial standard.

This ensured the supremacy of the gods and kept Mankind out of the rarefied realms.  As Farrell said, it was a political decision, not one based on evil doings or moral corruption.  Thus, the Yahweh character now appears to be more insecure than all-powerful.

All of this brings up two rather profound questions.

The first is, would destroying towers today have the same effect on human culture: scattering, confusing, causing dissension?  For that, we must thoroughly examine what has happened to our individual and collective psyches since the 9/11 attacks.  It sure seems that the destruction of the Twin Towers has scattered and confused humanity, pitting us against each other rather than focusing on concerted effort to advance the species.  Could the perpetrators of that crime have taken a page from ancient myth?

The other question that arises is, if the gods got nervous the first time humans endeavored to reach the heavens through stargates and took severe action to prevent it, could they do it again?  If/when we start getting too close to god-like abilities, will some external force come down and stir the pot again?  If so, could the rise in UFO sightings in the past 70 years have something to do with that?  And will we humans be able to stop it this time?

And much more to the point, from the perspective of the Big Picture, are humans ready to obtain that kind of power?  After all, we seem incapable of solving some of the most mundane problems with our species.  It hardly seems advisable to let us go mucking around with the very fabric of space/time, much less carrying our errors into the cosmos.

Sure, the Babel incident was done to humanity to keep it unable to enter the heavens, but was that decision made because we threatened the hegemony of the gods, or because we threatened the peace of the Universe?

Looking around, I'd guess the latter.

Running Around In [Crop] Circles

About a month ago, Indonesia got its very first home-grown crop circle. It's located near Yogyakarta, not far from Mount Merapi, recently famous for blowing its top.

The design is pretty basic, but it has raised quite a fuss, with heated discussions still underway.

There were reports of a UFO a couple of days after it appeared. A man was struck by lightning and killed when he climbed to the top of a hill to photograph it. One of the first people to see it swears that the morning dew on the tops of the rice was undisturbed. The Air Force and Nuclear Agency were called in to investigate, and both declared it 'safe.' Crowds of onlookers brought a mini-boom to the area as vendors sprang up to sell everything from bottled water to souvenirs.

Speculation falls into two camps, of course. One is the man-made/natural theory, and the other is aliens. Being highly superstitious people, both sides see omens regardless of which side of the fence they sit on.

I pointed out to anyone who cared to listen that if it is a 'real' crop circle, then the pattern will still be seen when the next crop is planted, as the plants within the affected areas will grow slightly differently. As far as any other speculation, I am squarely on the side of 'don't know.'

I do know that any sighting of UFOs since World War 2 are highly suspect. The Nazis were feverishly working on a project called Die Glocke, which involved advanced hyperdimensional physics and things like field propulsion, which if perfected, could certainly produce the flight characteristics of UFOs. Given 60 years of development by Russian and American programs, headed initially by Nazi scientists, I can easily imagine craft in use today which are far in advance of any 'public' space programs.

I have personally had three qute unusual sightings, the most recent of which was the middle of last year, and which I wrote up here on the Far Side. What I observed were quite real, and I was careful to note factht the events were very curious, I have no idea what technology generated them.

Do I believe in aliens? Well, I think Carl Sagan summed it up best in 'Contact': If there's no other life out there, then it's sure a huge waste of space. On the other hand, I have never met an alien. I have talked extensively with 'abductees,' though. I have seen the scars and felt the 'implants' and listened to the stories with an open mind, but I have heard nothing that just screamed extra-terestrial. One or two folks said they had implants removed and tested, with very unusual results, but they couldn't produce copies of the results nor could they name a doctor or lab technician with whom I could discuss the matter.

The problem is that there is entirely too much faith involved. That's one of the reasons I reject religion. They expect me to take wild stories on faith that defy any logic or reason, not the mention that the Book itself says I can get all the bennies for free, so why pay someone to go middleman for me?

The metaphor I used not too long ago was, I KNOW the sky is blue. I know WHY the sky is blue. I know that, given the physics, it can only BE blue. Now you want me to take on faith that it's green, and deny what reason and empiricism tell me is true?

Generally, people think they have me cornered when I say that I have strong reason to think there are ruins and artifacts throughout the Solar System of some previous, advanced civilization. So I MUST believe in aliens. Why? One doesn't follow the other necessarily. Nor does it require any faith.

I can look at and analyze photos with my own eyes, applying my own tools and techniques as a professional. I can duplicate calculations and observations and critically examine arguments. I can SEE buildings and structures. I can DEDUCE non-geological features. I can OBSERVE phenomena for myself. None of it REQUIRES aliens at all. It can all be explained through very human means, even if it requires radically changing our perspectives. Without conclusive evidence of alien presence on or around Earth, I am prone to think that humans themselves are capable of creating, or having created at sone time in the past, the very technology that can create UFOs and crop circles and archologies on other planets within our Solar System.

The work of some top-flight minds using empirical evidence leads to some amazing, though not necessarily alien conclusions.

Back to the topic of crop circles, I can envision certain geo-magnetic processes that could produce such formations. I can envision certain advanced technologies, albeit secret, that could do the same thing.

None of the crop circles I have looked at show anything uniquely 'alien.' The designs, methodology and even the interpretations all have decidedly Earth-bound connections. I do think that a lot of them are not formed by a bunch of drunk collage kids with ropes and boards, but do involve someone showing off some hi-tech toys that are currently in orbit around the Earth. Perhaps they are test-runs, along with things like the Norway Spiral and its cousin, the China Spiral, for Project Blue Beam.

I have seen chemtrails and I know for a fact they are nothing like contrails. I have seen UFOs and I know for a fact they are not 'open' technology. I have studied crop circles and I know they show nothing that is distinctly 'alien.' I have spent years studying photos from spacecraft and I am convinced that archologies exist on other planets and moons in our Solar System.

I am not, however, convinced that any of it proves the presence of 'alien' species in or around Earth. Logic demands that we take the least-speculative approach to unexplained phenomena.

However, consider this an open invitation to any alien species reading this blog: if your intentions are peaceful, then you are welcome to hang out at my place anytime and discuss the merits of hyperdimensional versus relativistic physics.

I'll keep the light on for you.

For I Have Touched the Face of God

Today seems as good as any to take a sharp deviation from my usual subjects and touch upon the nature of, as Douglas Adams said, Life, the Universe and Everything. What prompts these musings is a combination of events: first, I've been re-reading the Bible (as I am wont to do occasionally so I can argue effectively with Osteen-bots), the ESA's Mars Express fly-bys of Phobos recently, and Richard Hoagland's latest tying elements of the former and the latter together.

What has always intrigued me about the first couple of books in the Bible is the way in which the characters talk to and about God as if he is a real person. They sit and talk, eat and drink. Jacob wrestles with God...physically. Moses has extended jam sessions with God, in which he doesn't eat or drink for months and gets a glowing face out of the deal. Abraham sees God coming from a distance and quickly clean up the place to receive visitors, who later in the story pop over to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Something about the way the visitors look clues Abraham in that these are God and friends. Not to mention, there are glowing clouds, pillars of fire and God taking afternoon strolls in the Garden of Eden.

OK, next is the ESA's Mars Express mission. After a couple of years in orbit around Mars, the craft's orbit takes it several times past Phobos at very close range, closer than any craft before. Phobos, in case you don't know, is the larger and inner-most moon of Mars. So this special occasion sets up for some cool science. The probe will use its range sounding as a way to map the gravity well of Phobos, while the radar will pound on the moon to get an idea of how it is put together.

Turns out, multiple data from multiple experiments reveal that the moon is at least 1/3 hollow. Now, at first blush, that wouldn't be ground shaking news, but the radar tests reveal that the caverns inside are geometrically regular, with right angles and a seeming pattern to them.

Wait a minute...

A moon of another planet, with an unusual and decaying orbit, has 'rooms' inside??!!

So in comes Hoagland with another of his famous multi-part cliff-hangers, who posits that Phobos, if part natural, has been engineered to make it a spacecraft! Ok, you're thinking, let's not get carried away here...but think about it. A moon that should not be where it is (astrophysics cannot supply an adequate theory as to how Phobos came to be where it is), that is at least 1/3 hollow, and whose hollows are in a form that cannot be natural. Sure, you can write Hoagland off as a quack (you wouldn't be the first), but the European Space Agency is pretty credible and the science behind the radar mapping is well established. And the data is from multiple passes and correlates with Russian data from it's own craft that was lost in the late 80s. In other words, the data comes from multiple craft, multiple instruments and multiple passes. The error ration is getting pretty small.

So, how does my mind tie all this together? Well, when I read the Bible, and taking it as at least a semi-accurate record of someone's experience, the fact that some people experienced God as a physical being who walked, ate and hung out on the porch. Others experienced him as techno light shows and sound effects. And all seem to have experienced God as multiple personalities and beings, though using the same designation. I say designation, because in fact God used many different names and even refers to himself as 'we' in Genesis.

Sprinkle all of this with cargo cults and the Dogon, and one could be forgiven for thinking history books are sadly incorrect.

It is astounding to ponder the possibility that a moon of Mars may in fact be modified or manufactured by someone that is quite obviously not us. It is difficult at best to ascribe geometric cavities inside an extraterrestrial moon as being natural in any sense of the word. We have spent billions of dollars and decades of research scratching around on Mars looking for microbes, when circling overhead was a derelict spacecraft manufactured by an alien culture...and abandoned for some reason. This also calls into play Hoagland's pet theory about Cydonia and the "Face on Mars," as well as the myriad "ruins" that others have found on the surface of Mars. It also begs the question, did Abraham really have tea with God? And if he did, was that creature one of the builders or users of Phobos? And if so...well, you see the point The questions are not so astounding as the answers. I mean, after all, it could mean that our history and development have been guided by alien cultures for millennia!

Suddenly debatable sightings of UFOs and breathless recountings of alien autopsies just pale in comparison to an artifact...a spacecraft 15 miles long in orbit around another planet.

Where does this leave us? Well, according to Hoagland, the ESA is set to announce its findings sometime this year, including the possibility of artificiality. In the next year or so, the Russians will again try to get to Phobos, with the Phobos-Grunt mission, which is supposed to return actual samples. Mars Express will probably get another turn or two at the job, as well.

If all stays on the same track, then 2010 may well be the year that everything changes...everything!

And that's the problem with thinking about Life, the Universe and Everything. The more you look at it, the more it just makes you go...hmmmm.