Ancient Computer

Post by **Tsukiyumi** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 6:19 pm

I found this extremely interesting when I first read about it; I just thought I'd share it with people who would appreciate it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_Device

Sionnach Glic · Post by **Sionnach Glic** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 7:32 pm

Pretty cool.

Post by **Mikey** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 12:34 am

It's certainly pretty cool; I continue to wonder, however, that people are surprised by findings like this. The Mycenaeans, who were primitive compared to the people who built this, were able to expand the scale fo Egyptian tholos tombs and build them completely arched; the Minoans, who predated and wer contemporary with the Mycenaeans, had indoor plumbing; Aristotle figured out the curvature of the Earth; and Archimedes devised a mechanical way to get water uphill without a pump.

Why are we always so surprised that anyone besides us aren't idiots?

RK_Striker_JK_5 · Post by **RK_Striker_JK_5** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 1:49 am

That does rock.

Post by **Tsukiyumi** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 2:48 am

Mikey wrote:It's certainly pretty cool; I continue to wonder, however, that people are surprised by findings like this. The Mycenaeans, who were primitive compared to the people who built this, were able to expand the scale fo Egyptian tholos tombs and build them completely arched; the Minoans, who predated and wer contemporary with the Mycenaeans, had indoor plumbing; Aristotle figured out the curvature of the Earth; and Archimedes devised a mechanical way to get water uphill without a pump.

Why are we always so surprised that anyone besides us aren't idiots?

I get angry sometimes at how far our world could've come if knowledge such as this hadn't been lost over and over again due to religious zealotry. Who knows what was destroyed when the Library at Alexandria was burned by the Christian scum?

Post by **Mikey** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 12:48 pm

I get angry sometimes at how far our world could've come if knowledge such as this hadn't been lost over and over again due to religious zealotry. Who knows what was destroyed when the Library at Alexandria was burned by the Christian scum?

A good deal of such knowledge was lost due to other reasons than religious purges. Temporal conquest, natural disaster, lack of concern for posterity, and lack of information technology all have contributed to this phenomenon. And in many cases, we really don't know why the information was lost. Minoan advances, for example - nobody knows what happened to them. The methods of construction of the loa of Easter Island - nobody knows what happened after the Long Ear v. Short Ear war, or what happened to the victors, even. Even the Egyptians lost much of their knowledge both with the decline of their religion into magic and superstition, and then with the rise of Akhenaton and the new state faith.

Blackstar the Chakat · Wed Nov 28, 2007 1:32 pm

That probably came from the same place as the Pyramids and other impossible feats; the aliens helped them.

Post by **Mikey** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 6:49 pm

Hey, if the current populace can figure out the iPod and text messaging, I have no doubt that a mechanical computer was within the ken of anybody.

shran · Post by **shran** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 8:35 pm

Using a device does not require the same amount of knowledge and such as constructing a device like that. Then again, we still don't differ that much from cavemen. Neither did they.

Post by **Mikey** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 10:15 pm

Using a device does not require the same amount of knowledge and such as constructing a device like that.

True, but irrelevant. Weren't those examples I gave invented by somebody?