[meteorite-list] Seven Plagues and Killer Meteorites

From: Darren Garrison <cynapse_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2007 15:31:18 -0400
Message-ID: <9a0b73pp7fhurvenb3f71sij95da89uq7o_at_4ax.com>

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 11:21:47 -0700, you wrote:

>language change could very reliably be measured at a change
>rate of 7% of the "core vocabulary" (words that refer to universal

7% per what? You left out the rate. I'm guessing "century". And for what area
of the world, in what time period? For isolated populations, or for groups with
contact with outside language groups? During times of cultural stability, or
during social or technological change? Who did the studies, and when?

> Your comments that there is likely not one word among Native
>American speakers that is unchanged since migration is profoundly
>off base.

Okay, care to list any words that seem to be unchanged across all the language
families of Native Americans? Or will it be like with Indo-European languages,
where guesses are made as to what the words were most similar to, based on
studying migration patterns, historical records, and numbers of languages with
similar (but not the same) words? Is there one word of English (or French, or
German, or...) that is exactly the same pronounciation and exactly the same
meaning as in the root language on the scale of 10,000 years? (There may be,
and you may know them).

> As for Exodus likely being a myth with no basis, that, again
>would appear to be a knee jerk comment. While I am with you on

What I said was "may or may not be a myth". I didn't say "likely". I just
don't see conclusive evidence one way or the other, and neither is there a
consensus in archeology. But if you have any conclusive historical evidence
that a mass migration of large numbers of Israelites from Egypt happened around
3000 years or so ago, be my guest, share it. Any old pieces of papyrus? Maybe
a bit of clay tablet from a neighboring nation, saying "Hey, all those Jews
skipped out on Pharoh!"?

> Your comments about linguistic instability are just plain
>wrong

Oh, then I'm deluded in thinking that King James English is different from
modern English, and that the English of Chaucer is different from King James
English and that Old English was different from all three?
http://www.mun.ca/Ansaxdat/vocab/wordlist.html Even though written down,
English changed so profoundly in just a few hundred years as to be almost
unrecognizable. Are you saying that English was a fluke, and all other
languages have been stable over the centuries?

>and your comments about the lack of any historic validity
>to the Old Testament are what those who review papers call

Again, YOU are putting words in my mouth. I didn't say "the old testament lacks
any historic validity". I said that the exodus "may or may not be a myth". And
yes, I believe that there are some accounts in the bible that describe in some
way some historic events-- distorted by the passage of time or by political or
religious agendas. I believe that a city named Jericho existed, for instance.
But I don't believe that the walls fell because people walked around it playing
horns. And I don't believe some old guy with a magic stick caused frogs and
such to rain on Egypt. Or that the "red sea" parted. Or that there was a
"pillar of fire". So, while there may or may not (see, not denying, just
hedging my bets) a mass Israelite migration from Egypt at some time in the past,
I don't buy for a second the magical aspects of the story, including the
plagues. Occams razor-- no need to come up with an exotic explanation for a
story (comet impact causing the plagues) when the simplest answer (embellished
stories made up by old men to entertain/control audience) is more likely true.

It is easy to find accounts of major comet and meteorite impacts in myths and
legends and religious texts. First, you start with the conclusion that they are
there. Then, you sift through as many myths, legends, and religious texts as
you can find, cherry-pick the ones that can be interpreted to fit your
pre-conceived theory, discard the rest. Worked for Velikovsky. You can do the
exact same thing to show alien visitations to ancient Earth. And time
travelers. And angels and demons. There are enough myths, legends, and
religions out there that you can find evidence of any conclusion that you have
reached, if you just look long enough and have enough imagination.
Received on Sun 17 Jun 2007 03:31:18 PM PDT