PHILOSOPHY: Do you think there was a civilization SIMILAR to the one we have now

Question: PHILOSOPHY: Do you think there was a civilization SIMILAR to the one we have now, 1 billion years ago!?

Okay, the world is supposedly over 6 billion years old!.

THIS civilization as we know it is so far is about 4000 years old, so far!. Which is FAR less than !.05% of the worlds history!.

According to scientists, it takes 5,000 yaers tops to get rid of ALL human creations (with a few exceptions) (wood products, monuments, stone products, plastic/rubber products, cars, etc)!. So if we were to disappear!.!.!.!.5000 years later there would be no trace of us!.

Do you think it is possible that we could of had several civilizations, very simlar to ours in our VERY long past!?

!.!.but is impossible to know about because nature reclaims EVERYTHING overtime!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Yes, I think there had been similar civilizations, but I cannot give a definite timeline!.

All I can say to you are guesses and your guess is as good as mine!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Simple answer, No, Man as we know it, has only been on this earth for about, only, yes just only, 135,000 - 150,000 years ago, and even if you can try and go back to our very - very most early ancestors, (The first apes that's supposed to have come down from the trees), you will only be able to go back as far as about 3 - 4!.5, maybe even 5/6 millions of years ago, (and 5/6, is going back to the real most extreme, of extreme)!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

never thought of it but why not maybe!.!.!.
maybe but not a civilization like ours a simpler one that has it's own technology which we now see as nature!. I mean their "nature" was something very basic and they worked with it until it became "our nature"!. And then when we all die out and the next civilization take over things like electricity will be part of nature and buildings will be like caves !.!.!. who knows!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

to my knowledge, no!. there wasn't!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

of course it's possible!. convergent evolution happens again and againWww@QuestionHome@Com

Oh! I love questions like these!. I think that there are evolutions occurring everyday, so in my imagination, in 5000 years, we would appear very different!. Maybe because of over exposure to the sun, we would adapt!. Have you seen that Outer Limits episode!? So cool!.

Its possible that we have had several civilizations!. The bible even speaks of nations that spoke one language at one time and then branched off into several cultures later!. I guess we can use that format!.

So what about 1 billion years ago!? I think the civilization looked nothing like we do!. Maybe had some characteristics similar to us as far as cell structure, but even then--what could they have looked like!? Amoebas!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

I hope this seems like a philosophical answer, because I am going to draw heavily on empirical arguments!.

My answer is, on this planet, probably not, but I like your line of reasoning!.

Regarding the 5000 years-tops argument from scientists:
Do dinosaurs pre-date 5000 years ago!?
Yes - but we still have evidence of their presence!.
Australopithecus, homo-habilis, homo-erectus, neanderthals!.!.!. Pre-date 5000 years!?
Yup, but we still know a little about them, and they didn't build steel reinforced skyscrapers, or generate whole cities of non-biodegradable waste!.

I don't think I agree that in 5000 years all the evidence is gone!. In fact I think 5000 years is a ridiculous figure, given how many ancient tools and fossils from eons ago are still being discovered!. What were these "scientists" thinking when they came up with that number!? They can't have even asked the scientist next door!?

I am certain that there is intelligent life "out there" (regardless of whether they have the technology to visit us for their spring-break) based on the size of the universe!.
I suspect that there are long-dead human civilisations, including fairly advanced ones, still to discover or learn about in more depth!.

However - on this planet - If we go back further than the dinosaurs, we start to get into both uncharted and possibly volatile territory!. Would civilisation have had TIME to develop to the same level as ours, given volcanic activity, changing atmospheric chemical composition, greater bombardment from meteorites, etc etc!.

My thinking is not, but I guess it is not out of the question, and going back a billion years!.!.!.
!.!.!.well I do agree that the evidence would be gone by now!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The people lived before the flood for a thousand years!.
I believe they were as advanced as we are today!.
For a small family to build a large ark took tools that we have today and then some!. Huge blocks of carved out stones are found all over the earth!. Put in such a way that current methods could not duplicate them!.
A tremendous flood of waters gushing down on cities would have virtually destroyed them and covered them with tons of silt!. It was a catamezic event, that ripped continents apart!.
To kill every living thing it would have destroyed every building and sign of humanity!. All that remains is that every civilization has a flood story!. Because everyone that remained came from the flood!.
Look what was still standing from a small flood like New Orleans, or the tidal wave that hit Indonesia!.
Or what is left after a F5 tornado!? He virtually held the ark above the earth and ripped and torn the earth apart!.
Who knows how long God is going to take to get a world of righteous people!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Mother nature does not remove all signs of life from millions and even hundreds of millions of years ago!. We know about such life because we find traces of them in the ground!. The reason no ancient civilization has been found is probably because there was no ancient civilization!. It is not because we have failed to look!. Our ancestors looked!. Current day scientists have looked!. We have found many things about life from millions of years ago!. There is very little chance that such an ancient civilization existed!. That is different than saying that it positively did not exist!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

First of all, please get your numbers straight before you start confabulating less-than-sound hypotheses!.

Current estimates have the Earth's age at 4!.6 billion, give or take !.1 billion, years!. The Earth is not 6 billion years old!.

"This" civilization!? What civilization!? Do you mean that of humans!? There were Sumerians inhabiting the Tigrus and Euphrates who were doing agriculture 7,500 years ago!.

-John

P!.S!. And why on EARTH is this in the philosophy section!? It's about as appropriate as "Do you think the world is going to end in 2012!?" or "Are you happy!?"Www@QuestionHome@Com

Do you have a source on the 5,000 year figure!? It seems a little hard to believe that if all humans died it would only take 5,000 years for all, or nearly all traces of us to vanish!. We have evidence, for example of early human life hundreds of thousands of years ago!. If all humans today were to die instantly, there would also be a large number of fossils!. True these fossils might not last a billion years, but they would easily last more than 5,000!.

There is also the issue that the fossil record indicates that life was rather primitive a billion years ago!. Not only is there no indication of a species capable of civilization, there is not even an indication of species which would have evolved into a species capable of civilization!. In fact, according to all available scientific evidence, the most sophisticated life a billion years ago was algea!. http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/History_of_!.!.!.

Looking at the enormous number of species leading from algea up to a species capable of civilization (us), we should imagine a similarly large number of life forms leading up to whatever species might have developed civilization a billion years ago!. And those more advanced forms of life have left no fossils behind!. Somehow we have fossils of primitive life going back 2 billion years or so (http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Fossil_reco!.!.!. ), but no record of the many, many species that would have been required for life to evolve to the point of civilization a billion years ago!.

It's a fascinating idea, but I think the evidence pretty much rules it out as a biological possiblity!. Now it may be logically possible, or physically possible for such a civlization to have existed a billion years ago, but mere possiblity is no reason to believe it true!. It is logically and physically possible, for example, for unicorns to exist, but that doesn't mean we should think they do!.

Thought provoking question, by the way!.Www@QuestionHome@Com