Comments on: Helping to dismantle the walls of deception, one brick at a time

Helping to dismantle the walls of deception, one brick at a time

owhydididoit — Wed, 21 May 2008 08:03:14 -0800

Catchpenny Mysteries of Ancient Egypt Explained by Larry Orcutt.

By: DU

DU — Wed, 21 May 2008 09:37:03 -0800

Good stuff, thanks. Semi-offtopic: NOVA's had more than one episode on various aspects covered here. None of them has had as much information as even a single page (none of which are all that long or detailed). Why is it that TV, a medium with a much higher bandwidth in every sense of the word, has a much lower information content?

By: Liquidwolf

Liquidwolf — Wed, 21 May 2008 10:13:17 -0800

Until a time machine is invented , I'm not buying any theories on the construction of the Pyramids.

By: owhydididoit

owhydididoit — Wed, 21 May 2008 10:15:06 -0800

Fascinating question, DU. My gut says that TV is like being spoonfed, whereas text is often more like going grocery shopping.

By: DU

DU — Wed, 21 May 2008 10:25:46 -0800

TV is like that, but that doesn't answer the question of why. I'm thinking this could be related: TV's huge bandwidth lets them present a lot of dazzling, hypnotic stuff that doesn't inform very much. That keeps people glued (good for ad revenue [or donations in the case of PBS]) but leaves them empty. I guess that makes it more like junk food than spoonfeeding. Whereas text with pictures is more like exercise. You hate it at first, but once "learner's high" sets in you wouldn't switch for the world. Hopefully "citizen video" on the internet will start to fix this problem. And jokes aside, there is some pretty good stuff on YouTube and elsewhere.

By: Slarty Bartfast

Slarty Bartfast — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:24:43 -0800

This is here is some fascinating stuff. I wish there existed an Egyptologist with academic credentials who could bring this field to life for lay people like me, a la Neil deGrasse Tyson with astronomy. What were you saying about TV and being spoonfed?

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:26:26 -0800

Until a time machine is invented , I'm not buying any theories on the construction of the Pyramids. That statement is so ironic seeing as how the pyramids were built as a giant time travel device!