Prometheus - Very Bad 'Creationist' Science.

Started by 180924609, Mar 31, 2012, 09:37:29 PM

Author
Prometheus - Very Bad 'Creationist' Science. (Read 23,268 times)

180924609

180924609

Imagine the greatest science fiction story of all time - 2001.

And then imagine the greatest science fiction story of claustrophobic horror of all time - ALIEN.

Then imagine Ridley Scott tries to trump ALIEN above 2001 - congratulations, you just imagined:
PROMETHEUS.

But only a complete fool would attempt to portray the ancient history of human beings as the pre-determined work of a fairy-like 9-foot-tall race of slap-head giants.

Has Ridley Scott / Jon Spaihts / Damon Lindelof not being paying attention to the last 100+ years of science? Apparently not if 'fission' is part of 21st century achievement [according to Peter Wayland].

Life on Earth absolutely does NOT require any creator. Human beings absolutely DID NOT just spontaneously emerge one day, where nothing existed before.

How utterly naive to class the species of 'humans' as the number one, priority species of Earth. That is total creationist mentalism!

No matter how great this movie becomes in terms of mysterious plot, visual effects, small Space Jockeys, proto xenos etc, it will always fail to grasp my imagination because it totally fails on a very fundamental level - very bad science.

This movie will always be a 2001 and ALIEN wannabe.

FAIL.

The Space Jockey - ruined.

ALIEN - ruined.

Ridley Scott - ruined, you are retired.

First Blood

Aren't you jumping to conclusions? It's not even out yet.

Cvalda

Oh, you've seen the movie? Cool.

Calm the f**k down. ::)
We don't know how the ancient astronaut stuff is going to play out. It could be handled very well. At any rate, it was the avenue that HAD to be taken with the Space Jockey, because it is FAR too human-like originally to be some completely unrelated alien species.

Also: this is a movie. It is not a documentary. It's science fiction.

Wobblyboddle77

Go back under whatever trolling rock you emerged from with your draconian one dimensional view, you have no place in these forums.

Cvalda

Also, as silly as the ancient astronaut hypothesis is, it is not "true" creationism. You want true, braindead creationism, you flip through a Bible. At least ancient astronaut hypothesis is sexy and makes for good entertainment.

Predaker

Predaker

#5
I agree... we haven't even seen the movie yet. The trailer did not lead me to believe this movie is about creationism. I have hopes that Ridley will deliver a masterpiece for the "Alien" universe.  ;)

Spidey3121

b/c Prometheus would totally be the first movie to suggest Earth was seeded by Aliens...

... if that is in fact what it's suggesting, which, as stated, remains unknown

Ulfer

Ulfer

#7
This is a work of fiction.
You're going to tell me : science fiction. But SF is a very large thing, that encompasses many genres. Hard SF is only a sub-genre of it. SF has become a loose word, it seems, which is maybe the core of the problem (and I think that there are maybe problems in some areas in what regards distinctions between fantasy and SF).
There are people that like or only like truly hard SF. There is nothing wrong in that... Except when they criticize works that are not hard SF by using hard SF arguments.
Another problem is the fact that in SF the fiction element prevails 90% of the time (I'm gentle). It is a literary/cinematographic etc. genre. The science serves the story, not the inverse.

QuoteBut only a complete fool would attempt to portray the ancient history of human beings as the pre-determined work of a fairy-like 9-foot-tall race of slap-head giants.

I don't see why. As an idea, it is 100% valid to build a story upon. What matters here is the execution. As for the science aspect, there are several things to consider : it can be the scientific truth/reality of the universe of fiction where the work is located (what matters is the coherence of the fictional universe). 2 : there is no problem with the notion that a very advanced species can create/manipulate life, leading to a human-like species. Unless we deal with a more drastic approach, but that would be coherent (for instance, the SJs or aliens control and manage Earth's ecosystem for millenias, or I don't know...). 3 : we haven't seen the movie  ;D : if the SJs or another race has been instrumental in the homo sapiens origins, then it's by modifying (mutation, strange black veins, huh ?) other hominids, or it can be simply by helping them for example (Prometheus with the fire).

In a work of SF, I've nothing against a well-made and well-grounded "ancient astronaut" basis. I can even accept a bit of facility in the concept, if the rest is good.
I would be more stricken by things like : a Space Jockey that would have the power to create xenomorphs, but that would have a flawed body (naturally very fat, non-symetrical, one-legged, or else ;D) ::) ;D... "Hey, we've just created the "perfect organism" to destroy ennemies ! - Cool, maybe you should consider upgrading yourselves a little bit." (that's for some artistic interpretations of the SJs, that are very good... but not in practice ;)).

Quoteas silly as the ancient astronaut hypothesis is, it is not "true" creationism

Indeed.
The idea upon which Prometheus is built is good, in so far as it is a "weak" ancient astronaut theory : there has been a contact, but there hasn't been, for example, pyramids built on Antarctica to house AVP conflicts.

deepelemblues

Someone thought if 1 Xanax made them chill, 10 would make them mega-chill.

No. 10 Xanax turn you into a raging monster.

Someone took 10 Xanax and decided to start a thread.

This is that thread.

Zeta Reticuli

@180924609
i agree with everything you said, but still i have hope the movie is not going to totally f*ck it up.
science-fiction will always be science-FICTION, the trick is to keep the fictional themes on a level where it doesn't get ridiculous, and Prometheus so far seems to be... quite "on the edge" with its concepts.

ThisBethesdaSea

Well the original post was the most idiotic post I've read in a while. Thanks, that was fun. ;)

Predaker

Quote from: Ulfer on Mar 31, 2012, 10:11:27 PM... but there hasn't been, for example, pyramids built on Antartica to house AVP conflicts.

Thanks for clarification on that last part. You rock.  ;D

Deuterium

Quote from: Cvalda on Mar 31, 2012, 09:44:26 PM
Also, as silly as the ancient astronaut hypothesis is, it is not "true" creationism. You want true, braindead creationism, you flip through a Bible. At least ancient astronaut hypothesis is sexy and makes for good entertainment.

Cvalda, I realize we may fundamentally disagree as to matters of Faith/Religion.  However, I would make a clear distinction between those who take many parts of the Old Testament literally, from those who understand it should be read with a critical appreciation of mythology, poetry, and metaphor.  In general, Fundamentalist / "Creationists" take the Old Testament absolutely literally.  They do not recognize or acknowledge the fact that the Old Testament does not represent a scientific cosmology.  This mind-set extends to the "modern" emergence of what is called "Intelligent Design", which is exclusively a fundamentalist/creationist agenda.

You have commented on the perceived "cognitive dissonance" between Faith/Religion and Science.  I absolutely agree that this would definitely be a problem, if one were to hold an absolute, literal interpretation of the Old Testament.  However, speaking from a particular Catholic perspective, this was not the position held or advocated by the founders of the Church, nor held by it's greatest apologists (St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, etc.).  This rigid, absolute, "literal" interpretation of the Bible is something perculiarly unique to a seqment of the American protestent/evangelical movement, which had it's origins in the 19th century.  Unfortunately, due to it's apparent influence within "modern" American culture, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that neither the Church (Catholic) nor the main European Protestant denominations hold (nor held) such an absolutist view.

Cvalda

Quote from: Deuterium on Mar 31, 2012, 10:31:20 PM
Cvalda, I realize we may fundamentally disagree as to matters of Faith/Religion.  However, I would make a clear distinction between those who take many parts of the Old Testament literally, from those who understand it should be read with a critical appreciation of mythology, poetry, and metaphor.  In general, Fundamentalist / "Creationists" take the Old Testament absolutely literally.  They do not recognize or acknowledge the fact that the Old Testament does not represent a scientific cosmology.  This mind-set extends to the "modern" emergence of what is called "Intelligent Design", which is exclusively a fundamentalist/creationist agenda.
The literal interpreters vastly outweigh any of the others, and shout the loudest culturally. Not that any particular interpretation has any more relevance than the next, considering the highly dubious source material.

Wobblyboddle77

Quote from: ThisBethesdaSea on Mar 31, 2012, 10:27:09 PM
Well the original post was the most idiotic post I've read in a while. Thanks, that was fun. ;)
My sentiments exactly :)

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