PureInsight | June 16, 2003
[PureInsight.org] Removing the Veil from Prehistoric Civilizations is a book on prehistoric culture that is a part of the officially published Zhengjian Book Series.
Looking back at the archeological findings mentioned in the preface to this book [http://www.pureinsight.org/pi/articles/2003/1/13/1324.html], we couldn't help but ask in our heart – why would the opinions presented in these findings differ greatly from our current views and even conflict with the content of our school textbooks? I remember our textbook stated that human civilization is no older than 10,000 years. If the development of human civilization has indeed been as the textbook says, then how do we explain the metal tools and other remains of human civilizations from millions of years ago?
The questions provoked by these archaeological findings provide us with a great opportunity to re-study ourselves and also compel us to re-examine the accuracy of our history of human development. Unfortunately, most scientists do not cherish this opportunity. Instead, they fail to make a breakthrough simply because the findings contradict the theory they were taught. Why? Most likely because they would have to challenge the whole model of evolution theory. Theories and doctrines developed from the model of evolution theory, which has existed for more than one hundred years, have deeply influenced the development of modern science and society. Many scientists have become trapped within these theories and are unable to think outside of them. Existing notions make them ignore findings that cannot be included within the description of evolution, and they completely reject these findings.
In 1880, geologist J. D. Whitney from California in the U.S.A. published a long article in which he described tools he found in gold mines in California. These tools included several spearheads, stone bowls and stone pestles. They were found in a layer of volcanic rock that had never been touched, which was located deep beneath the gold mine. Geologists confirmed these rock layers might have formed from 9 million to 55 million years ago. However, Mr. Holmes, a member of the Smithsonian Institute and also a famous commentator on the nineteenth-century California Discovery, made this comment: "Maybe, if the professor had completely understood the history of human evolution like people today, he may have hesitated to publish his conclusions showing that humans existed in prehistoric North America, even though his findings were so glorious."(Not an exact quote.). In other words, if the discovered facts do not conform to commonly accepted notions, no matter how convincing the evidence is, they will still have to be discarded and will not be accepted by mainstream science. These important archaeological discoveries can only be presented as underground archaeological findings but cannot be taken further and presented in front of the general public.
Other than rejecting evidence that challenges authoritative theory, there have also been instances where fake evidence was invented to uphold authoritative theory in the field of science. Among these, the most famous is the Piltdown Man Hoax. In the early 20th century a lay collector, Charles Dawson, found several human skulls in Piltdown. Soon, scientists Arthur Smith Woodward from the British Museum and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin joined the archaeological effort. They found an orangutan jaw and several ancient mammal fossils. Dawson and Woodward thought if they joined the human skull and the orangutan jaw, they could create a human ancestor fossil from the early Pleistocene or late Pliocene era, and this combination would be a powerful proof of the validity of evolution theory. They immediately announced the discovery of Piltdown Man to the scientific world. However, forty years later, J. S. Weiner, K. P. Oakley and other British scientists exposed the hoax. This hoax was perpetrated by people who were well acquainted with current professional scientific technology. Let us take a look at this stunning list of names: Arthur Smith Woodward from the British Museum, Arthur Keith from the Hunter Museum and the Royal College of Physicians. William Sollas from the Cambridge Institute of Geology, the famous anatomist Eliot Smith, and Dawson and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. These were all greatly respected professionals! After exposing the hoax, Weiner said, "If Piltdown Man did not exist (a Darwinian might have said), 'we'd have to invent him'. If a missing link was found, it would definitely prove that man had evolved from the same ancestors as modern apes, and if the missing link were found in Britain, so much the better…"
The occurrence of similar hoaxes fully demonstrates that because of a biased research attitude, some scientists have lost their most respected qualities of honesty and integrity, and will go to any length to make up for the loopholes in existing theories in order to obtain or keep their academic standing. If scientists can examine all evidence with objectivity and a just attitude, such study would reveal the true face of history. In fact, new concepts are naturally suspected when first proposed. Evolution theory faced a similar situation when it was first made public; the only difference was that it was studied further later. However, the basis of the study of evolution theory might have shifted if it were not for people who suppress and reject cases which might disprove evolution theory. These people do not objectively examine all the evidence; instead, they purposely filter out evidence that contradicts evolutionary theory. However, were we to examine and compare many archaeological findings, they would point out the limitations of modern theories of human development. If we can correlate these archaeological findings, including human footprints, remains of ancient organisms, prehistoric civilizations with religion and history, they can help us construct another track of human development.
For example, in Buddhist scriptures, Buddha Sakyamuni said he obtained the Dao hundreds of millions of years ago, which means ancient cultivators think human existence (or at least cultivation in the Dao) has a history of hundreds of millions of years. This claim is consistent with the information brought by Minster's trilobite. Of course, this conclusion needs to be proved by more research, but it does remind us that if we are willing to change our attitudes and notions, a wider road will open in front of us, and this study is absolutely worthy of our time and money! If human beings did not evolve from apes, if these prehistoric relics from tens of millions of years ago were indeed left by people who lived in different time periods, then our studies of these findings can help us decipher the historic tracks upon which prehistoric human beings developed, reached their climax and headed toward destruction. I believe it will not only help us to learn more about ourselves, it will absolutely help us create a bright future!
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2003/3/24/20958.html
