Against Ice Age Civilizations

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Scott Alexander
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There’s a good debate about this on the subreddit; see also Robin Hanson and Samo Burja. You can separate these kinds of claims into three categories: 1 Civilizations about as advanced as the people who built Stonehenge 2 Civilizations about as advanced as Pharaonic Egypt 3 Civilizations about as...

There’s a good debate about this on the subreddit; see also Robin Hanson and Samo Burja.

You can separate these kinds of claims into three categories:

1 Civilizations about as advanced as the people who built Stonehenge

2 Civilizations about as advanced as Pharaonic Egypt

3 Civilizations about as advanced as 1700s Great Britain

The debate is confused by people doing a bad job clarifying which of these categories they’re proposing, or not being aware that the other categories exist.

2 and 3 aren’t straw men. Robert Schoch says the Sphinx was built in 9700 BC, which I think qualifies as 2. Graham Hancock suggests “ancient sea kings” drew the Piri Reis map which seems to depict Antarctica; anyone who can explore Antarctica must be at least close to 1700s-British level.

I think there’s weak evidence against level 1 civilizations, and strong evidence against level 2 or 3 civilizations.

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Samo Burja 3mos

Interesting essay by @slatestarcodex against Long History. While I ultimately disagree, I appreciate seeing nuanced and well-argued debate on this.