Odd Job wrote:
It's a nice theory, but that is all it is. No one really knows where we are from or where we go to. We have beliefs and we have ideas, but everything we think we know is nothing more than conjecture...
That's not completely true, though it's true for many aspects of all of this.
I believe there's one great truth staring us in the face that causes the conjecture: our history only goes back a few thousand years though our genes [barring aliens] should go back millions.
Even with aliens, though, our genes should go back [and according to (mitochondrial) genetic research DO go back] 40 to 75,000 years, so where are the remains of civilisations from way back then and where are the builders of ancient sites?
We KNOW [i.e. not conjecture but common sense] that SOMETHING happened to our forebears and that our genetics only go back 40,000 to 75,000 years. Filling in the blanks may often come down to certain spuculation but it's not something that can be dismissed out of hand. There's always still remaining that great truth staring us in the face.
suz wrote:
I was under the impression from all that I had read that the level of destruction is different with each passing. I seem to think this time might not be as bad as the last passing. Meaning it won't mean a total or near total wipeout.
Could be, could be wishful thinking. Will you bet your life on it?
See the point i just made above: our forebears ALL died, more or less [sigh, you get what i mean]. Their civilisation WIPED OUT. Possibly billions dead. I don't see how that's comforting.
The one caveat i must place is that they could possibly all have died from the one-time Great Flood event and that the regular cosmic destruction that Paul LaViolette is talking about is like you suggest, not TOO bad (for anyone more or less prepared).
I say hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Mankind at large has no reason whatsoever to assume they're safe, particularly not with this stack of cards we call civilisation that we have now.