McFly!! Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 Is it just me or does the Mayan birdman/protoculture genesis theory from Macross Zero sound a lot like the ancient astronaut theory pitched in the history channel's shows Ancient Aliens and In Search of Aliens? Don't get me wrong, I don't subscribe to it. It's just scifi to me at this point. The parallelism is just interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickyg Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 If I recall correctly, it's a well established theory of the origins of life, known as "directed panspermia" or a variation of it, at least. That was my take when I watched the series. Here's an article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panspermia#Directed_panspermia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skullmilitia Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 Meh, it's only a option-able theory because the links between Neanderthal and Homosapien haven't yet fully been identified. But the theory it's self is only existent because we can't yet disprove it, because there is no proof to disprove it. I always ask my self.. what's more logical. We haven't found the location of ancient inter-special remains yet, or Aliens sent primitive version of themselves to screw up another planet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myk Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 Ah good 'ol Zero; those were the days... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-ZeroOne Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 Isn't the first time anime has taken that sort of thing as an inspiration; "Gatchaman II" was heavily influenced by "UFO Culture". And then, of course, theres "Mysterious Cities of Gold"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loop Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Anyway you look at it, the protoculture are Aliens to the human race. The people of the Mayan islands looked at it from a spiritual stand point and not a scientific one. As far as I can tell the Mayans are an ancient civilization that refused science because of the spiritual connection. So instead of trying to explain everything scientifically they based their creation story on the events of the protoculture arrival in ancient times. Also a lot of people think that there is magic going on in this OVA, but all of the mystical events are directly related to the protoculture tech that is buried under the ocean around the islands. Song energy effects the ancient artifacts found all over the island. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ly000001 Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Is it just me or does the Mayan birdman/protoculture genesis theory from Macross Zero sound a lot like the ancient astronaut theory pitched in the history channel's shows Ancient Aliens and In Search of Aliens? Don't get me wrong, I don't subscribe to it. It's just scifi to me at this point. The parallelism is just interesting. It's an old theory, popularized in the late '60s by Erich von Daniken's book Chariots of the Gods, and as others have pointed out, has been used in other anime besides Macross Zero. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB0 Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Meh, it's only a option-able theory because the links between Neanderthal and Homosapien haven't yet fully been identified. But the theory it's self is only existent because we can't yet disprove it, because there is no proof to disprove it. I always ask my self.. what's more logical. We haven't found the location of ancient inter-special remains yet, or Aliens sent primitive version of themselves to screw up another planet? Actually, modern understanding of the species lineage says neanderthal is not a predecessor of homo sapiens. They are a homo branch that forked off some time after homo erectus, and evolved independently of, and concurrently with, homo sapiens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelsain Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Actually, modern understanding of the species lineage says neanderthal is not a predecessor of homo sapiens. They are a homo branch that forked off some time after homo erectus, and evolved independently of, and concurrently with, homo sapiens. And got buizzaay! There's been evidence of cross breeding between the two. How viable the offspring were, though IDK. And why are we picking on M0? THe protoculture influence on humanity was clearly spelled out in SDFM. While I think the idea is realistically crap, I do enjoy several stories that use the idea, like Macross, Galactica, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Togo Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 And got buizzaay! There's been evidence of cross breeding between the two. How viable the offspring were, though IDK. Considering Neanderthal DNA makes up 2% of the genome of people of European and Asian descent, I'd say pretty viable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skullmilitia Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Actually, modern understanding of the species lineage says neanderthal is not a predecessor of homo sapiens. They are a homo branch that forked off some time after homo erectus, and evolved independently of, and concurrently with, homo sapiens. Yeah, I think you took me too on point. It's more of the missing piece of where we evolved from that created the Ancient Aliens theory. AFAIK we still just seemed to have "shown" up, right as Neanderthal disappeared. With some cross breeding before Homosapien took over. Until we really find that direct link between Sapien, and Simian it's going to continue fueling the theory of us being seeded on the planet. Which is a matter of perception, because technically speaking all life on earth would have became from riding an asteroid into primordial Earth. Macross Zero had a interesting concept, Even getting close to the theory of our race being genetically created by our future selves, but if you really want a cool story, watch Mission to Mars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB0 Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Ah. Well, at least I got an excuse to say "homo erectus" out of it. And yeah, there's a LOT of "alien intervention" sci-fi built around that missing link argument. Lot of good sci-fi, even. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-ZeroOne Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Its reasonably likely we're never going to find that direct link; leaving aside that the "human" fossil record is notoriously patchy (though always improving with new discoveries etc), most accounts of biology point out that it doesn't really work like that (direct link to direct link to direct link etc). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devil 505 Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Ah. Well, at least I got an excuse to say "homo erectus" out of it. And yeah, there's a LOT of "alien intervention" sci-fi built around that missing link argument. Lot of good sci-fi, even. That being said, the "Protoculture" could just as well be Cylons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skullmilitia Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Its reasonably likely we're never going to find that direct link; leaving aside that the "human" fossil record is notoriously patchy (though always improving with new discoveries etc), most accounts of biology point out that it doesn't really work like that (direct link to direct link to direct link etc). True, but with people only seeing MacroEvolution like Dogs and Cats, people have a hard time bridging Chimp to Human, even though we are nearly identical in DNA makeup. Then again, almost everything on earth shares a decent amount of DNA writing. Just invoking the ultimate truth that we are all just star dust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twoducks Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 I liked the theory when I was younger but what ultimatelly made me pass on the Ancient Aliens theory is that it does not really answer much. Ok, great, we were seeded/aided by aliens, but who seeded/aided THEM? Where they seeded by even more Ancient Aliens? And those? By Super Über Ancient Aliens? From that point of view the theory turns into and endles Russian doll unless one admits that at least one species did evolve and developed technology unaided. And if one did then that means that our ancestors could also have developed and advanced unaided. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelsain Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 (edited) Its reasonably likely we're never going to find that direct link; leaving aside that the "human" fossil record is notoriously patchy (though always improving with new discoveries etc), most accounts of biology point out that it doesn't really work like that (direct link to direct link to direct link etc). Well, direct, no - but the record is pretty good, and getting better all the time. Because of the mechanisms of fossilization, only about 3% of the worlds' species have been represented. This still gives us a pretty good overall picture of Life on Earth, but still just a rough outline. The problem with ideas like these is that they exist to fill a gap in understanding. As that gap closes, the idea becomes more and more preposterous. What Macross 0 did that was interesting for me, was to give a mechanism to the intervention. The Protoculture didn't create life on Earth, nor introduce humans directly into the world - they altered the process of evolution to result in a desired outcome. Would this really work - no, not likely. Does it address the issue and help suspend one's disbelief? At least somewhat. Am I willing to look past it because I love this series? Yeah! Edited October 2, 2014 by Kelsain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynaman Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 The one episode of Futurama handled the whole missing link thing very well. From the title of the thread all I could think of was this thread might be about an alien dating service (Lack of sleep this morning...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devil 505 Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 The one episode of Futurama handled the whole missing link thing very well. From the title of the thread all I could think of was this thread might be about an alien dating service (Lack of sleep this morning...) I honestly wouldn't mind dating a non-micronized Meltrandi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marzan Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 I honestly wouldn't mind dating a non-micronized Meltrandi. The relationship would have to be clearly platonic. Otherwise the logistics of it all would be cumbersome and dangerous to say the least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-ZeroOne Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 "Is that your boyfriend in your pocket or...?" Regards the human fossil record, I know that its getting better all the time, I'm just trying to point out (and this actually goes for all species) there will probably never be a fossil you can point to and say (in a 1950s public broadcast voice) "And THIS, gentlemen, is the exact moment we stopped trying to eat rocks and invented cuisine!". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vifam7 Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 The relationship would have to be clearly platonic. Otherwise the logistics of it all would be cumbersome and dangerous to say the least. Death by snu-snu! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marzan Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 Exactly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McFly!! Posted October 4, 2014 Author Share Posted October 4, 2014 The relationship would have to be clearly platonic. Otherwise the logistics of it all would be cumbersome and dangerous to say the least. Lol! The vag would pound you! XD Surprised that nobody has brought up 'Prometheus' yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renegadeleader1 Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Lol! The vag would pound you! XD Surprised that nobody has brought up 'Prometheus' yet You mean Gag Factor: Scifi Edition? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dio Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Slightly off topic, but I had to share because I find it hilarious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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