Re: Forgeries and frauds in archaeology and the classics



george wrote:
>
> As long as there are 'believers' there will be forgeries and frauds.
> If archaeology can't produce evidence then some-one will create the
> Berringer stones or the Pitdown Man or the Vinland map.

First of all we have to define which side is the "believer" - and
"True Believer" is a tag associated with people who simply BELIEVE
something is fake - eg those aforementioned re the "Vinland map".

This post is a typical example of such "belief" as it relies on absurd
associations that are totally unrelated in any way as "evidence". Eg
the two URL's below. They prove nothing, but they build support for
wild unsupportable conspiracy theories and in their mind is "genuine"
evidence.
>
> http://www.caslon.com.au/forgeryprofile4.htm
>
> http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vinland/map-nf.html

The above site is typical of the totally unscientific writings that
are being pointed to. It is a collection of convenient statements,
unidentified photographs, claimed supporting a fake - completely
rejecting/ignoring other information also known to exist. But then,
isn't that the way of the True Believers?

> and the gullible will attempt to defend their beliefs in spite of
> their evidence being fraudulent

Indeed and I have pointed to such being the case for a certain person,
previously THOUGH to have some credibility. It was indeed "fraudulent"
in a scientific sense. One of the biggest intellectual frauds
committed by the True Believers (and defenders of establishment dogma)
is the DEMAND the starting point for an inquiry is that "It is a
forgery - no further proof required".

The correct position is that it be accepted as provisionally genuine,
until studies can be made if required - then it requires proof of it
being a fake, before it can be so labelled. After all this is the way
everyday life is - why should this be any different? Isn't history
part of life - a past life admittedly?

Of course this is a must from their POV, as otherwise THEY would have
to run the gauntlet of evidence, plausibility and logic - something
they cannot do.

If one was to look at "motive" solely - a very important consideration
for claiming "fake", as for a "fake" to exist a motive must also
exist. Only one such "theory" has been put forward. It is a claim to
say "it was to fool the Nazi's" (as if they would have cared - they
already fabricated what they wanted people to believe - eg "Aryan
race") - the perpetrator has been identified as a retires priest (Ref
Kirsten).

First of all the various time lines does not fit that conspiracy
theory. The "motive" is unbelievable as it would not do what has been
claimed - it is simply not plausible. Then the person, in their late
70'ies (IIRC) is supposed to have achieved text of less than a mm high
- most people would have difficulty reading after age 45 without a
good pair of glasses.

Secondly a person that age usually has somewhat shaky hands, as is
evident by the very angular writing they tend to have - and this is
excluding parkinson's. How on earth is such a person supposed to have
achieved a task that is impossible to achieve at ANY age - let alone
not all that long before the man's death.

So again - there is no SANE motive that is plausible. There is no
possibility of a person THAT age to have made a forgery so perfect
that modern high power microscopy cannot detect. There is no
possibility that a person ANY age can do the double inking to the
degree of perfection required.

Yet there are True Believers who DO believe the above..... yeah, talk
about the gullible!

--
Petty Criminal Stalkers need not reply
http://tinyurl.com/d2h2u
.

Relevant Pages

  • Why Rational People Have Irrational Beliefs
    ... Why Rational People Have Irrational Beliefs ... The Origin of Faith ... sociopolitical aspects) then it is belief without evidence. ... to the rescue of the believers in the moment of their need. ...
    (soc.culture.african.american)
  • Re: So much for "teach the controversy", an antidote for "Expelled"
    ... and that therefore the lack of this evidence is EVIDENCE ... jesus himself said that believers could drink poison and suffer no ... Jesus said that this would happen to certain believers not all ... They would hop to church, ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Collins to head NIH?
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    (talk.origins)
  • Re: The lefts war on Christianity
    ... I porpose that the evidence in the Bible is fiction, fable, myth and tribal tales with just enough history to make is palusible to those who have a need to blame someone for misfortune and to plead with for everlasting life. ... But it would defy the laws of physics and I'm somewhat partial to those laws. ... I learned a lot of that in Sunday School, and from a mother who was Christian. ... I thought this was about believers' intolerance for unbelievers and unbelievers' intolerance for believers. ...
    (rec.outdoors.rv-travel)
  • Re: Sean loses interest
    ... please do present your evidence. ... written on to make it into real life testing much less demonstration. ... radiometric measures of the age of the universe and extrapolations ... of stellar and planetary evolution. ...
    (talk.origins)