crystals as they are thousands of times sharper than regular surgical scalpals? Just saying...in what way

have we left the stone age? Our homes are still brick and stone for the most part, we burn fossil fuels,

the wheel is still king and clan like behavior is still the norm. /blink.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

I believe it was in the Chicago Museum of Natural history where I learned about people surviving brain/skull surgery with stone tools. They have or had a skull that had a nice semi-square hole in it, the edges of the hole showed signs that bone had been regrowing. So using today's medicine standards if they don't die on the table but die a few weeks later, well the surgery was a success.

I'll have to disagree with you about dentistry tools, today's don't cut as easily but have much more shine and sparkle than the tools of the Spanish Inquisition.

Not to be a wet blanket, but do we know that anyone actually survived this procedure? While I think it remarkable that the ancients would attempt such a thing I can't even BEGIN to imagine what a crazy scene that must've been. With all the advances in medicine, why does dentistry still utilize tools that look straight out of the Spanish Inquisition?

I believe it was in the Chicago Museum of Natural history where I learned about people surviving brain/skull surgery with stone tools. They have or had a skull that had a nice semi-square hole in it, the edges of the hole showed signs that bone had been regrowing. So using today's medicine standards if they don't die on the table but die a few weeks later, well the surgery was a success.

I'll have to disagree with you about dentistry tools, today's don't cut as easily but have much more shine and sparkle than the tools of the Spanish Inquisition.

I think that generally the knowledge wasn't lost at first, just replaced by the next generation of how to do it better, until the skills were so specialized that the loss of a single persons knowledge brought it to an end. A hundred years ago many knew how to shoe a horse or build a wooden wheel but better, easier things came about and the skills are being forgotten. There are many plants that have medical uses but it's a lot easier to go down to the corner store to pick up a bottle of something to fix what ails you. I am amazed at skills that our ancestors had. Brain surgery with stone tools - how did they diagnose the problem and what conditions were they correcting?

Not to be a wet blanket, but do we know that anyone actually survived this procedure? While I think it remarkable that the ancients would attempt such a thing I can't even BEGIN to imagine what a crazy scene that must've been. With all the advances in medicine, why does dentistry still utilize tools that look straight out of the Spanish Inquisition?

WOW! /laugh.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> I DESPISE math, and I certainly would never need anything like that! Of course, if worse comes to worse, I don't think that the people making change at the store will really be the ones with the survival skills either! LOL!!

Just as long as the crew of Mythbusters survive, everything will be fine!

It's funny you should say that I have a sneaky feeling that the unemployed librarians had something to do w/Caesar's end...not to mention Brutus was next on the waiting list for Harry Potter's Deathly Hallows when it burned down. I'm always fascinated w/how the ancients or folks prior to the industrial revolution were able to get "the little things" done. I find it to be highly unwise to toss this kind of information aside because there may come a day when we may need to know how to do things manually again. As a precursor to how far we've dumbed down, just watch the folks at McDeath try to figure out how to make change w/out the computer. One grocery store I go to out here in California literally has an image of the change drawer and the segments are highlighted to show how many of each item is needed to make the correct change.

WOW! /laugh.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':huh:' /> I DESPISE math, and I certainly would never need anything like that! Of course, if worse comes to worse, I don't think that the people making change at the store will really be the ones with the survival skills either! LOL!!

I dunno. Ask the librarians at Alexandria.

It's funny you should say that I have a sneaky feeling that the unemployed librarians had something to do w/Caesar's end...not to mention Brutus was next on the waiting list for Harry Potter's Deathly Hallows when it burned down. I'm always fascinated w/how the ancients or folks prior to the industrial revolution were able to get "the little things" done. I find it to be highly unwise to toss this kind of information aside because there may come a day when we may need to know how to do things manually again. As a precursor to how far we've dumbed down, just watch the folks at McDeath try to figure out how to make change w/out the computer. One grocery store I go to out here in California literally has an image of the change drawer and the segments are highlighted to show how many of each item is needed to make the correct change.

I think that generally the knowledge wasn't lost at first, just replaced by the next generation of how to do it better, until the skills were so specialized that the loss of a single persons knowledge brought it to an end. A hundred years ago many knew how to shoe a horse or build a wooden wheel but better, easier things came about and the skills are being forgotten. There are many plants that have medical uses but it's a lot easier to go down to the corner store to pick up a bottle of something to fix what ails you. I am amazed at skills that our ancestors had. Brain surgery with stone tools - how did they diagnose the problem and what conditions were they correcting?

That's actually quite interesting! I hadn't looked at it that way before, but it certainly makes sense! Kudos!

So, why have we lost this knowledge?

I'm just putting that question out there, as I have read extensively on this subject, and have seen many of the theories out there as to what supposedly happened in the ancient past. I just want to know what everyone else feels is the reason for this theorized loss of knowledge.

I think that generally the knowledge wasn't lost at first, just replaced by the next generation of how to do it better, until the skills were so specialized that the loss of a single persons knowledge brought it to an end. A hundred years ago many knew how to shoe a horse or build a wooden wheel but better, easier things came about and the skills are being forgotten. There are many plants that have medical uses but it's a lot easier to go down to the corner store to pick up a bottle of something to fix what ails you. I am amazed at skills that our ancestors had. Brain surgery with stone tools - how did they diagnose the problem and what conditions were they correcting?

So, why have we lost this knowledge?

I'm just putting that question out there, as I have read extensively on this subject, and have seen many of the theories out there as to what supposedly happened in the ancient past. I just want to know what everyone else feels is the reason for this theorized loss of knowledge.

I dunno. Ask the librarians at Alexandria.

there are times when I walk into a situation (figuratively or literally) and I just get a REALLY BAD VIBE from it. It seems to me that "something" is telling me to watch out. Everytime I go against that feeling, I regret it. Is it our long lost animal instinct trying to nudge us a bit?

same here, monk. i am usually ok until i start being 'rational' and talking myself out of the warning feeling.

So, why have we lost this knowledge?

I'm just putting that question out there, as I have read extensively on this subject, and have seen many of the theories out there as to what supposedly happened in the ancient past. I just want to know what everyone else feels is the reason for this theorized loss of knowledge.

I think there are multiple things happening here. We're losing more and more knowledge as society continues to dumb down for the masses. I'm not a heartless man but I don't see why it's our responsibility to save EVERYONE. Look, if you're too stupid not to put the coffee in a cup holder in your car, why should McDeath have to pay when you burn yourself. It's called risky behavior, when you take risks there's a chance for negative AND positive consequences. I also happen to believe that the older more "evolved" we become, we lose our animal instinct(s) that served us so well for eons. Speaking for myself (and I'm sure there are others out there who would admit this) there are times when I walk into a situation (figuratively or literally) and I just get a REALLY BAD VIBE from it. It seems to me that "something" is telling me to watch out. Everytime I go against that feeling, I regret it. Is it our long lost animal instinct trying to nudge us a bit?

So, why have we lost this knowledge?

I'm just putting that question out there, as I have read extensively on this subject, and have seen many of the theories out there as to what supposedly happened in the ancient past. I just want to know what everyone else feels is the reason for this theorized loss of knowledge.

in many societies advanced knowledge is held by only a select few, ie shamans, priests and in our own day, high level advisors. once those with knowledge are removed for any reason the knowledge is lost also. if the 'common' citizen saw the results of the knowledge as say magic, then they may have not felt it was right or possible to access it, even wrong to do so.

just sort of rambling here, chad, as i really am not very well-read on this.