The Truth about Atlantis (2019)

Atlantis: Allegory vs. Historical Place

• Many commenters argue Atlantis is an explicit Platonic invention: a moral‑political allegory about hubris, seafaring democracies, and decay, akin to his other fictional devices (e.g., afterlife myths).
• They point to the convoluted “chain of transmission,” obvious anachronisms (war with Athens thousands of years before Athens existed), and lack of independent ancient references.
• Others counter that powerful myths (Troy, flood stories, Nibelungen, etc.) can preserve kernels of real events, so Atlantis might similarly derive from lost history.

Flood Myths and Geological Events

• The Black Sea Deluge hypothesis is repeatedly brought up as a candidate for the Genesis flood and Near Eastern myths.
• Critics note key mismatches: Genesis describes waters receding and land re‑emerging, whereas the Black Sea remains a sea; Ararat’s location doesn’t fit; and there is no evidence of a literal global flood.
• Megafloods (e.g., Storegga slide affecting Doggerland) are cited to show real catastrophic events, but commenters stress they don’t validate specific scriptural narratives.

Survey Semantics and Public Belief

• Several argue the cited survey question (“civilizations such as Atlantis”) is ambiguous: many respondents may simply be thinking of known advanced ancient states (Maya, Inca, Egypt, China), not a sunken super‑civilization.

Richat Structure and Sahara‑Atlantis Theories

• A substantial subthread debates whether the Eye of the Sahara could be Atlantis’s capital.
• Proponents cite concentric rings, nearby high ground, former green Sahara, supposed flood features, and concentrations of stone tools; they emphasize the hypothesis is falsifiable but under‑investigated.
• Skeptics respond that Richat is a well‑understood natural formation; Plato’s dimensions, layout, harbor, and polity don’t match; and there are no walls, pottery, metals, or urban remains—only routine Stone Age artifacts.
• Younger Dryas impact claims are challenged; the mainstream view favors glacial meltwater/Ocean circulation explanations, with no confirmed impact crater.

Lost Advanced Civilizations and Pyramids

• Some suggest Ice Age sea‑level rise or cataclysms could have erased advanced coastal civilizations, possibly linked to Egyptian pyramids or other megalithic sites.
• Others push back that pyramid construction and similar works are well within known ancient capabilities (timber, ramps, labor organization), and that supposed “impossible precision” or missing tools is overstated.
• Commenters warn that “ancient ur‑civilization” narratives often echo older racist frameworks that deny indigenous peoples’ achievements.

Evidence, Burden of Proof, and Pseudoarchaeology

• One camp insists that without material culture, genetic traces, or corroborating texts, a globe‑spanning 11k‑year‑old civilization or Atlantis‑empire is effectively disproven for practical purposes.
• Another camp stresses epistemic humility: absence of evidence is not proof of non‑existence, and unexplored sites (e.g., Sahara) warrant open‑minded inquiry.
• There is significant criticism of modern popularizers of “lost civilization” ideas, accused of cherry‑picking data, avoiding rigorous testing, and encouraging scientifically illiterate conspiratorial thinking.