FUN FRIDAY: Atlantis?

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OK, this one’s really off topic.

YouTube does weird things with its suggestion algorithm every so often. It seems to either forget you’ve seen something or just assume you might want to see it again. I vaguely remembered seeing this video when it first made the rounds about five years ago, and here it was again:

The very rational looking fellow in this video puts forth a very rational argument. He says that the so-called lost city of Atlantis is actually something called the “Richat Structure.” This structure, located on the west side of Africa, is distinctly not underwater. Right off, this should tell you the odds of finding Ariel the little mermaid are very slim indeed.

Actually he’s not that wacky.

The arguments he makes are pretty good. He tries to use some common sense and a dash of geology to make his point. At no time, in any way, at any time, does he try to invoke any Kryptonian legend or alien astronauts. He does mention Greek gods, but only in context. I mean, you’re talking about ancient Greek things.

After watching the video, I had to say, “it’s possible.” I mean, it could have happened this way. Some bizarre flood in the Sahara (which used to be a lush plain) could have swallowed up this geological formation. The rest could just be Plato getting high on his own supply, as often happened in antique times.

A better question is…

Really if you’re going to dive in, there’s a better question for you. Why do you care about Atlantis? There are tons of myths and legends that you don’t care about. Even if you only focus on Greece, there are tons of them. I mean, can you tell me the story of Cassiopeia? Can you name even one of the labors of Herakles? Why is it that Atlantis still captivates us?

The legend of Atlantis describes a society advanced far beyond ancient Greece. Some people believe advanced far beyond where we are now. Those people are probably wrong, but whatever. It’s interesting to us because we’re always looking for evidence of more advanced civilizations. Because of this, we still talk about aliens and monsters and old gods. It’s what keeps the superhero craze going. This just seems to be something hardwired into us.

Atlantis gives us some sort of hope that we’ll be better than we are. It’s a faraway, perfect land that we can’t ever go to. Of course, that makes us want to.

Is it plausible?

Yeah, it seems kind of plausible. Neither the video’s author nor I are well versed enough in geology to say if it is 100% true. Someone would have to mount a journey out there and try to find evidence of buildings. Someone who really does know geology would have to say that yes, there’s evidence that the whole thing flooded at one point.

Then again, this is also quite possibly the work of someone who found something that looks like the historical picture of Atlantis and just ran with that. People jump to conclusions like that all the time. Our brains are wired to find patterns where they don’t exist. It’s why you’ll go to this article and see a bunch of things that look like faces. They aren’t faces, and this probably isn’t Atlantis. But hey, maybe someone should check it out.

About the Author

Stuart Sweet
Stuart Sweet is the editor-in-chief of The Solid Signal Blog and a "master plumber" at Signal Group, LLC. He is the author of over 10,000 articles and longform tutorials including many posted here. Reach him by clicking on "Contact the Editor" at the bottom of this page.