fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: October 06, 2005 09:29PM

Event Geological time (Number of years before present)
Comments
0.00
Present
0

0.0005
Modern man
10,000

0.01
Neanderthal man
100,000

0.03
First use of fire
500,000

0.06
Worldwide glaciation
1,100,000

0.07
Homo erectus
1,300,000

0.08
Linking of North and South America
1,500,000

0.08
Oldest stone tools
1,600,000

1.15
Beginning of Quaternary period (end Tertiary/Neogene)
23,000,000

0.15
Australopithecus
3,000,000

0.50
Beginning of Antarctic ice caps
10,000,000

0.50
Opening of Red Sea
10,000,000

0.75
Formation of Himalayan Mountains
15,000,000

1.15
Beginning of Tertiary/Neogene period (end Paleogene)
23,000,000



1.25
First evidence of ice at the poles
25,000,000

2.00
Collision of India with Asia
40,000,000

2.50
Early horses
50,000,000

2.50
Separation of Australia and Antarctica
50,000,000

3.00
Early primates
60,000,000

3.00
Opening of Norwegian Sea and Baffin Bay
60,000,000

3.00
Alps form
60,000,000

3.25
Beginning of Tertiary/Paleogene period
65,000,000

3.25
Beginning of Cenozoic Era
65,000,000
"recent life"

3.25
Cretaceous Period, Mesozoic Era end
65,000,000

3.25
Dinosaurs became extinct
65,000,000

4.00
Rocky Mountains form
80,000,000

7.00
Cretaceous Period begins (Jurassic ends)
140,000,000

7.50
Early flowering plants
150,000,000

9.00
Early birds and mammals
180,000,000

10.40
Jurassic Period begins (end Triassic)
208,000,000

11.00
Opening of Atlantic Ocean
220,000,000

12.25
Triassic Period begins
245,000,000

12.25
Beginning of Mesozoic Era (end Paleozoic)
245,000,000
"middle life"

14.00
Final assembly of Pangaea
280,000,000

14.50
Beginning of Permian period (end Carboniferous/Pennsylvanian)
290,000,000

16.25
First reptiles
325,000,000

16.15
Beginning of Carboniferous/Pennsylvanian period (end Mississippian)
323,000,000

18.15
Early trees, formation of coal deposits
363,000,000

18.15
Beginning of Carboniferous/Mississippian period (end Devonian)
363,000,000

20.45
Beginning of Devonian period (end Silurian)
409,000,000

21.50
Early land plants
430,000,000

21.95
Beginning of Silurian period (end Ordovician)
439,000,000

24.50
Early fish
490,000,000

25.50
Beginning of Ordovician period (end Cambrian)
510,000,000

28.50
Early shelled organisms
570,000,000



28.50
Beginning of Cambrian period (end of Precambrian time)
570,000,000
rise of multicellular animals

28.50
Beginning of Paleozoic Era
570,000,000
"ancient life"

28.50
Beginning of Phanerozoic Eon (end Proterozoic)
570,000,000
"visible life" (or 544 million years ago)

35
Early multicelled organisms
700,000,000

40
Breakup of early supercontinent
800,000,000

70
Formation of early supercontinent
1,400,000,000

60
First known animals
1,200,000,000

125
Beginning of Proterozoic Eon (end Archeon)
2,500,000,000
"earlier life"

135
Buildup of free oxygen in atmosphere
2,700,000,000

170
Early bacteria & algae
3,400,000,000

190
Oldest known Earth rocks
3,800,000,000

200
Beginning of Archeon Eon
4,000,000,000

230
Precambrian time begins
4,600,000,000

230
Origin of earth
4,600,000,000

ToucanSam Report This Comment
Date: October 06, 2005 09:37PM

And so where did Jesus come in here? 2000 years ago. About 8000 years after "modern man". Nice supernatural story. Has some, ok, values.

fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: October 06, 2005 09:56PM

jesus and modern man (homo erectus) are just a blink in the time scale. i have a poster that is awesome with extinctions and emergences of species. not sure how to get it shrank to size to post.

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 07, 2005 12:00AM

Show me a planet in a solar system anywhere else with the diversity of life forms and the climate, water, and atmosphere to sustain it. If the "invisible man" didn't actually put us here, then I'd guess he supplied the ingredients. I sure as hell hope that this isn't an accident.

fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: October 07, 2005 12:39AM

there are SO MANY galaxies out there that we can't even comprehend the #. there has to be a similar existence somewhere.

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 07, 2005 01:25AM

Hope it's better there!

pro_junior Report This Comment
Date: October 07, 2005 01:42AM

maybe....just maybe...maybe at one time or another all of the planets in our galaxy were much like earth and inhabited by human beings, but one by one the people destroyed their planets, just as we are doing to ours...maybe...

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 07, 2005 03:36AM

I hope God drinks beer.

John_Stone Report This Comment
Date: October 07, 2005 04:18AM

He sure does, just finished a few pints with the old guy the other night. He sends his regards, and wishes us all 'Good Luck'.

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 07, 2005 04:42AM

I'll consider everything lost, and gladly welcome death when man puts a fucking McDonald's on Mars.

ninepointfiver Report This Comment
Date: October 07, 2005 04:56AM

Gentlemen. you will suprised when your life has expired. You don't believe in God?...................For your sake, you better be right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I would like to ask after the fact, how hot is it???????

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 07, 2005 05:02AM

I don't think there's any atheists on a plane about to crash...that's for sure. Whose name will you call when your time is up?

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 07, 2005 05:06AM

What do you get when you have an agnostic insomniac with dyslexia?

A guy who lies awake all night wondering if there really is a dog.

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 07, 2005 05:12AM

Don't get me wrong, ninepointfiver...
I'm a person of faith, but have a sense of humor.
From what I've read in the Bible, it sure doesn't look like God does.

Anyway, sure was nice of Fossil_digger to post this neat chart up, huh? Cool.

ToucanSam Report This Comment
Date: October 07, 2005 04:56PM

Yea cool chart. It show the vastness of what man knows, and it should show how insignificant mankind is. Shure we are also destroying this planet in a matter of centuries, LOOK HOW FAR THE CHART GOES BACK. Time has been going on FOREVER, AN INFINATE amout of time, and it will continue on, regardless of "mankinds" state.

In my last moments I'd give 200% (i know it's impossible, but you get it) to privent my death. Because when you die, you lost the game of life. Life is all you have. Afterlife? Nice thought. Christianity has too many flaws. My last words have almost been, and probably be "shit" or "fuck". NICE CHART CHRISTIANS CAN'T EVEN FATHOM.

fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: October 07, 2005 09:22PM

reality, what a concept! science and religion will never coexist. but one things for sure; noone will sway my thinking w/o scientific facts. religious myth and legend are not fact in my book. i have to have factual proof. nothing i've ever seen can substantiate anything in any religion can provide.

John_Stone Report This Comment
Date: October 07, 2005 11:32PM

ninepointfiver@79212 : so, just out of curiosity, what personal experience do you have with the after life?

I would disagree with you fossil, they can coexists: spirituality can give a person the answer to 'why' we are here, whereas science is the 'how'. It also helps to give meaning in life, at least to some. It does also reiterate a moral code, which can be helpful. Basically, "Do unto others..." , and "Happiness through altruism". Although, those last are attainable from many sources.

fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: October 08, 2005 12:04AM

some people have to have someone else dictate to them whats right and whats wrong,sad, be yourself and dont follow. lead the way to a new consciousness.

ninepointfiver Report This Comment
Date: October 08, 2005 12:46AM

John, I haven't any experiences with the after life. It's all based on faith. That was my point, if you don't beleive, you'd better hope your right. I'm not trying to preach, it's just a thought.

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 08, 2005 12:50AM

I think that's pretty much how I feel, John.
Science and religion can co-exist. The world around us is so vast in its complexity, and so much of it goes well beyond our knowledge and comprehension. I think we would be pretty damn arrogant and shortsighted to think we can come up with a scientific explanation for everything.

fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: October 08, 2005 02:00AM

but there is an explanation for everything.....you just have to substantiate your evidence. some things are more easily proven than others. archaeologists have to make assumptions based on fact, along w/ paleontologists. but at least there are facts available, if you know how to look. religion is tied to history. depending on who you ask. religions only apply what they want to substantiate their own beliefs. do whatever makes you happy, cause happiness is the only (well almost) thing that counts.

John_Stone Report This Comment
Date: October 08, 2005 07:30PM

"All belief makes us insolent; newly acquired, it inspires the worst intincts; people who do not share it appear eithyer impotent or vanquished, deserving only pity and scorn. Consider the neophytes in politics and especially religion, all those who have managed to interest God in their arrangements, the converts, the /nouveaux/ /riches/ of the Absolute. Compare their impertinence with the modesty and ghte good manners of those who are in the process of losing their faith and their convictions..." -- E.M. Cioran

John_Stone Report This Comment
Date: October 08, 2005 07:31PM

"To eliminate from oneself the toxins of time in order to retain those of eternity -- such is the mystic's child's play." -- E.M. Cioran

fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: October 09, 2005 01:36AM

2 very good quotes, thankx bro.

John_Stone Report This Comment
Date: October 09, 2005 02:15AM

Thanks, here's two more. The first one is for 90130.

John_Stone Report This Comment
Date: October 09, 2005 02:16AM

"In the crucial ordeals, a cigarette is more effective help that the Gospels." -- E.M. Cioran

John_Stone Report This Comment
Date: October 09, 2005 02:16AM

And for Christians generally:

John_Stone Report This Comment
Date: October 09, 2005 02:17AM

"Without the vigilance of irony, how easy it would be to found a religion! Merely allow the gawkers to collect around our loquacious trances." -- E.M. Cioran

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 09, 2005 03:08AM

That's fine, John...except I don't smoke.

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 09, 2005 03:13AM

I know I posted this somewhere;
What do you get when you have an agnostic insomniac with dyslexia?
A guy who lies awake all night wondering if there really is a dog.

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 09, 2005 03:16AM

Personally, I don't think these quotes have anything relevant to say about why we're here.
I'd like to think that my life is something more than accidental. All of us have a purpose, whatever that may be.

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 09, 2005 03:21AM

[www.spikemagazine.com]

Looks like he was pretty miserable.

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 09, 2005 03:28AM

By the way, one of my customers brought over some home made chicken noodle soup and fresh baked bread today. She said I'm one of the nicest people she knows. So there.

fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: October 09, 2005 03:38AM

i found a really good philosophy site, drop this off and search more."The world is a teeming mishmash of cultures with a bewildering array of values and ideologies engaged in their own version of the good life. People are generally not interested in changing the metaphors through which they view the world, so real understanding between groups with conflicting viewpoints is not achievable in the short term. The good news is, that's OK, because the world isn't supposed to be saved on a global scale. It must be saved at the level of the individual. And despite the fact that the level of the individual appears to be statistically insignificant, it is in fact the most significant, because it is only at the level of the individual that a creative synthesis of conflicting metaphors can occur. Once a connection is made at the individual level, the process of spreading successful new metaphors throughout society is essential automatic if the society is ready for them. If the society is not ready, the new metaphors will not be accepted under any circumstances. So don't beat you head on a rock. Solve your own interpersonal communication problems. If the world is ready to benefit from your solutions, you will not be able to stop it from using them."

fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: October 09, 2005 04:07AM

damn you guys, you made me dig up my OLD philosophy books, and now i'm sleepy! lol. just like college. i never have aligned myself with any specific discipline. taoism is very interesting. lots to think about there! check it out.

ToucanSam Report This Comment
Date: October 09, 2005 01:01PM

The post before last is good. Completly makes sense.

fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: October 09, 2005 02:03PM

thankx, i thought it was pertinent