Dwarka: The Lost City

I recently came across the following video which describes the discovery of a city off the western coast of Gujarat. The video makers were clearly very excited by the speculation that this city could be 9000 to 32000 years old.

The video persuasively discusses how the discovery of such a city could topple all understanding of ancient civilizations. It describes the findings of an expedition by the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), and it also features 4 foreign speakers who have written or published books.

This video is an excellent example to discuss a very important concept.

Pseudoscience: how to recognize it

• There are no scientific reports that describe this discovery.

When scientists make new discoveries, they announce them to the world by writing "papers". These "papers" or simply, scientific reports, are published in scientific journals and are ideally, peer-reviewed. Peer review means that each scientist's claims are verified by a few reviewers (who are also experts) and are only then put before the rest of the world.

The above video was supposedly aired by The History Channel, which, for all practical purposes should be a credible source of information. Except those who get their science from the scientific journals directly, everyone relies on scientific communication to remain updated. However, this has several, SEVERAL pitfalls.

• There are several scientific reports regarding the marine expeditions by NIO, but none of them talk of such an old city.

I found 4 papers, but none of them discuss anything older than 6000 BC. Hence, the expedition was definitely described by scientists and it just doesn't make sense for them to not describe this particular discovery. Papers I found:

1. Marine Archaeological Explorations Off Dwarka, Northwest Coast of India
   [published in 1987]
2. Ancient shorelines of Gujarat, India, during the Indus civilization (Late MidHolocene):A study based on archaeological evidences
   [published in 1999]
3. A group of 20 stone anchors from the waters of Dwarka, on the Gujarat Coast, India
   [published in 2001]
4. Marine Archaeological Exploration on the Western Coast, Gulf of Khambhat
   [published in 2008]

• None of the foreign speakers are reliable experts.

The video shows the speakers Graham Hancock, Michael Cremo, David Childress and Giorgio Tsoukalos discussing alternate archaeological theories. Every single one of these speakers is controversial, and is considered to have dabbled in pseudo-archaeology. Graham Hancock has a degree in sociology, David Childress did not finish college, Giorgio Tsoukalos has a degree in sports information and communication [all this from their Wikipedia pages, Michael Cremo's page did not reveal his major in college].

The video introduces each author with their achievements, and the audience thinks it should be impressed.  But their books are market successes, instead of being "achievements"! It is unfortunate that alternate science receives far more attention than real, authentic science. Some of these speakers also have their own websites, where nominal activities are highlighted as major scientific achievements.

While questioning mainstream theories is certainly appreciable, an alternate theory must never be believed without proper evidence. Also, please do not believe or disbelieve speakers on the basis of their nationality or skin color.

• The source shown in the video is incorrect.

The video displays the link history.com/aliens in a bid to show the source (and mentioning the source is ALWAYS a good idea). However, a quick search for "Dwarka" on the same link turns up no results.

There is a good chance that The History Channel took down this video later on, after having aired this exciting and controversial topic.

A quick search on YouTube or even Quora show up results by several different people who all the say the same things. There are speculations on why this result was suppressed, and there are conspiracy theories regarding western pressure on India academia, lack of funds and religious propaganda. I'm confident that most of these posts have no reliable sources, but a rumour circulated enough begins to turn into fact.

And that is how pseudo facts are born.

The right kind of Science

The right kind of Science comes with reputable sources. And the only reputable sources are peer-reviewed scientific journals. Anything that is being "reported" outside the scientific community is either pseudo-science (meaning, NOT science) or a fact that has not yet been tested/proved.

The right kind of Science also does not make any extra conclusions based on little evidence. For example, this blog post can be concluded with the following points:

• There have been no findings regarding a city 9000-32000 years old, off the western coast of Gujarat (the city discussed in the video).
• This does not mean that such a city does not exist. It means such a city has not been discovered.
• If such a city is discovered in the future, it must be believed only after looking at reliable scientific evidence. Such evidence will likely be welcomed by the global scientific community.
• One MUST NOT believe everything one reads or hears about, unless it comes from the right sources. One must be aware that scientific results are often twisted, misunderstood or exaggerated to support religious or political beliefs. Opinions and theories also change with time and new evidence.

I would be happy to verify any related content and discuss it further.

-------------------------------------

Here's a related comic by one of my favorite websites: phdcomics.com

You can subscribe to phdcomics here. Or you can subscribe to my blog here (and I'd love that more).