This makes me wonder if the Web is doomed:<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve all heard of the Ancient Aliens theory, a pseudoscientific belief that aliens built (among other things) the Egyptian pyramids. This week, however, history buffs on\u00a0TikTok<\/a>\u00a0were confronted with a brand new conspiracy theory: \u201cAncient Rome isn\u2019t real.\u201d<\/p>\n
This idea was put forward by @momllennial_, a history TikToker who often sparks controversy on the app. Previously, she\u2019s theorized that\u00a0Alexander the Great was a woman<\/a>, that Jesus Christ\u2019s name can be translated as \u201cclitoris healer<\/a>,\u201d and that the iconic\u00a018th century painting \u201cThe Swing\u201d<\/a> is full of hidden codes about the French revolution. Over the past few weeks she\u2019s posted a lot about Ancient Rome, including a TikTok claiming that \u201cHadrian\u2019s Wall can\u2019t be proven to be of Roman construction.\u201d\u00a0[daily dot<\/strong><\/a>]<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
There’s ruins, ancient documents, history, archaeology, all documenting Rome. But this person, whoever it is, flings out some baseless assertions and gets attention.<\/p>\n
Never mind that science is the search for truth. Attention!<\/p>\n
This makes me play with the idea that people respected for their hard work in academics may one day pull out of the Web, out of Twitter, Facebook<\/strong><\/em>, and their own web sites, leaving it to be the domain of those who, like some narcissists I’ve known, will monopolize anything<\/strong> in order to get attention. People have already announced they’re leaving Twitter<\/strong><\/em>, leaving Facebook<\/strong><\/em>. Will they take the next step out of the hog’s pen?<\/p>\n
And so much for Andreesen’s<\/a> dream of the Web democratizing information. When information is not prioritized by truth-value, it all becomes swill, swill of uncertain intellectual nutrition value.<\/p>\n
And will people walk away from that? Or will someone find a way to make the Web useful again?<\/p>\n
In the meantime, it’s a sort of … well … I apologize … a Greek tragedy, now isn’t it?<\/p>\n
For the most part though, the response to @momllennial_\u2019s theories came in the form of factual debunk TikToks and history jokes. Right now, HistoryTok is full of academics satirically mourning the end of their careers because Ancient Rome Isn\u2019t Real\u2014and people generally making fun of the drama.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This makes me wonder if the Web is doomed: We\u2019ve all heard of the Ancient Aliens theory, a pseudoscientific belief that aliens built (among other things) the Egyptian pyramids. This week, however, history buffs on\u00a0TikTok\u00a0were confronted with a brand new conspiracy theory: \u201cAncient Rome isn\u2019t real.\u201d This idea was put \u2026 Continue reading