Sleep's YouTube Debunker of Graham Hancock

There is a series on Netflix by Graham Hancock, who is one of my few heroes, who presents the interesting (and I believe true) possibility that towards the end of the last big climatic shift, about 12,000 years ago, a semi-global civilization that did a lot of work in stone, existed. (The greatest pyramid, which is also the oldest one, and the Sphinx, which was originally a lion, were built around that time when that area of Egypt was actually warm and wet, and there is proof of that from water-wear marks.)

Anyway, there is a 4-part series where Hancock presents some possible evidence of this from various areas around the world, that some of the survivors of the civilization went from the Middle East to the New World and other places and taught the natives how to build, do agriculture, and so forth. He makes a good case, and I’ve been reading about such things since the late ’80s, so I’m familiar with these ideas and strongly suspect the notion of at least one other great human civilization existing and then being wiped out makes a lot of sense. There are legends and myths around the globe that agree to this narrative.

The last time I visited at their townhouse apartment, Sleep wanted to put on this young 20-something guy (that totally reminds me of a young Val “Bananaman”) with longish hair who plays armchair expert and debunks all these silly things on the internet… including Graham Hancock’s show.

Now, Hancock doesn’t claim to be a scholar, he’s a journalist, but he asks why so many archeological experts simply refuse to even examine possible evidence that would back the idea he keeps finding all over the world that this ancient civilization even existed. From what Sleep said, this smarty-pants 20s guy refutes many of the things that Hancock points out.

I felt defensive right away, like, why would Sleep want to present something to challenge something I said might be interesting to check out sometime? I asked if he watched Hancock’s special. He did not. But he was clearly impressed with the arguments the debunker brought out. I could already feel my inner arguer wanting to “right fight” — which was quite silly, since it was just something to think about, not a personal thing. But something about the way he wanted to play it, almost like to get a reaction out of me, that I found disturbing… I didn’t like it. And I knew I’d make a fool of myself if I let myself get triggered. I asked him to please not play it because I could tell I would be upset right now. The thing is, he’d already watched it, so the ONLY reason to re-play it would be to see what I said or did watching it, and I didn’t feel like that kind of “set up” was very nice. I mean, sure, it’s cool to debate sometimes, but I wasn’t in the mood for that at all. (And was afraid of being drawn into that mood, like it could be used against me..?)

I used to really want to convince people to see my point of view on the “world of the weird”– but I gave that up, like, 20 years ago or something? You can’t convince some people, even with proof, and I eventually learned that it was energy poured down the drain to even try, so I stopped engaging and saved my attention for those that deserve it. I know I can’t prove my abductions, for example, yet I know they happen due to a lot of proof– that was fleeting. I don’t even know if I still have that implant behind my left eye anymore. I assume so, but if I made a “thing” of it too much, would the aliens take it out to prevent it being found? They’ve done that to other abductees being investigated, so it’s possible!

Sleep’s had a LOT of freaky stuff happen to him over the last 3 years that have turned his beliefs upside down! So I wonder why he wanted to watch a smug young dude assure everyone that Hancock is off his rocker? And why did he want to watch ME watch this drama unfold? Just feeling like I was going to be evaluated in some way freaked me out a little. I may be over-dramatizing here, but it made me uncomfortable, like I was being set up for a “gotcha” kind of thing.

It’s one thing to be shown that I’m wrong. I’ve made plenty of mistakes for certain! But it’s another to make a point of humiliating me over it. Maybe he was hoping I’d debunk the debunker, but that’s not the vibe I got. It felt more like a challenge to something I’m not going around claiming at all in an active way, I really just think it’s highly possible, and isn’t that interesting? I don’t need my ego smashed down or anything!

I don’t know, maybe I’m being over-sensitive, but I’ve learned to listen to my instincts, and something about that interlude bugged me. I mean, clearly if I’m writing about it weeks later…