Mayan Temple Damaged by Parties

[Architect]

"Sadly, many tourists climbed Temple II and caused damage," said Osvaldo Gomez, a technical adviser at the site told AFP. It is forbidden to climb the temples. The nature of the damage was not described, but Gomez said it's "irreparable."

Mayan Temple Damaged by Parties

So, some idiots of our esteemed race come up with a wack-a-doodle theory about the end of the world, so therefore they must revere the Mayan's in some sense, or at least hold their calendar in high regards. But then in the process of being proven wrong they damage one of the few remaining artifacts we have from them - a world heritage site - due to their partying.

I try to maintain coolness in the face of unending stupidity but my limits are tested at times.

 

[Duxwing]

On the one hand, their partying is an outrage: the damage to the temple is irreparable. On the other hand, their partying possesses an absurd, ironic humor: what better way to recognize those who made a prediction that you believe than destroying one of their greatest heritage sites. Yet to cast the shadow of their destructive fun upon the entire human race is to commit the genealogical fallacy; not all of us are so foolish, and, more pertinently, not all of us go to parties. Nevertheless, the list of such non-foolish, non-partying individuals is not only up for debate, but subject to change in the presence of increasing or decreasing stimulus.

-Duxwing

 

[Cognisant]

It's the old wine argument, some say we should keep the wine, others say we should drink it, I for one think the Mayan temple has gained historical significance and at the threshold of the next era there will be another party there, and another after that, soon and so forth until millennia from now when the temples will have long since crumbled to dust and rubble that site will still be of historical significance precisely because it wasn't "protected".

Never let the past impede the future I say.

 

[Solitaire U.]

On the one hand, their partying is an outrage: the damage to the temple is irreparable. On the other hand, their partying possesses an absurd, ironic humor: what better way to recognize those who made a prediction that you believe than destroying one of their greatest heritage sites. Yet to cast the shadow of their destructive fun upon the entire human race is to commit the genealogical fallacy; not all of us are so foolish, and, more pertinently, not all of us go to parties. Nevertheless, the list of such non-foolish, non-partying individuals is not only up for debate, but subject to change in the presence of increasing or decreasing stimulus.

-Duxwing

I would require liberal doses of methamphetamine to succumb to such a heinous degree of over-thinking.

I live in Mexico. Our elderly housekeeper foretasted 3 days of darkness. On the 19th, she informed us with the utmost sincerity that if the sun did not rise on the morning of the 22nd, she would not be coming to work.

Stupidity regarding this matter comes in all shapes and sizes.

I'm very curious to know how it's possible to irreparably damage a 5,000 + year old pile of rocks.

 

[Duxwing]

I would require liberal doses of methamphetamine to succumb to such a heinous degree of over-thinking.

I live in Mexico. Our elderly housekeeper foretasted 3 days of darkness. On the 19th, she informed us with the utmost sincerity that if the sun did not rise on the morning of the 22nd, she would not be coming to work.

Stupidity regarding this matter comes in all shapes and sizes.

I'm very curious to know how it's possible to irreparably damage a 5,000 + year old pile of rocks.

Spray paint, spilled drinks, sharp objects. The damage isn't so much to the structure as it is to the surfaces; the faintly purple color of certain columns, for example, reveals that they'd been sprayed with blood during human sacrifices thousands of years ago. Now imagine trying to perform an analysis of those same columns with a giant, orange, spray-painted penis (an easily imagined form of vandalism) in the way. That's the essential problem: the destruction of minute details.

-Duxwing

 

[TheScornedReflex]

All it takes is one idiot to do something stupid then everyone else joins in. Monkey see, monkey do.

 

[Cognisant]

Am I the only one who sees the irony here?

There's no difference between the folly of a giant orange spray painted penis and building a temple to ritualistically murder people in terms of historical significance, there's no such thing as invalid history, a century from now genderless post humans will be showing their children the spray painted penis as an example of early 21st century culture.

Behold the artistry of a sexually frustrated 21st century human male, his vandalism, was it to mark his territory, claim ownership of the thing marked, or is it perhaps something more profound, is this overt declaration of sexual imagery perhaps some kind of outcry against society itself, that a man as an animal that has been domesticated from birth cries out, thought he does not know why, for a state of wild freedom he has never known.

Wash away the spray painted penis and you was away a part of history!
It may not be ancient history now, but one day it will be.

 

[Duxwing]

Am I the only one who sees the irony here?

There's no difference between the folly of a giant orange spray painted penis and building a temple to ritualistically murder people in terms of historical significance, there's no such thing as invalid history, a century from now genderless post humans will be showing their children the spray painted penis as an example of early 21st century culture.

Behold the artistry of a sexually frustrated 21st century human male, his vandalism, was it to mark his territory, claim ownership of the thing marked, or is it perhaps something more profound, is this overt declaration of sexual imagery perhaps some kind of outcry against society itself, that a man as an animal that has been domesticated from birth cries out, thought he does not know why, for a state of wild freedom he has never known.

Wash away the spray painted penis and you was away a part of history!
It may not be ancient history now, but one day it will be.

Hmm, I see what you're saying there, and I agree-- partially. We ought to preserve our cultural sites not because one period is better than another, but because allowing, for example, the Mona Lisa to be so defaced would certainly be an example of 21st Century culture, but a greater detriment to Renaissance culture. We must consider the overall costs and benefits before wantonly allowing any ruin to be further destroyed.

-Duxwing

 

[Cognisant]

I wager you're only saying that because it's The Mona Lisa, a painting with a household name, you're holding it to some greater value merely because it's famous, if you saw it in some antique shop and didn't know anything about it you'd buy it for fifty bucks just you could cut the face out and make it a part of a Halloween costume.

"Look at me I'm a painting of the bearded lady"

 

[IdeasNotTheProblem]

Am I the only one who sees the irony here?

There's no difference between the folly of a giant orange spray painted penis and building a temple to ritualistically murder people in terms of historical significance, there's no such thing as invalid history, a century from now genderless post humans will be showing their children the spray painted penis as an example of early 21st century culture.

Behold the artistry of a sexually frustrated 21st century human male, his vandalism, was it to mark his territory, claim ownership of the thing marked, or is it perhaps something more profound, is this overt declaration of sexual imagery perhaps some kind of outcry against society itself, that a man as an animal that has been domesticated from birth cries out, thought he does not know why, for a state of wild freedom he has never known.

Wash away the spray painted penis and you was away a part of history!
It may not be ancient history now, but one day it will be.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/0007MAN-Herma.jpg

Spoiler

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/0007MAN-Herma.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/0007MAN-Herma.jpg

These "dicks" have been defacing history for thousands of years.

 

[Cognisant]

10/10

 

[TriflinThomas]

I bet it was a fun party, though...

 

[Reluctantly]

I wager you're only saying that because it's The Mona Lisa, a painting with a household name, you're holding it to some greater value merely because it's famous, if you saw it in some antique shop and didn't know anything about it you'd buy it for fifty bucks just you could cut the face out and make it a part of a Halloween costume.

"Look at me I'm a painting of the bearded lady"

That's a good point and it's funny. I wonder what Architect thinks of it.