Over a century before Columbus arrived in the Americas, followers of a now-extinct faith carved the likeness of their prophet into a large boulder on a mountainside in China’s southeastern Fujian province. The figure in stone: Mani, an Iranian man who founded Manichaeism, an early rival to Christianity. Mani’s religion suffered extensive persecution during its tenure, at the hands of Roman, Persian and Chinese leaders, and by the 14th century, the religion had fallen by the wayside.
Despite once counting followers from France to the Pacific Ocean, in 2020, there isn’t much left of Manichaeism in terms of physical ruins. Surprisingly, the last extant Manichaean temple exists not in the modern-day countries that compose what was once Persia and Mesopotamia, but in Jinjiang, an industrial settlement of over two million people that is part of the southern Chinese city of Quanzhou.
In mid-2018, a close friend relayed the story of Jinjiang’s unique shrine to the largely forgotten Persian prophet Mani. A quick and always questionable Wikipedia search offered insight — and questions. According to the popular free online encyclopedia: “In modern China, Manichaean groups are still active in southern provinces, especially in Quanzhou and around Cao’an, the only Manichaean temple that has survived until today.”
This poorly cited Wikipedia entry led to more questions: How did Manichaeism get to China in the first place? Are there still Mani followers in the officially atheist People’s Republic of China, and is the temple at Jinjiang the last Manichaean temple in the world? …
Besides the fact that nobody showed up to Trump’s event, it’s worthy of note that there’s an Israeli flag hanging next to ours. What the fuck.
[Photo: White triangular tent, white floor, white chairs bisected by an aisle, leading to a stage with a guitarist, flanked by hanging flags]
[Photo: “A baptism pool was not on my Great American State Fair bingo card”]
Rando: “I would say this fair looks like one of those creepy, horror-movie sets, but those at least look like someone used them at some point. This looks like a ghost town. Like… why is everything so sterile looking? This is weird in the opposite direction.”
Everyone is talking about Trump’s mock up arch at the Great American State Fair, so I filmed it from top to bottom and front to back for everyone who can’t see it in person. [Video]
Reginald Selkirksays
Archaeological evidence indicates 10th-century Persian settlement in Madagascar
The mysterious archaeological site of Teniky, hidden within the remote rainforests and canyons of Madagascar’s Isalo National Park, has long puzzled scientists with its unique rock-cut niches and stone walls.
A groundbreaking new study now challenges the established narrative that these structures were built by shipwrecked 16th-century Portuguese sailors. Instead, the research posits a far more ancient and extraordinary origin: Teniky was likely constructed between the 10th and 12th centuries by Zoroastrian exiles fleeing persecution in Persia, who sought to establish an isolated religious refuge on this semi-legendary island.
The core evidence for this revised theory lies in the site’s distinctive architecture. Dozens of niches carved into the sandstone cliffs bear a striking resemblance to the astodans used in Zoroastrian funerary practices in the Fars region of Iran. In Zoroastrian tradition, burial was seen as a desecration of the earth; bodies were exposed until only bones remained, which were then interred in such rock niches.
This architectural parallel is unique in Madagascar and East Africa but finds a direct correlate in Persian Zoroastrian sites. Furthermore, carbon-14 dating of charcoal from the settlement confirms occupation centuries before Portuguese explorers arrived in the Indian Ocean, aligning with the period when Zoroastrians faced increasing pressure following the Arab conquest of Persia in the 7th century…
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captainsays
chigau @1: I’d guess OP is a screenshot of the video game No Man’s Sky, but there’s no interface or player character. PZ played that years ago.
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captainsays
StevoR in the previous thread: That YouTuber’s description cites a documentary he was summarizing.
The inspiration behind the so-called “Acali Experiment” derived from two sources. Genovés had been an earlier participant on the Ra (1969) and Ra II (1970) expeditions, Thor Heyerdahl’s ethnohistorical attempts to prove that prehistoric civilizations could have crossed the Atlantic by means of papyrus-constructed boats. As a secondary goal, Heyerdahl had assembled a multinational seven-man crew to demonstrate how a disparate group could congenially live and work together under challenging conditions. Based on his firsthand experience aboard the Ra expeditions, however, Genovés was more intrigued with the incidents of friction that he had witnessed. Most of these, he believed, arose due to differences in personal characteristics and temperament. […]
It was an incident in November 1972 that definitively moved the Acali experiment forward. In circumstances that only Genovés would view as “too good to be true,” he was a passenger on a plane that was hijacked to Cuba. After observing how the behaviours of the other passengers differed dramatically during the hijacking versus afterwards, Genovés was now convinced that moments of crisis and serious danger were needed for individuals to reveal their authentic selves (as opposed to the roles they assumed in everyday life).
[…]
Swedish filmmaker Marcus Lindeen has now re-examined the Acali experiment in an award-winning documentary titled The Raft. Two interweaving narratives—one historical, one contemporary—define the film. The conventional strand relies on 16mm film footage shot on board the raft. These archival clips provide an introduction to Genovés (who passed away in 2013) as well as a clear linear account of the voyage itself. An accompanying voiceover is largely drawn from Genovés’s diary of the journey […] adds an unexpected urgency and desperation to the scientific storyline. […] The innovative strand of the film is the contemporary re-enactment.
[…]
it’s now hard to know which contravention of ethical norms was most egregious. As one appalling example, Genovés acknowledged having continuous sexual interactions with at least one of the other participants. […] There were alarming and consistent breaches of confidentiality and privacy. There was the lack of informed consent. Maria, for instance, participated despite refusing to sign what her boyfriend labelled the “slave contract,” an apparent reference to what served as the experiment’s consent form. As a final glaring example, there was the blatant disregard for participants’ physical and emotional well-being. Indeed, it’s clear that Genovés deliberately underplayed the extent of the risks involved. Numerous research studies are appropriately and abruptly stopped when previously calculated risks escalate or unexpected adverse effects occur. Yet Genovés welcomed such risks, most noticeably and recklessly when the Acali entered the Caribbean at the start of the hurricane season.
When challenged about the ethics […] Genovés was indignant and dismissive. “The most anti-ethical thing I know,” he replied, “is the fact that a man dies every twenty seconds […] in an act of violence. […] it is necessary to be more flexible concerning our concepts of what professional ethics are. The problem concerns our survival.”
* Wikipedia on predecessor Thor Heyerdahl says, “His hyperdiffusionist ideas on ancient cultures had been widely rejected by the scientific community, even before the [Ra] expedition.”
In some subfields of criminology, psychology, and sociology, intergroup contact has been described as one of the best ways to improve relations among groups in conflict. Nonetheless, the effects of intergroup contact vary widely from context to context, and empirical inquiry continues
[…]
four conditions under which intergroup contact will reduce prejudice are: [Equal status. Common goals. Intergroup cooperation. Support of authorities, law, or customs.] […] However, contact fails to cure conflict when contact situations create anxiety […] the situation must include positive contact.
[…]
social scientific reviews of the literature frequently voice skepticism about the likelihood of contact’s optimal conditions occurring in concert, and by extension, about the generalizability of correlational research and lab studies on contact.
What is that?
Viewpoint with Andrew Brown: What does an atheist do if they witness a miracle?
It’s too bad we will never know. Desperate believers are reduced to calling sportsball outcomes ‘miracles.’
China’s Forgotten Faith: How Did a 3rd Century Religion from Iran Make it to China’s Southeast Coast?
Randos:
https://bsky.app/profile/00kjg.bsky.social/post/3mpevxuj26s2bRando: “I would say this fair looks like one of those creepy, horror-movie sets, but those at least look like someone used them at some point. This looks like a ghost town. Like… why is everything so sterile looking? This is weird in the opposite direction.”
Amanda Moore (Journalist):
Commentary
The fair’s Twitter account announced it was closed then open again two hours later.
Amanda Moore
https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/shaka-zuluhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardi_Gras_IndiansAmanda Moore:
Archaeological evidence indicates 10th-century Persian settlement in Madagascar
chigau @1: I’d guess OP is a screenshot of the video game No Man’s Sky, but there’s no interface or player character. PZ played that years ago.
StevoR in the previous thread: That YouTuber’s description cites a documentary he was summarizing.
Rethinking ‘One of the strangest group experiments of all time’
* Wikipedia on predecessor Thor Heyerdahl says, “His hyperdiffusionist ideas on ancient cultures had been widely rejected by the scientific community, even before the [Ra] expedition.”
Wikipedia – Contact hypothesis