Crash

There are many problems with the Theory of the Lost City of Atlantis, and the "Footprint" paradox is chief among them.

To begin with, the argument behind the City of Atlantis has been revived several times over the millennia. It was originally recounted by the Greek philosopher Plato, who spoke of an ancient advanced civilization that dwarfed the technological capabilities of any contemporary peoples.

According to Plato, the Atlanteans ruled the entire world, but grew arrogant, and thus were subsequently destroyed by the heavenly powers that be.

The most recent advocates of this theory were the Nazis, who alleged that the Aryans were descended from its people. And they spent the better part of a decade scouring the Earth for evidence that would corroborate their beliefs.

The Nazi quest for the Lost City of Atlantis failed, and not for a lack of trying. Moreover, its failure has highlighted a fundamental flaw with the entire theory: the requisite footprint that should exist, yet doesn't.

By comparison, modern human civilizations all share one thing in common: they all are permanently transforming this planet, both for the better, and for the worse. Coal and precious metal mines are emptying out this Earth's bowels. Oil and natural gas are being pumped out of the ground at an astounding pace. Entire mountainsides are being chewed up, and converted into lucrative resources. And pollutants and waste byproducts are being dumped into the environment, poisoning our habitat.

All of these things are more than simply the price of human comfort. They are also significantly altering our planet in ways that will still be recognizable tens of millions of years from now. They are humanity's footprint.

So when someone expresses belief that there was once an ancient civilization more technologically proficient than our own, the proper response is: Prove it. Prove that they left behind something, or indeed anything, that would give any indication that they had ever existed.

To this day, there has been no such discovery. And that is a huge problem for those who believe that the Atlanteans ever existed to begin with.