This documentary is a conspiracy theory, but Netflix doesn’t do anything about it

If none of Netflix’s most popular titles escape your attention, you must have stumbled upon them. Several days after its November 11 release, At the dawn of our history leapt to the top of the most viewed documentaries on the platform… Yet, it keeps on doing it incur the wrath of scientists, historians and of all people aware of the danger of conspiracy theories.

Conspiracy theory

At the dawn of our history(whose original, more evocative title is ancient apocalypse) has a theory and has 8 episodes to present his arguments to you, each less convincing than the other.

According to its creator, the Briton Graham Hancock, who introduces himself as a Journalist, an advanced civilization dating back to about 12,000 years ago is believed to have been wiped out in a flood caused by a comet shower. The purpose of this advanced civilization would have been to disseminate knowledge such as mathematics, architecture and agriculture. Through this theory, Graham Hancock tries to convince viewers that this cataclysm will soon take place still !

To demonstrate the existence of this ancient civilization swallowed by the waters, Graham Hancock travels the world from Malta, Mexico, USA and Indonesia looking for what it presents as ancient remains of the disaster. But the main content of the documentary is to develop a rhetoric that scientists will do anything to hide the truth. “They want you to think it’s this, but it’s really that” repeats Hancock for long episodes.

Open letter denounces ‘misinformation’

Graham Hancock could multiply his travels around the world, none of his arguments have any scientific value. To cite just one example: in the first episode, the latter travels to Indonesia and uses a radar that probes the ground up to 30 meters deep, to prove the existence of underground chambers. However, archaeologist Jean-Paul Demoule explained to Parisian one “Ground-penetrating radar is only accurate to a few tens of centimetres. »

The latter is not the only one to have highlighted the scientific limits of the documentary. At the dawn of our history has been the subject of an open letter addressed to Netflix since Society for American Archaeologyclaiming that the program is classified as “science fiction” and qualifying the latter as ” disinformation “. Archaeologists are firm:

“After more than a century of professional archaeological investigations, we find n no archaeological evidence to argue for the existence of an “advanced, global Ice Age civilization” of the type suggested by Hancock. »

Without even wanting to get into conspiracy theory, The Guardianwhich qualifies At the dawn of our history Of “Netflix’s Most Dangerous Show” revealed that the platform’s senior director of unscripted original programs was… Hancock’s son. A family bond that would perhaps explain the promotion of this documentary, to say the least problematic.

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