PHILOSOPHY: Do you think there was a civilization SIMILAR to the one we have now,...

[Forsee]

...1 billion years ago? Okay, the world is supposedly over 6 billion years old.

THIS civilization as we know it is so far is about 4000 years old, so far. Which is FAR less than .05% of the worlds history.

According to scientists, it takes 5,000 yaers tops to get rid of ALL human creations (with a few exceptions) (wood products, monuments, stone products, plastic/rubber products, cars, etc). So if we were to disappear....5000 years later there would be no trace of us.

Do you think it is possible that we could of had several civilizations, very simlar to ours in our VERY long past?

..but is impossible to know about because nature reclaims EVERYTHING overtime.
Well, obvioulsy, there would be no scientific evidence of it existing because mother nature removes all traces of civilization within a certain amount of time.

BTW: This is a philosphical question
Also, imagine how far deep down in dirt something that dies 2 billion years ago would be?!

[Boris the Oval Banana]

I hope this seems like a philosophical answer, because I am going to draw heavily on empirical arguments.

My answer is, on this planet, probably not, but I like your line of reasoning.

Regarding the 5000 years-tops argument from scientists:
Do dinosaurs pre-date 5000 years ago?
Yes - but we still have evidence of their presence.
Australopithecus, homo-habilis, homo-erectus, neanderthals... Pre-date 5000 years?
Yup, but we still know a little about them, and they didn't build steel reinforced skyscrapers, or generate whole cities of non-biodegradable waste.

I don't think I agree that in 5000 years all the evidence is gone. In fact I think 5000 years is a ridiculous figure, given how many ancient tools and fossils from eons ago are still being discovered. What were these "scientists" thinking when they came up with that number? They can't have even asked the scientist next door?

I am certain that there is intelligent life "out there" (regardless of whether they have the technology to visit us for their spring-break) based on the size of the universe.
I suspect that there are long-dead human civilisations, including fairly advanced ones, still to discover or learn about in more depth.

However - on this planet - If we go back further than the dinosaurs, we start to get into both uncharted and possibly volatile territory. Would civilisation have had TIME to develop to the same level as ours, given volcanic activity, changing atmospheric chemical composition, greater bombardment from meteorites, etc etc.

My thinking is not, but I guess it is not out of the question, and going back a billion years...
...well I do agree that the evidence would be gone by now.

[Book Junkie]

Oh! I love questions like these. I think that there are evolutions occurring everyday, so in my imagination, in 5000 years, we would appear very different. Maybe because of over exposure to the sun, we would adapt. Have you seen that Outer Limits episode? So cool.

Its possible that we have had several civilizations. The bible even speaks of nations that spoke one language at one time and then branched off into several cultures later. I guess we can use that format.

So what about 1 billion years ago? I think the civilization looked nothing like we do. Maybe had some characteristics similar to us as far as cell structure, but even then--what could they have looked like? Amoebas?

[chase]

to my knowledge, no. there wasn't.