Da Vinci Code

Yea he does manage to pack alot into 72 hours.

but the cool thing about Angels and Demons and DaVinci code is that they read like text books at timesk, and it makes me want to do research on the all stuff he mentions.

BTW did anyone catch that Davinci code special on the History Channel? It really made me question the credibilty of his claims. I know that his Holy Grail theory was mostly speculation anyway, but certain things he mentions to be completly true, e.g. Priory of Scion, turned out to be totally bogus.

Priory of Scion, turned out to be totally bogus.

or maybe that's what they want you to think.... :shock:

I saw a programme on TV (may be the same one) and their leaps of faith were amazing. They had a so-called expert on the Manga..whatevers. He looked at the family tree and declared it fake, because there were people on there that he'd not heard of. That is an illogical conclusion, without further research (which he didn't bother to do). Illegitimite children were often left off the "official" family tree.
They gave the cypher, found in the church, to a cryptologist. He dismissed it out of hand, because the text had been given several layers of encryption. Certainly, if I had an earth-shattering secret to keep, I would pack it under as many layers of encryption as I could. Modern methods, such 3-DES, routinely use multiple encryptions. Another illogical conclusion (from the cryptologist). They also dismissed the time taken to decode the message. I agree that it sounds incredible, but I've worked with crypto-software specialists, one of whom decoded a message in 1024-bit RSA in less than a week (in his own time, that is). If you start from scratch, you'll never do it - he made certain assumptions, which reduced the time considerably. If it was assumed that the keys were going to be church related (as it would appear that they were), you can also reckon the time being drastically reduced.
It was all dismissed far too easily, by "experts", who almost certainly have a vested interest (e.g. book revenues, reputation, etc) in these things being "disproved". I am not saying that it's all true - I'm saying that they failed, in my opinion, to disprove it.

Um, it's fiction, there is nothing to "prove".

Um, it's fiction, there is nothing to "prove".

see what i mean? :shock:

Certainly, if I had an earth-shattering secret to keep, I would pack it under as many layers of encryption as I could.

I simply would not write it down.

Um, it's fiction, there is nothing to "prove".
The "family tree" exists. The documents, found in the church, exist, There are documents, puprorting to support the Priory of Scion's existence.
That is NOT fiction - the documents are real. Whether they are the truth or not is still to be proven or disproven.

Certainly, if I had an earth-shattering secret to keep, I would pack it under as many layers of encryption as I could.

I simply would not write it down.

I would follow these guidelines:

http://www.rpgconsortium.com/forums/discussions.cfm?forumid=84&topicid=284670

There are documents, puprorting to support the Priory of Scion's existence.
That is NOT fiction - the documents are real. Whether they are the truth or not is still to be proven or disproven.

According to this special on the History Channel, the Priory of Scion did exist. However, not to the extent that the DaVinci Code claims. Apperently it was a small french political party started in the 50's that quickly fizzled and died. The Dossiers Secrets (i think thats the correct spelling), which are said to contain info on the Priory to the extent that they were a secret society and a family tree of the Merovingian lineage, were found to be forgeries. It seems that the head of the Priory of Scion (political party) forged them and even put his own name at the bottom the list.

or is may all be part of a giant church conspiracy (dun dun dun)...

AHA! :shock:

.......................were found to be forgeries
That was just my point, the programme, that I saw, was simply too dismissive to have any value as an expert investigation. They took the documents to people, who have 20 or 30 years invested in one standpoint. Do you really believe that they are going to destroy what they've built their reputations on, for a TV programme?

For what it is worth...
I read the Da Vinci Code first, and found it amusing, a quick and relaxing seaside reading.
I was also thinking that the conspiracy therory in it could have some kind of value...
Then I read Angel and Demons.
You know that part of the plot take place at a research center; well it happens that I have the opportunity to work for CERN and know some researchers there, and I could verify that the things Brown wrote about it are almost totally bullshit...
So I began to think the same applies to "Da Vinci Code".

.......................were found to be forgeries
That was just my point, the programme, that I saw, was simply too dismissive to have any value as an expert investigation. They took the documents to people, who have 20 or 30 years invested in one standpoint. Do you really believe that they are going to destroy what they've built their reputations on, for a TV programme?

Once again ... FICTION.

You won't find too many experts who will give much credence to claims that hte holocaust never happened either.

There are some things that deserve to be dismissed, not because of an investment in an alternative viewpoint but because they are so silly to someone who actually knows something about the subject that they don't deserve consideration.

A good work of fiction is good precisely because it's believable. But that believability doesn't translate into reality.

Once again ... FICTION.

Just becuase the plot is fictional doesn't necessarily mean that the topics, events, etc, that the story is based on and that surround it are fictional.

However, it does seem that when you have a topic such as this that people want to believe it so much that they ignore the facts. And conversely, there are those who are so opposed to the idea that they reject without really looking into to it.

You won't find too many experts who will give much credence to claims that hte holocaust never happened either.
.

Unfortunately, while I was at university, my electrical engineering faculty advisor (one Arthur Butz) decided to do just that, writing and publishing a "scholarly" book entitiled The Hoax of the Twentieth Century. I only had to see him once a year to get my course plan signed off, but what a weird experience -- he seemed a bit paranoid everytime someone knocked on his door. Can't image why...