The comet theory seems to be gaining some traction as the research is done and more data becomes available. A few years ago it certainly seemed fringe-y. Good on them for doing the science.
Entertaining and fascinating are the right words to use for the human civ stuff you mentioned - they are fun stories to think about. But right now I don’t buy it. Maybe they’ll end up being correct, but those folks need to get out in the field, gather data, do the research, and put it up for peer review if they’re really serious about overturning the current framework of the development of human civilization. I see lots of blog posts, internet talks, and amateur books published—less so serious research being published and discussed.
If you want to play in the science sandbox and be taken seriously by the other scientists, you don’t get to ask for “evidence of absence”. We haven't done science that way for four hundred years.
If you have an issue with that, that’s fine, go start your own community of researchers with your own principles and methods. See how much you discover. But you don’t complain about not being taken seriously by the people that think your approach is deeply flawed.
Entertaining and fascinating are the right words to use for the human civ stuff you mentioned - they are fun stories to think about. But right now I don’t buy it. Maybe they’ll end up being correct, but those folks need to get out in the field, gather data, do the research, and put it up for peer review if they’re really serious about overturning the current framework of the development of human civilization. I see lots of blog posts, internet talks, and amateur books published—less so serious research being published and discussed.