On the surface there seems to be nothing wrong with believing in a less than accepted history like the one favored by alien theorists and others who believe in pseudoarcheology. Everyone knows a conspiracy theorist, an odd friend, a weird family member. They refuse to believe the facts and want to focus on impossible and fantastical lies, and this at first seems harmless. However, this is not the case. The true harm of pseudoarcheology is not just the fact that it convolutes the past, but the fact that it fuels an inability to interpret the present as well.
People who fall for the misdirection of “alternative” history or science are at risk for misconstruing the present. For example, a person who refuses to believe in dinosaurs or that we all evolved from dinosaurs may upon first impression seem odd or unique, and it may seem that this does not affect them very much. However, their lack of believing in scientific and geological fact is actually a symptom of them not believing in any scientific or proven fact that does not suit them. Current scientific issues such as climate change may be up for debate and skepticism to those who believe in pseudoarcheology and pseudoscience. It’s much easier to believe that global climate change is just a hoax as supposed to an actual problem that we all have to work toward fixing.
Outside of failing to recognize scientific fact for truth, pseudoarcheology also creates an easy out for perpetuating intolerance within society. May of the ideas involve a master (Atlantean or alien) race that is somehow better. As well, it misunderstands global cultures as a whole and the concept of diversity between those culture that we may not understand. For instance, the Nazca Lines, which are large drawings in the Peruvian Desert, are not in anyway messages to aliens but instead just a culturally significant practice to those who lived there thousands of years ago. Any other interpretation discounts the fact that all culture, even ancient or confusing to us today, are significant and worth putting in proper historical context. The concept of someone looking at something that they don’t understand and chalking it up to aliens, reveals a deeper failure and a flat out refusal to understand not only the world but also their fellow man.
On the surface there seems to be nothing wrong with believing in a slightly deviated version of history. What could be the harm? But being unwilling to believe the facts of the past and see the world for what it really was, prevents people from seeing the facts of today and what the world really is.