Too Curious

I think it would not be wise to put limits on how much we know. Knowledge will always be the key somehow in everything and everywhere. I say this for various reasons. It is only natural for us as humans to study the world that surrounds us. Although we as human beings as a species have come a long way, we are still ignorant to many things around us. For example, the life expectancy centuries back was very young. One would be lucky to make it to 30. As time moved on, humans as a whole began to gain knowledge and study medicine and health. This is a very good reason why the life expectancy is much higher. If it wasn’t legal or wise for humans to think outside the box and gain knowledge or life expectancy would have not evolved. To add on to that would be our knowledge of health also. Because humans have acquired knowledge on disease and bacteria; unlike the old days it wouldn’t be common to die from something as simple as the common cold today.

Imagine the present day world without any modern cars or transportation. Humans have come a long way with transportation and there is no telling what kind of automobile will be created in our near future. If knowledge was something to put a limit on, we would still be horseback riding and walking. We live in a world that is based on the social, mind and physical of our society. Because of this I think that we do not even know half of our own understanding. There is just so much the human race still does not know about. If the process of knowing and discovering was made illegal, then we would not evolve as humans. Imagine an evolving world but we as humans don’t evolve with our surroundings. It would be impossible to live. 

 

 

Knowledge is the key to survival. Living in a constantly changing environment we as human beings, have to adapt to our surroundings. Without knowledge and the ability to learn, it would be impossible to do that. As human beings we only have knowledge by what we observe from naturally occurring things.  Putting the limitations on knowledge would also not be wise for our survival state. For example if knowledge and the curiosity to know were not allowed in the past. A lot of things we use today wouldn’t be created; affecting our population. I mean you never know something as simple as the flu could have wiped us all off the face of the earth.

Knowledge is something we must have. I think without Knowledge we would not be the same. The way we learn and gain knowledge is by observing the world around us. Philosophers even said that humans are creatures born with a blank thought of logic and knowledge is how we have survived. Putting limits on how much humans should know is not a good idea.

Written By:Erica Hernandez

The vision of America as Rome has resonance. Emil, a scientist and a lifelong student of Roman history, says we should take a closer look at the American-Rome analogy.  We have been the wealthiest, most powerful, most influential country in the world. The question becomes will it stay that way or fall like the Roman Empire? I think that America will stay this way.  Many of us stay struck by the similarities between the American Empire now and the Roman Empire then. Military strength is the most common similarity Rome and American Empire have. As Rome was the superpower of its time, America is the superpower now. The Romans had the biggest budget, and finest equipment that the world has ever seen. America is just as domaint, its military budget is larger than nine other countries put together. This allowing the U.S to deploy their units almost anywhere across the world in a matter of minutes. Although Rome and America have similarities it also vast differences. America did not form any type of formal colonies and the Romans always did. Until today there has not been any evidence that the Americans have deployed any ruling consuls in other sovereign lands. America and Rome have had their shares of colonizing and conquering evidence by their very histories as it is written throughout the centuries. Considering the history, the Romans understood that the world needed to practice imperialism, namely the art of winning wars and invading territories; they also practiced and learned the political tricks that sustained their ability to stay in power of their territories during their reigning period. America has more Roman influence than we realize, the Romans bequeathed a format on how imperial business should be handled, today the Americans in the U.S are implementing the same tactics without fail, without knowing the Roman “roots” of these tactics. During the Roman Empire the Romans had great military strength. The rest of the world undoubtly knew their strength and consequently feared Rome as well. The Romans were known for their infrastructure, and their roads, as well as their engineering feats with bridges and aqua ducts. These were built primarily to enable their military to move more quickly. America also has a great military strength that we all know about. In America today the highways that were like Rome’s roads are highways which find their counterpart in internet, or better known as the information super highway. 
 The United States was perhaps the first great civilization with possible very partial expectation of the Roman Empire, to construct collective identity essentially without primordial ties. America unlike the Romans, premises of social order that developed within the base rather than on the conception of metaphysical equality with the principle negated the symbol legitimacy of hierarchy and that entailed the possibility of continuing challenge to the authority. I think that America although it does have its differences with Roman Empire the similarities it has allows me to believe that it is the next Roman Empire.

Comparative Culture

Written by: Kiara Santana

When someone says pop culture what comes to mind? Personally, I think of it as the mainstream culture. The music, art, literature are the things that make a country’s culture. According to Dictionary.com, popular culture is the culture activities and commercial products that aimed at the tastes of the general masses of people. The pop culture of Ancient Greece is completely different from our modern pop culture. 

Architecture in Ancient Greece was all based on temples and theaters made from mixtures of mud, clay, sand and water. These temples have been around for centuries and will continue to be around for many more centuries. Today, we have technology that makes our developments of buildings, homes, and makes everything easier and more effective. However, Ancient Greece has a lot of influences on today’s architecture, such as patterns, designs, arches, and viaducts. 

Ancient Greece’s art is still very famous. Paintings were usually realistic and based on true events. The first cinema was opened in Greece, and actors and directors were considered very important people. Music and dance were believed to be created by gods and were viewed as religious. Today’s modern art is very free. Artist can draw, paint, and make whatever they want. Although movies have changed a lot since then, but actors and directors are still viewed as important “famous” people. Music and dance is also freer now. Although music can be used for religious purposes, it isn’t its only purpose. Music is now a form of expression, and many people have been able to make careers out of music. 

Language and literature for Ancient Greece is Greek and the span of 3400 years. Literature of Ancient Greece are poems written by people like Homer and Hesiod, and it was where the theatre was born, drama and dialogues in plays were developed, and philosophy come into the picture. The modern day literature and language has definitely benefited from Ancient Greece’s developments. Our main language is obviously English, but people of many cultures and that speak other languages are everywhere. Literature has kept a lot of Greece’s ideas like, dialogues, dramas, and a lot of Ancient Greece’s ideas are still around. 

Ancient Greece’s idea of religions was very similar to Christianity, because they believed in a perfect God, that the good were rewarded with Heaven and the bead hell after death, and that the soul is most important. 

Lastly, I will discuss the comparison in politics of Ancient Greece and modern day. In Ancient Greece, there political system is Parliamentary, which although means that power is distributed throughout a system of ministers and their branches. The Prime Minister is the main power, but he isn’t in complete control. Our modern politics is run as a democracy. It is similar to their politics because their prime minister is like our president. However, our democracy is run by a group of people and everything is voted on. It makes everything fair and more organized. 

So even though Ancient Greece and modern day America are very different in many ways, they are also very similar. Ancient Greece has also influenced a lot of modern America’s lifestyles and pop culture. 

Origins

Origins

What is the true explanation of where we come from? Here I am going to answer this question with my point of view, and not to offend anyone. I believe the true explanation of where we come from is in the Bible. Yes, I believe God created the heavens, the earth, us, and everything else. In Genesis it shares, after everything God created, He said, “It is good.” To me it boggles my mind to look around at the sky, the sunset, the mountains, and the earth in general and think that this “could have” came from just a big boom. When I see these things, I see the hands of an Almighty artist. Not only creating the earth, but each and every one of us. In Romans 1:20 NLT it states, “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.” Just by this one passage it says that through his creation, there is no excuse but than to know God. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines creation as “the act of bringing the world into ordered existence.” It also defines the word order not only to “arrange,” but also as to “command to go” or “come to a specified place.” Read again the definition of creation it says “into ordered existence.” Meaning God arranged where He wanted the sun to go, and He ordered (commanded) it to go into its specific place.  The Institute for Creation has a website which talks about the Earth and how it was perfectly and specifically placed. It shares, “If the Earth traveled much faster in its 292-million-mile-long orbit around the sun, centrifugal force would pull it away from the sun, and if too far, all life would cease to exist.” God ordered our earth so perfectly. You maybe thinking, well the earth physically maybe “perfect,” but it surely is not a perfect world. How can such and “Amazing” God allow terrible things? As in, why did my grandfather have to die? Why did my aunt have to get breast cancer? I learned this lesion a very hard way. Members of my family have been dying left and right, and it came to a point that I asked God why are you taking them from me, and I know he was teaching me that the things of this world are temporary, but He is eternal. Sometimes He has to allow hardships to come our way just for us to lean on Him. When 9-11 happened whom did the United States rely on? The country turned to God. When things are crashing down, we run to God. When times are great, we do whatever we choose. God is a merciful God, and he is also a God who desires to fulfill your every need. For God to fulfill all those needs we need to believe in Him.  Now, you are reading this and probably thinking, how does this tie into our class of World Humanities: Pre-History and Early Modern. Well, this is Pre-History it’s Origin. Our beginning is God. We came from his working hands. Just as a painting has a painter, creation has a creator, God.  

The greatest philosopher of all times...

Written by: Christina Jacobsen

“I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.”-Socrates

Socrates has been claimed as the greatest philosopher of all times. Socrates believed that the search for wisdom should take place in isolation from other people. Most of what we know of Socrates life is mainly through the writings of his students Plato, Xenophon and through the plays of his student Aristophanes.  Outside of this little else is known of his life.  He was born in Athens, Greece and is believed to have lived in the time frame of 469-399 B.C.E.  Despite claiming undying love and loyalty to Athens, Socrates was highly critical of the cities claims to fame and glory.

 According to Plato, Socrates’ father went by the name of Sophroniscus and his mother was Phaenarete. He married Xanthippe and she is alleged to have bore him three sons. These sons were called Lamprocles, Sophroniscus and Menexenus, though Socrates died when the boys were very young.

“Once made equal to man, woman becomes his superior.”-Socrates

 It is believed he made his living as a stonemason, which was the profession of his father. Socrates may have also recieved payment for teaching and running a Sophist school.

 “Give me beauty in the inward soul; may the outward and the inward man be at one”-Socrates

Philosophers were sometimes viewed as rebels and not always trusted by the people of Athens. In the end this would cause the demise of the great Socrates, as he was put to death for his beliefs. 

“If I tell you that I would be disobeying the god and on that account it is impossible for me to keep quiet, you won't be persuaded by me, taking it that I am ionizing. And if I tell you that it is the greatest good for a human being to have discussions every day about virtue and the other things you hear me talking about, examining myself and others, and that the unexamined life is not livable for a human being, you will be even less persuaded.”- Socrates

His execution was the climax of his career and the central event of Platos writings. Socrates was on a path of “martyrdom” as he could have avoided the death penalty by agreeing to pay a small fine and go to prison. He could have then escaped from prison. Instead, he chose to accept the death penalty. Poisoned with hemlock, Socrates died in the company of friends.

“The hour of departure has arrived and we go our ways; I to die, and you to live. Which is better? Only God knows.”-Socrates

What is the meaning of life?

What is the Meaning of Life?

“I hope life isn't a big joke, because I don't get it”- Jack Handey. Over the decades, society has changed; however, one thing that has not changed is questioning the meaning of life. Why are we here? What is the purpose of living? What is life all about? Humans ask themselves these kinds of questions every day. Since ancient cultures, we have questioned the meaning of life. Ancient Greek philosophers spent their whole life trying to explain the questions that are always on our mind. What is life and what is its meaning?

Many Greek philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle along with others have made their mark in history by trying to give a reasonable explanation on the meaning of life. However, as time changes, the theories have changed. 

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” Socrates is one of the greatest philosophers from ancient Greek culture; furthermore, he tried to understand the meaning of life by observing people and their daily activities. According to Socrates, people should always question why we as humans do the things we do. In addition, he tried to explain that life is not just about living. He explains that every person has a purpose in life. As humans, we need to have a purpose with something worth living for. He believed that people did not understand what words like love and friendship really meant. However, even when we do not really know the meanings of those words, we all have a purpose that involves those kinds of feelings. 

Another great philosopher who tried to understand the meaning of life was Plato. Plato was known to be Socrates student. However, he had a different perspective on the simple question that has been running through our mind since the early years. He thought that the purpose of life and the reason that why life exists is because we as humans have to acquire knowledge of the things that are good. All humans need to find and hunt the good things, not anything bad. Many scientists believe Plato thought that if a person does not pursue the good things in life then there is no meaning in life.

Aristotle once said, “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” The purpose in life is to find happiness, to fulfill the space, and to make the correct choices to live a full life and to fulfill ourselves with the things that make us human. Aristotle was Plato’s student; however, from my point of view, he expanded Plato’s point of view about the meaning of life and changed it. He tried to explain that life is all about living, and in other words having something in life that is worth living for and that makes us happy. 

In today’s society, the meaning of life is still questioned by people. However, today we think that the meaning of life involves following the correct path, in other words doing good things. Another meaning of life is having a family. This is one of the greatest meanings for people. Following dreams and fulfilling what is desire for our lives. The meaning of life for people today can be explain as has having something in life worth living and fighting for, such as happiness.

In conclusion, the meaning of life may have changed in some aspect but for the most part, it is still the same. Philosophes like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle had a great point of view on this topic. For them the meaning of life involves having a purpose of living, following the right path, and gaining knowledge. Aristotle put all the pieces together and explained that happiness and looking for what we want is the real meaning of life. As humans, we have changed the words that we use to describe life, but even though the words we use are different, the meaning in them is still the same. Plato once said that life is about living it, finding happiness, and finding something worth dying for. 

The greatest architectural creation...

Written By: Kyle Richmond

The greatest architectural creation of ancient civilization is The Great Pyramid of Giza. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the World and the only structure out of all seven that remains largely intact. The pyramid was built for the Pharaoh Khufu. The construction of the pyramid was finished in 2560 BC. It took twenty-three years to complete and held the title of the tallest manmade structure in the world for almost four thousand years. Some of the stones used to build the pyramid weighed up to eighty tons. The height of the pyramid is four hundred and eighty-one feet with a seven hundred and fifty-six foot base. With the lack of technology at the time, the calculations and precision of this pyramid is simply incredible! Here is some great footage, shot on a day of a sand storm, of the pyramid.

  Below is a picture of diagram of the greatest structure to have ever been built by humankind.

There are many theories that exist on the construction of the colossal structure. One theory is the belief that slaves carried, rolled, and dragged the large blocks into place. Another is the thought that tens of thousands of very skilled and sophisticated workers built the pyramid. Some make the argument that alien's are the reason for the structures existence. The massive pyramid is undoubtedly a mystery; however, there is Geometric evidence to explain that the great pyramids as well as the other two pyramids nearby are constructed to align with Orion's as well as other Astrological symbols. More information on those discoveries are explained in this video. 

For construction, http://www.allaboutegypt.com explains that the measurements of this were, "Precisely crafted surveying instruments and ingenious techniques are needed to come up with the exact measurements required to have the top vertices of a pyramid of huge dimensions meet dead center. Egyptian architects, surveyors, and builders are known to have used two specialized surveying tools, the merkhet, the instrument of knowing - similar to an astrolabe, and the bay, a sighting tool probably made from the central rib of a palm leaf. These allowed construction workers to lay out straight lines, right angles, and to orient the sides and corners of structures, in accordance with astronomical alignments. The site goes on to explain how the terrain of where the pyramid was constructed is cut out of a grid and then flooded with water in a fashion to make a perfect horizontal plane.

Another interesting fact of the great pyramid is that there are three chambers in it. The pyramids were built while the pharaoh is still alive, so they must have a chamber to bury him if he dies before the pyramid is entirely constructed. The first chamber is underground. The second chamber is now called the queen's chamber, and the last is known as the king's chamber. 

All the thoughts, theories, and ideas behind this place are absolutely crazy. I enjoyed the research of this giant building and I am hoping everyone else will too.