Do you think we have progressed?
The ancient pyramids are an architectural and artistic masterpiece. Technological advances sustain the architectural world today and people are still fascinated and puzzled as to the possibility of these pyramids being created so many hundreds of years prior to any technological/mechanical aid.
Before marriage would occur in 19th century Europe, the male would propose a formal courtship to the Father of the love interest and intimacy would be limited to dinners, walks and dancing at parties until the marriage proposal was placed before the parents to be permitted or rejected.
France used to be governed by an absolute monarchy in the 18th Century in which the monarchical government had complete control over its people without the accountability of laws or legalities. Some religious and cultural authority held influence over the government, but the system generally relied on well-bred monarchs trained well from birth. The result was a mass political upheaval in which the people violently campaigned for equality and democratic privileges.
Generally born and sustained in the early 20th Century was the fact that democracies were the most legitimate, satisfactory and successful form of government. This was campaigned until the only major ideological opposition was the communist system. When this collapsed in the 1980s, the majority of the world’s states transformed into democratic political systems.
Up to the 1950s, the most common, successful and accepted family unit was the ‘nuclear family’ of husband, wife and child.
Today you can send a message in Australia, in a matter of seconds that message can be read by a recipient in China.
Despite globalisation of communications, trade and the majoity rule of democracies, the twentieth century has witnessed some of the most violent/bloodiest conflicts ever recorded. Rwandan genocide, Two major world wars and terrorist activity name only a few.
I’ve put these little facts for you to ponder a ‘how it was done then’ and ‘how it is done now’ kinda thing..
I’ve been studying this idea of ‘progression’ at uni lately..
My question… do you think history has been progressive? Have we grown and learnt from mistakes to not make them again? Have we progressed as a people towards peaceful relations? People of the world have grown and changed so much.. do you reckon these changes have been for the better..?
July 18th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
Some good thoughts and a really cute picture! But was life then so easy and innocent? Or was this a set up picture like those of Henry The 8th. He had artists portray him as proud, noble and strong, when it is believed that he was none of these things.
As far as the twentieth century having the most bloody conflicts, I don’t know about the that. The crusades weren’t fun and some of the battles recorded in the bible are horrific. I think we live in a fallen world that is neither in decline nor is it progressing. We might think we are getting smarter and more equipped, but for what? So we can have a weapon that could destroy the entire planet, whoo hoo, who benefits from that?
July 23rd, 2007 at 3:44 pm
‘The crusades weren’t fun and some of the battles recorded in the bible are horrific.’
Those conflicts were brutal yes, but the twentieth century witnessed brutalities on the largest scale. In a 100 year period we managed to congest many different types of conflicts on many scales such as the horrific genocides and the world wars..
‘I think we live in a fallen world that is neither in decline nor is it progressing.’
What do you think about things such as women rights? Social progression? Do you think there has been some cause for optimism in these areas? While it is true that we are supposed to be focussed on eternity, the bible does lay out some guidelines for life on earth. Do you think we have made any improvements in these things? We definitely haven’t stayed the same..
July 31st, 2007 at 3:29 pm
do you reckon these changes have been for the better..?
I think we are definitely progressing, technological advancement has indeed been a good thing. Medicine, Science, Human Rights. yep.
August 6th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
One facet in this discussion which I identify, and a possible fly in the ointment, is that often (perhaps too often?) we look at our world in a very general sense; i.e. this country did this, the world is moving in that direction, etc. What I see is a planet full of individuals who each think, feel and act according to their own set of ethics, circumstances and morals, with industrial, technological and environmental change happening around them.
Yes, percentages of the planet’s population have been opressed or influenced for whatever reasons and not allowed to govern their own lives, but I can’t help but wonder about this from God’s perspective. Does God see us as “the human race” or his individually crafted children? I mean, if you personally designed every person in the world one by one, you wouldn’t look at them as faceless masses who either progress or don’t progress - would you? ….? A side issue maybe, but it’s a big part of my worldview.
September 6th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Mikey fan, I hear you! The bible (Ecclesiastes) specifically says ‘There is nothing new under the sun’. i have grappled with this issue for many years now, especially with relation to having children. How, I ask myself, could an intelligent (!) self respecting person knowingly bring a child into such a fallen, environmentally doomed, over-populated place? I have asked many wise people whom I trust this question, and the overwhelming answer has been “Nothing they face will be worse than what we faced, or better, for that metter.” In other words ‘There is nothing new under then sun’! imagine our grandparents going through 2 world wars, polio and the great depression, only to have their precious sons conscripted to the Vietnam war!
I also find that people en-masse have a remarkable ability to do terrible things that they themselves would not do as individuals, influenced by those around them. It is easy for all of us to become caught up in the popular minority, or the majority, just because someone presents their case well and articulately or because there seems to be no other publicised solution.
September 8th, 2007 at 10:05 am
Some really interesting points there Inspirio..
I hear what you are saying but I think the issue of ‘nothing new under the sun’ is somewhat seperate to the issue of progression
I’m interested in the bigger picture. Or are you stating that we’ve really stayed the same?
I would argue that we haven’t stayed the same, people have changed and their attitudes have changed, therefore the world has changed. The basis of the issues we face may be just the same old same old people have always experienced since the dawn of time, e.g. “do I believe in a God?”. But our possibilities for exploring this issue have changed and progressed, e.g. “I have no reason to believe in God considering the prevalence of materiality to replace any need to find Him”
This is a different context to the world 200 years ago. But perhaps you see otherwise?
September 8th, 2007 at 10:10 am
I recently read that people of this generation are exposed to more information in the first eight years of their life than our grandparents were faced with in their entire lifetime…
How interesting is that?
That has to change the way we process and respond to information…