Of science's frightful past & present
Oct 29, 2009 20:33Whenever thought is directed at something aged, one would never have expected a correlation to that of possessing a scientifically driven nature that is perhaps a little too close for comfort to our current "Super Highway of Technology" age.
Recently, after watching a documentary on the disappearance of the Lost Ark that was sporadically mentioned within the bible (think Indiana Jones, but with real-life experts endorsing its existence), which had mystified many archaeologists and treasure hunters alike due to its all-encompassing power of causing instant death (mostly bursting into flames) to all men who were not anointed as the dedicated keepers of the ark, this made me ponder over some of the outlandish claims that the documentary offered:
One being that it now resides in Ethiopia, on an obscure island where all its people reverently worshipped only this sole mystery relic and was causing all its guardians to fall ill and perish over a short period of time (namely three in passing over five years since the documentary was made), or that the ark was in fact a capacitor that was capable of generating high voltage through static electricity, mostly due to the dry climate and sheep wool that shielded its true glory.
The point that really struck me was not so much the fact that a wooden box made of acacia wood and gilded with gold could have caused radiation-like deaths. Or that it could literally waste a person's life away instantaneously. But more so how we as modern scientific beings would actually propose such technologically advanced terminology on a sacred object made many thousands of years before our time.
I mean, come on, why is it so hard to accept that these predecessors of ours might have possessed science-related knowledge beyond our time?
Perhaps this question boils down to the inability to accept that we are not the most "important" of societies, and we are not the "IT" generation. Not that everybody wants to be in the middle of a possible apocalypse (imagine the number of times an apocalypse has been declared over the years, the most recent being 2012), mind you, but the fact that people like being the center of attention and knowing their life could potentially have an impact on history. I rest my case.
From the world's greatest dictators who can best be compared with the likes of head bishops and team leaders who basically excel in doing one thing--gathering convocations of followers. And with these followers come the need to remain powerful, hence, setting off a spiral of unfortunate events, war, anarchy, a pursuit of advancing weaponry and arms, and even the concoction of science. If you add it all together, you have the formula for destruction and definitely Not World Peace.
So, if Science was always such a difficult commodity to introduce to the masses, why has it aided us so in modern-day life? We can hardly live without our cell phones, broadband lightning-fast Internet, social-networking platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, and of course, good old electricity.
From the ages before history was recorded to current catastrophically disastrous events brought about by political dissidents and war-stirring orators, the end point is simple. Where there is a congregation, there will be a power tussle. And who else but the strong and powerful who will emerge victor?
Think about this. Without technology or perhaps even alchemy which gave rise to the atomic bomb and medicine that our doctors prescribe to us to address physical and behavioral issues, would our present-day society be able to evolve as quickly as it did?
From the Super Highway of the 20th century to the ever-evolving 21st century, where did all this knowledge possible come from if it had not been inscribed in ancient books or passed down via word of mouth all these centuries ago?
Give respect where respect is due, and in this case, people have looked to religious materials, folklore and even legends to gather the essence of how Science may have evolved to what it is today. It does not mean we are smarter than the men who lived in ancient times, but that rather we are bodies of leisure and can very much choose to explore clues and works that they may have left behind for us to decipher and use to our advantage.
- Talkback
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Yeah , Of Corse We Are Not Smrtest Generations In All Last Thousands Years . Actually we Use All Of Sciences That Human Kind Learned About Its In Along Of History .
But We Know Also Many Times It Happened In History Every Where Of The World ( Iran , Egipt , Greek & ... ) That Technology Gone Fast Forward , After Centuries That Societies Fallen Down Or Destructed In A War .
Who Knows What`s The End Of Our World In This Generation ? Maybe A Nuclear Blast Or Maybe Not ?
Lets Hope New Sciences Dont So Busy Us Such This That Forget Many Other Important Things , But Must Forget Crazy Mind : We`re The Best In Universe !
Oct 30, 2009 01:07
I Thought About Another Thing , Maybe You say I`m A Nagative Person Or Have A Bad View Around Myself , But Sadly It Can Being True Whats In My Mind .
Maybe Never An Atomic Bomb Explode Again , ( I`m So Hope , World Never Experience This Again Like What Happened In Hiroshima ) But Just Imagine 1 Day We Cant Produce Electricity Power Of Anyway Even Of Solar Pannel Or Wind Turbine . Do Our Civilization Continues Like Now ?
Everything`s Possible . But No One Cant Guess Future . I Hope Science Dont Take Us To A Point That Its Destruct Us .
Oct 30, 2009 03:07
@Sepanta: I don't think you are negative but you have a point, where pessimism isn't so much the word... And sadly, civilization will perhaps de-evolve due to a lack of any energy source as we have come to be too dependent on it, but we will still survive... unless you are referring to the likes of a lack of air and water. Then, I would say, humans will cease to exist.
Oct 30, 2009 20:20
We don't have to look far to see how smart our forefathers were. The compass, paper, acupuncture, gunpowder, and the list goes on and on. The world would certainly have looked a lot differently should these weren't invented at the time.
Imagine what the world be like if the explorer, Zheng He, made it to Europe in the 15th century before internal bickering sent him sailing back home? The language of commerce might have been Mandarin instead of English!
My point is, what our forefathers do have EVERYTHING to do with our world today.
Oct 30, 2009 12:04
@Scooby: actually to add on to your point about forefathers having everything to do with our world, we are the forefathers of our future, and we have everything in our ability to make it the best future we will have to offer.
Oh, and remember who invented spaghetti from noodles and chopsticks fashioned out of pure wood...alright, that is perhaps alittle out of context but yeah, of course they are the reason why we have been able to be so advanced in Technology, mostly through hand-me-down wisdoms...
Oct 30, 2009 20:22
you may be confusing COPYING and ANECDOTAL EXPERIENCE with SCIENCE.
We've known how to fold paper aeroplanes for a thousand years, but only now do we understand the aerodynamics involved, enabling us to make better paper aeroplanes and even full sized aircraft.
Oct 30, 2009 14:42
@michael: perhaps you have a point, but personally, we aren't exactly copying but rather, replicating and improving upon if I may add. The context of my argument runs on the fact that the unknown would scare perhaps people of old who might not be able to comprehend this mysteriously intriguing 'science' which we flaunt around this day and age, where as a person from the 17th Century might have described our skyscrapers of today, as Crystal Towers glinting in the Skies, what might we have learnt from knowledge that is perhaps all but lost in the years that have passed by?
Fear not that I am confusing the two, but rather, the fact is that we have actually put to good use some of that knowledge that might other wise have been largely lost; but, of course, did you know that there ARE (Toughened with chemical enhancers) paper aeroplanes tough enough to fly and carry living human beings across canyons and heights of death-defying perils? Just Google that, and perhaps some of that wisdom isn't so much as lost as is now found.
Oct 30, 2009 20:29
@Marielwong ; Its Just An Example , I Know This, In Many Countries , Searching For New Power Sources Started Years Ago And Had Good Results , But We Are Addicted Very Hard To Some Power Sources Like Oil , Gas & ... Its Right We Have Electrick Cars Or Hibrid Cars Technologies , But These`re Not Popular Yet .
I Agree That Day By Day We Have New Technology For Other Powers And Really Beliieve Human Kind Remains Anyway But Maybe With Diffrent Life Conditions , Better Or More Bad .
Oct 31, 2009 01:30
@Sepanta: understood. It's always nice to think positive. =D
Nov 09, 2009 07:18
@ Marielwong ; I`m Always Positive . Except A Few Times .
Nov 10, 2009 03:40
About marielwong
Mariel Wong is a budding photo enthusiast who used to be the editor for the Singaporean version of T3 Magazine. That was before she embarked on a life-long journey of passion to seek out Kangaroos in the land Down-Under and attain certain life-goals, namely her Masters in Media and Communications, and fulfilling her dream to backpack around Oz. She is also an avid Facebook voyeur who enjoys maintaining long-distance relationships and meeting new friends, on a global-scale. She also compulsively updates mini-news of her every move via twitter, as well as blast out self-created melodies recorded through her now rather dowdy iPod Belkin recorder, located on her website.
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