With all that information ...what do we do with it??
I would think that quality over quantity holds true on many occasions ...but, people still are impressed with an abundance of material, finding comfort in numbers.
Speaking of numbers, here are some for you: (okay, you don't like numbers and dates ...so, I'll just give you one and let you look them up for yourself if that is your thing)
The 1700s has been coined as the Age of Enlightenment, followed by the Age of Revolution, and an Age of Progress.
Certain terms also became a big part of people's so-called enlightened minds.
- Rationalism: man's reasoning as the sole criterion for truth
- Empiricism: experience as the ultimate source of meaning
- Skepticism: the truths of past knowledge must be replaced, as new questions demand new answers
- Deism: those who do believe in a Supreme Being, must conclude that the past is no longer relevant to our present condition, wherein we must take charge.
There was doubt ...and often history, considered to be always slanted, developed into legend, which now holds no more value than most myths. And the Bible was the target of much of this myth claiming.
Those like Voltaire advocated revolution to overthrow what he would suggest had become unhealthy society, and he mixed in a dose of distorted nationalism. He also claimed science, reason, and tolerance was on his side.
Another approach, though it took a slightly different path, sort of led to the same unrest ...masked by a label of Romanticism, Rousseau put forth the claim that a person was naturally good, but that society was bad. And it appeared as if his thoughts only led to rejecting what was, by replacing it with what was worse.
With Kant, Hegel, and Schleiermacher ...we saw the addition of idealism, the destruction of absolutes, and the elevation of feelings. And amid the ever changing waves of enlightenment, the tide changed. People felt they were drowning in doubt, and were willing to grab onto anything to keep afloat. This is where Charles Darwin, Thomas Huxley, and Herbert Spencer threw in their mix of ideas, mostly mixed-up. And with evolution and "survival of the fittest" ...the view of materialism was of utmost importance, whether from a conservative (and self-preservation) point of view, or from a competitive (often opportunistic) standpoint. The competitive was usually veiled in socialism, with the classic slogan of "the greatest good for the greatest number".
But, to get the greatest good for the greatest number ...they insisted that the old system had to be overthrown. Once in control though, there was no greatest good ...and the goods were fully confiscated.
Up until that last paragraph, it looks all too familiar. We don't seem to learn too well from history ...as it appears we are going through the same sad repetitive steps that Europe did, leading up to World War I. How can we not see this??
What do we feel the chances are that we won't suffer similar consequences?? It's like playing with loaded dice in the casino of politics.
With Kant, Hegel, and Schleiermacher ...we saw the addition of idealism, the destruction of absolutes, and the elevation of feelings. And amid the ever changing waves of enlightenment, the tide changed. People felt they were drowning in doubt, and were willing to grab onto anything to keep afloat. This is where Charles Darwin, Thomas Huxley, and Herbert Spencer threw in their mix of ideas, mostly mixed-up. And with evolution and "survival of the fittest" ...the view of materialism was of utmost importance, whether from a conservative (and self-preservation) point of view, or from a competitive (often opportunistic) standpoint. The competitive was usually veiled in socialism, with the classic slogan of "the greatest good for the greatest number".
But, to get the greatest good for the greatest number ...they insisted that the old system had to be overthrown. Once in control though, there was no greatest good ...and the goods were fully confiscated.
Up until that last paragraph, it looks all too familiar. We don't seem to learn too well from history ...as it appears we are going through the same sad repetitive steps that Europe did, leading up to World War I. How can we not see this??
What do we feel the chances are that we won't suffer similar consequences?? It's like playing with loaded dice in the casino of politics.
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