Comparing Civilizations

The U.S is becoming like the Roman Empire in many ways, first in the field of technology and indusial and secondly in a military form. The U.S in the technology field is on top of the world with up the most current devices available from computers to handheld phones. All are as fast and able to do so much and the U.S has a small lead on this. Our industry like Rome’s is turning out high quality products and turning them out at a fast pace. Our military is perhaps the best in the current world, the current United States Infantrymen is equipped with such technology like the Romans, and he has the best weapons, the best equipment.

            Like Rome, the U.S has spread itself and its influences so far that it is breaking it. The current war’s have taken a total on the U.S spread itself out both financial, politically and military. Like Rome the U.S has spread it military out and with the on going wars the financial bourdon is increased. Along with unemployment rates climbing up, the U.S economy is slowly and surely going down and given the current standings one can say that the U.S is in the similar situation that Rome was in. Seeing as the U.S in the technology field is on top of the world and has spread itself out military wise, it is hard not to disagree. If one looked at all the U.S military installations were they could see how these places would in a sense form an American empire.

            Another viewpoint to see is the corruption within the U.S government. With every government there are people who, steal money and hassle to make the government choose things in their interest. During America’s industrial revolution we saw the CEO’s of bug corporations laundering money and other acts to buy out political people and bending that persons arm for their favor. In Rome this was seen as well but by trades and others. Corruption and high-ranking businessmen that swindle money from the government can not only damage the U.S economy but also destroy it. Rome economy was plunged by senators and other men taking and holding onto great Roman wealth. In the US only five percent of Americans own the most of Americas wealth, five percent of the population. Romans were unable to stop such elite groups from holding such large amount of their wealth that soon the group began to chip away and help collapse the Roman Empire.

            As well, Americans are slowly losing their freedoms. With in the past decade several laws were past that if looked at closely have violated each American basic rights. Romans as well lost their rights as well over time. Is it really a question of is American like Rome or really a question of how long will it be before America takes her last breath before shattering.

In case you want to get into a little more detail:
.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThgsKuv4Ej0

Quest for Knowledge: Our Death Sentence?

Do we know too much? Is knowing many things for our greater good? Or is knowing too much in the verge of causing our own inevitable downfall? Knowing too much could become anyone's cause of destruction.

            For centuries the concept of knowing more than one should has been considered taboo. Biblical scripture tells of the first man and woman being forbidden to eat the forbidden fruit of knowledge. The snake argued to eve that if she and her partner were to eat the fruit they would know as much as God. After eating the fruit due to temptation, Adam and Eve are made aware of their nakedness and immediately attempt to clothe themselves, and because of their greed, God punished Adam and Eve by casting them out of the Garden of Eden and cursing them with pain and hard labor.

            If the greed to know as much as god cause the original sin, then why would anyone in the present want to achieve the burden of knowing all the secrets of the universe? If a person were to find out every little secret, they would know not only the beginning and the end, but also his or her beginning and their end. Imagine knowing how you would die; you would evade any event remotely similar to the incident that kills you (unless it is from disease or old age). If a man were to find out they would die by a piano dropping on his head, that man would avoid pianos at all cost, no matter how miniscule the risk is. The person would live his life in constant fear thinking pianos are out to get him. I know if I found out my future cause of death, such as being burned alive, I would never go near another open flame as long as I lived.

            If a person would know everything, he or she would be haunted by the past, present and future. If others were to find out an all-knowing person existed, they would be constantly pestering the all-knowing person to find out information no matter how big or how small. Whether it be where lost keys have ended up or if love would find a way, all the questions would leave the all-knowing without a moment of peace and quiet.
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            As of right now do we as a people already know too much? We know how to annihilate an entire civilization with the use of nuclear weapons. Is knowing how to vaporize each other all that necessary? Knowing how to separate atoms to blow anything up could end up blowing you up. Like the saying goes, you die as you lived. Those who can go to war because they know they have the means to win, will- like history has shown us, ultimately lose because they put all their efforts into power and too much power always cause the tower of infrastructure to topple over and fall.

            I believe we know too much. We know too much about what can be our downfall. We don't know too much about what can save us from disease or what can help us live without poverty, but right now, it seems to me that our priorities are in search of military strength and who can get the better gun. Maybe one day we'll forget about the search for greater weapons and we'll replace that knowledge about medicine and living as one society. After that's achieved, then maybe no one will say we know too much. One day we might be able to say, "We know enough."

Love

From being based off survival to being based off of emotions, love has changed meaning. In prehistoric times one had no choice but to follow social determining patterns. For example, a woman was to stay home, have children, cook, and other womanly duties. The men went out and made the money. This type of relationship would be applauded by any church. In today’s society there is no set position for men and women. Today’s relationships are based off of people’s opinions of what is right and not the church’s opinions.

In the Roman civilization, love was not necessary. If love it happened it happened. The reason for marriage was to have children. To talk about sex was looked down upon much similar to talking bad about the church. Today, sex is “love” to most of America. People today get married because of common traits, emotions and unexpected children. Most of the time marriages were arranged between two families of power in prehistoric times. They did this to keep money in the family, also to keep the prestige bloodline. But it was not unusual for a noble man to marry a slave. These relationships developed either by starting off as an affair, or the noble man becoming a widowed man. Having an affair was also looked down upon in the church, so these men had to hide from their wives and the church. In addition, the ones that married slaves were criticized by their family because they have polluted the bloodline.

Cheating today is common; many people have developed a tolerance for it. Once the husband cheats the wife either forgives or forgets. Another option could be that she goes and cheats herself as a source of pay back. In marriages today the only reason a marriage is involved in the church is the ceremony. The church does not get involved with the marriages because of cheating, it probably would not even know about it. Would one say that in prehistoric times people had more virtues than today? Would one say that they both have their moral faults? Only the people in the future could probably determine the answer to that question. One should think that love has its many views and no set definition. Also, can not be subdued by the church. Religion should be a part of the building blocks of a relationship but should not be the majority. In prehistoric times the church seemed to have too much rule on a couples love, which makes one think that love was all bad and no happiness. Love came off as being just a job.Is love a choice? Can one help who they do or do not love? Does the man above have any thing to do with it?

To be considerate one should not base opinions off of what stories or myths told about prehistoric love because there is never something that always stays the same. Everything changes. From old to new love can have many mishaps, but no period of time can put a stamp on how love can bring many aspects of happiness.

Iconography: The Pisa Griffin

The continual reemergence of mythology and iconography is a fact and is seen through the three-and-a-half-foot-high Islamic bronze statue, the Pisa Griffin.  An invention of ancient mythology created by amalgamating a lion and eagle has been interpreted symbolically by various cultures.  Christians had seen the beast as their own God. It came to signify the dual nature of Jesus, the eagle, which stood for his divinity, and the lion which stood for humanity. This sculpture is symbolic of many things no matter which culture created it, but it is also illustrative of how different cultures often appropriated the art of other cultures and imbuing it with their own values, symbols, and beliefs.

For Muslims, the eagle-like qualities signified vigilance, and its lion-like qualities, courage.  It is unknown how the griffin got to Pisa but many scholars have suggested that it may have originated in Persia, in the East, or perhaps in Spain, in the West.  It was placed on the top of the cathedral that was built in celebration of the Pisa victory over Muslim forces in 1063. It became the symbol of the city’s place at the center of the Mediterranean trade. The Griffin has been in Pisa in Italy since the Middle Ages.

It was said by the Assyrians and Persians that the griffin guarded the gold of India, while the Greeks believed these creatures watched over the gold of Scythians. The Pisa Griffin had some characteristics of a lion and some of an eagle, the head and wings of the eagle, and the broad chest and thick body of a lion. It was decorated with feathers on the wings, and the carving of its back suggests it is wearing a silk drape, which links it with Asia.  It is used to denote strength and military courage and leadership. Griffins are portrayed with rear body of a lion, an eagle's head, with erect ears, and feathered breast, with forelegs of an eagle, including claws. The combination indicates a combination of intelligence and strength. According to Stephen Friar's New Dictionary of Heraldry, a griffin's claw was believed to have medicinal properties and one of its feathers could restore sight to the blind.

In todays’ world, the Eagle is a symbol of strength, loyalty, courage, and freedom. Because of that, it is the national emblem for the United States. You can find it on so many things that we come across in our everyday lives, on the backs of our gold coins, the silver dollar, the half dollar and the quarter.  It is prominent in seals and logos, postage stamps, and other items relating to the U.S. federal government.

Over so many decades, the Eagle has been an important figure in many cultures.  Starting with the Pisa griffin in Italy, with its eagle like head and wings, to the bald eagle that means so much to the people of America. The continual reemergence of these symbolic creatures goes to show that even through the hundreds of years, people still come together and believe that these figures represent the people in some way, shape, or form.

I Don’t Want to Say it’s Aliens, but it’s Aliens.

The origin of man is a topic shrouded absolute mystery. We have all these questions, and when voiced, we are answered only by our lonely echo. Where did we really come from? What is our purpose, and why? When faced with these questions, we can’t help but to look up to the sky. However, rather than looking at the clouds for answers, we should be looking beyond. Beyond our Earth, and even further beyond our galaxy, for our answers lie within the stars.

Looking back, history shows amazing feats that could not have been accomplished by mere men. The Pyramids are a wonderful example. Towering stone buildings made of bricks weighing roughly 2.5 tons each. No amount of man power, especially in this very early age, could have moved this, let alone lift it to such staggering heights. Not only are they ridiculously heavy, but size and neatness of the pyramids scream celestial help. The slopes of the pyramids are exactly 52 degrees, on every side. How could men at this day and age of 2500 B.C.E accomplish such a feat? They had absolutely no way of being able to measure something on a scale this massive. Even with current technology, I’m sure we couldn’t design something so perfect, so precise, such as these pyramids. Not to mention that they are perfectly lined up with the four points of the compass. How would they have done that all on their own? They didn’t even have a compass for reference, yet pyramids are lined up perfectly with the four cardinals.

Another undeniable piece of evidence would be the various carvings scattered throughout the world. In ancient civilizations, similar carvings have been seen in different parts of the world. They all depict astronaut like beings falling from the heavens. In this early time, it was impossible for so many different cultures to even come across each other to share any sort of stories, or culture. Not only could they not communicate, but the distance was so astounding, that it really was impossible. However, with these limitations in place, they still somehow managed to replicate the same type of image around the same time period. I understand we, as humans, have a vast imagination, but it is highly unlikely to create the same work without something to base it off of.

          It’s clear that at some point, we were visited by some sort of intelligent life, which definitely helped us move along in our own personal evolution. However, the question isn’t really if they visited us, it’s why? Why would they choose to help us? Maybe, just maybe, they are responsible for our existence, and have come to guide us along, like wise parents. Maybe, they will return soon, and guide us again. What will they say, after seeing what we’ve done to the earth they so carefully chose for us? Will they reprimand us, or be indifferent?  It is hard to say, but it is clear that the answers to all our questions lie within distant stars. 

Solved "Unsolved" Mysteries

Art Mirrors Life

                I believe art to be the human emotions, thoughts, ideas, beliefs, desires displayed or performed for the world to see. True art is brought about by inspiration that is carried away from the artist and put into his or hers work is what makes art a mirroring image of life because is through that artist journey through life that makes the work of art displayed before them a true mirroring reflection whether it be through their story of life or of another tale told through the artist eyes. This Art may be displayed in many different forms such as music, paintings, written documents like poems and many other endless ways which is why anything can be viewed as a work of art. One very interesting way to view art is through culture because culture can bring about many different forms of art through the way ancient cultures dressed, the ritual and activities they performed and the many monumental structures they left behind for the world to see.

 

                Modern popular culture can be seen everywhere today from the buildings all around us with each technological advancement to the political stand points on which this nation is built on and even down to how society interacts and views  each other. Looking back on time to ancient civilizations such as the Mayans and Egyptians who built great pyramids that till this day still stand the test of time are just some of the great works of art created by ancient cultures. The detail and man power alone that the pyramids share along with their meaning of ritual beliefs show the true meaning of art mirroring life. Today’s modern pop culture can also be compared to these great structures through the many skyscrapers we see all around the world. Societies today were no doubt influenced by the sheer awe of the prymids and try to replicate that art into their own passion for which each skyscraper stands for. Today’s modern culture not only exhibits the art of the Mayans and Egyptians but also the Romans as well who built their society culture based on great cities with detail flowing from the very pillars that stood them up to the great coliseums they did sport in. There are many great stadiums around the world built for soccer, football and the Olympic Games all derived from the first massive Coliseum of Rome which also stand to represent the true art of the structure but also the art of the games that take place inside.    
 
Another great  comparison is the white house that is the home of the President of the United States of America can seen mirroring these same pillars showing a greatness of symbolism to the people that the structure stand for. Not only is the outside of the White House compared to the ancient cultures of the past but also what was built on the inside meaning the democratic system that is the founding base of this country.

 The Ancient Greek civilization is credited for creating the first form of democracy from the art of their language to which created much of our language today including the word democratic from demos meaning people and kratos meaning power combining into dēmokratía the rule of the people. It was not only the culture art of the politics of the Greeks that can be compared with the today’s society but also their talents in creating one of kind masterpieces of the human body through sculptures. The ancient Greeks perfected the creation of exaggerating the every detail of the human body into massive sculptures truly breathing life into the art. Today modern pop culture and for the rest of time will forever marvel at the human body and what it is capable of including the art of sport that the Greeks were no strangers to as they competed by creating the Olympic Games, so there is no surprise in the fact that their art was mirroring what in life inspired them and continues to shine on into society today.

There is no doubt that art mirrors life is a true statement that will exceed time and with as today’s modern pop culture changes it will forever connect all societies throughout time from the most ancient of cultures to what the future holds for this world.

Comparative Philosophy

From being based off survival to being based off of emotions, love has changed meaning. In prehistoric times one had no choice but to follow social determining patterns. For example, a woman was to stay home, have children, cook, and other womanly duties. The men went out and made the money. This type of relationship would be applauded by any church. In today’s society there is no set position for men and women. Today’s relationships are based off of people’s opinions of what is right and not the church’s opinions.

In the Roman civilization, love was not necessary. If love it happened it happened. The reason for marriage was to have children. To talk about sex was looked down upon much similar to talking bad about the church. Today, sex is “love” to most of America. People today get married because of common traits, emotions and unexpected children. Most of the time marriages were arranged between two families of power in prehistoric times. They did this to keep money in the family, also to keep the prestige bloodline. But it was not unusual for a noble man to marry a slave. These relationships developed either by starting off as an affair, or the noble man becoming a widowed man. Having an affair was also looked down upon in the church, so these men had to hide from their wives and the church. In addition, the ones that married slaves were criticized by their family because they have polluted the bloodline.

Cheating today is common; many people have developed a tolerance for it. Once the husband cheats the wife either forgives or forgets. Another option could be that she goes and cheats herself as a source of pay back. In marriages today the only reason a marriage is involved in the church is the ceremony. The church does not get involved with the marriages because of cheating, it probably would not even know about it. Would one say that in prehistoric times people had more virtues than today? Would one say that they both have their moral faults? Only the people in the future could probably determine the answer to that question. One should think that love has its many views and no set definition. Also, can not be subdued by the church. Religion should be a part of the building blocks of a relationship but should not be the majority. In prehistoric times the church seemed to have too much rule on a couples love, which makes one think that love was all bad and no happiness. Love came off as being just a job.Is love a choice? Can one help who they do or do not love? Does the man above have any thing to do with it?

To be considerate one should not base opinions off of what stories or myths told about prehistoric love because there is never something that always stays the same. Everything changes. From old to new love can have many mishaps, but no period of time can put a stamp on how love can bring many aspects of happiness.