Advancing from Ancient Beliefs I believe one of the ways we can prove we have advanced is by comparing what we used to believe, to what we believe today. This might also be one of the true ways to judge if we have advanced in the future. Some of the ancient beliefs would be considered horrendous today. Take for example the idea if you ate your enemy or ate his heart, you gained his bravery. There are still some tribes which practice this today. There was also the idea if you ate your dead, somehow your ancestors would always be with you. Of course, there was eating people for food too. I think it is safe to say in the civilized world no one does this anymore. The idea of magic and what it means has changed radically over the centuries. Today we believe magic is composed of tricks and we watch magic performances for entertainment and to try and figure out how the tricks were done. Most people would like nothing more than to discover the secret behind a complex trick, it is human nature. In ancient times magic was thought to be a supernatural device in which people were at the mercy of the conjurer and people practicing it were sometimes put into the position of high priests. People were scared of magicians and tread lightly around them because no one wanted one to place a spell on them which was usually a curse. We thought the heavens didn’t extend very far and the stars were just lights in the sky. We also thought the planets we could see were also lights. It was a long time before we realized there were other worlds out there and some of the objects in the sky were these worlds. The ancient Egyptians believed they could sail across the sky after they died and buried boats for use by the pharaoh for his journeys. They believed their leaders were also gods. Even though some of our leaders today act like they think they are gods, we no longer believe this. Alchemy was practiced for thousands of years. While it was sort of the forerunner of chemistry, it had some features that bordered on magic. Some useful discoveries were made like the invention of mortar, glass and cosmetics, most of alchemy consisted of spells and trying to invent either an elixir to grant eternal life or be able to turn non precious metals into gold. People were trying to use alchemy to summon mystical beings who might grant their wishes. Map drawing or cartography was no where as accurate as it is today. It is amazing to me the map makers throughout history were able to produce some maps which were pretty close to being right. The map of North America for hundreds of years showed California as an island. I guess this is understandable since there was no overhead view available in earlier days. Even though this was true somehow a map was drawn in 1513 named the Piri Reis map. It was far more accurate than other maps of the day and even showed the South Pole or Antarctica, which no one was said to know about at the time. At one time we believed the earth was the center of the universe and if one dared to challenge that, the church went after them. Galileo found that out the hard way after proclaiming the sun was. He was then forced to take back what he said. Before that time some of the ancients believed there were crystal spheres surrounding the earth which contained the stars and planets. Modern theories about space didn’t exist but some civilizations were more advanced in the movement of the heavens than others. For many centuries it was believed the human body contained four humors which were responsible for our wellbeing. They were blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm. This is one of the reason blood letting became so popular. When people got sick it was because their blood got out of balance. Thank goodness we got beyond that point and this is not believed anymore. It is said this theory was popular until 1858. At one time it was believed a pregnant woman could create some of the characteristics on her unborn child by using her thoughts. If she wanted a bright child, she would have to think “SMART” or an athletic child she would have to think “ATHLETIC.” This was called Maternal Impression. While we no longer believe this theory, some people do believe the unborn child can hear. We used to believe life could come from inanimate material. This was fostered by the idea rotting meat created maggots. In the old days no one realized they hatched from eggs laid by flies. People would cite the bible and say this was possible because the bible said God created us from dust. This was believed right up to the 19th century but then Louis Pasteur came along and brilliantly disproved this. Most countries no longer practice flogging which was around for many centuries. It was used as a punishment for crimes and also unfortunately used in some navies for minor infractions. If you came to your watch in the navy a little late, you could be flogged. It was even used as a means of maintaining discipline in schools and private homes. While a whip was used many times, it could also be administered with a cane or rod and was usually done by hits to the back. I think getting beyond the things I have listed has shown we are getting more civilized, but there are still setbacks happening from time to time. Some terrorist groups still practice beheading and mass killing just to set an example.
|
