Reverse Snobbery part 2

The point that I was trying to make is that because of our own educational input, environmental backgrounds, we today believe ourselves to be superior to those who have gone before us. Then one day we may learn that we had already been a part of that civilization that had already preceded this one in a way that we may have to relearn something about ourselves, just to realize that we are not so superior simply because we are educated, have modern technology, streamlined communication, transportation, etc. In fact, if anything, we may have become backward in some respects since few of us could survive in a way that our ancestors had survived.

I was reading a story about one of our probes into space which is being programmed to die in the rings of Saturn, and about how Galileo had committed a kind of suicide in Jupiter. Because we can send cameras into space which transmit pictures back to us, we believe that we are an advanced civilization. It is a miracle of sorts that we can do this, observe the universe through manmade objects designed to help us understand the space around us.

In a certain sense, those kind of probes justify the courage it took to break away from a thought control upon humanity which had deemed Galileo a madman, a heretic, a deviate from accepted thought. The Church had been wrong, and the Church is what had such a tight control upon mankind in previous centuries. Today, people continue to question the gospels which are available for everyone to read, not just a few.

So with that understanding, it is easy to understand why today we might believe ourselves to be more knowledgeable, less superstitious, and possibly a better generation than previous generations who allowed Church fathers to influence their lives so much.

An important lesson for me to have learned is that while Alexander had been taught certain beliefs by Aristotle, Alexander adjusted his own thinking as he came to know and live amongst those who Aristotle had considered Barbarians, lower class citizens.

So it is with all of us who learn to throw away certain modes of thoughts after we encounter them for ourselves and learn otherwise. We learn to decide for ourselves instead of allowing false teaching to control our lives.

I did re-edit this page, as I am encountering one of those moments when I have to admit that I asked, I received, and just not to question it, but accept it. So be it.