Re: Fw: Russian Waste Repository

["Fritz A. Seiler" <faseiler@NMIA.COM>]

Dear Jim and All,



        This may be a bit off topic, but I have heard Jim's argument of the

decline of culture in the middle ages much too often.  Used in the context of

the capabilities of our future generations, this tends to upset me quite a

bit, because I know this argument to be utterly false!

         Personally, I am almost sure that the 'Dark Middle Ages' is a

historical myth, perpetrated by overzealous liberal arts admirers of the

Greco-Roman period. These historians all learned Latin and Greek in school,

and next to nothing about the middle ages!

        In school in Switzerland, I fortunately had a history teacher who

taught history longitudinally, that means, we were looking at the

history of Europe and in particular the 'Holy Roman Empire' all at once as a

function of time, from Greco-Roman times to the present.  It has thus been

clear to me for a long time that the "Dark Middle Ages" are a liberal arts

myth, perpetrated both in Europe and in this country.

        These times as a whole were in reality, and especially in many

particular aspects, quite bright and did culminate in what is now

euphemistically called the "Renaissance".  Most of the corresponding problems

come from historians, raised and educated in the Greco-Roman tradition, who

were looking only at the top 1% of the population in the ancient days, but

then were looking far more broadly at the professional populations of towns

and cities in the middle ages and later.

        The darkness that there was, was mostly due to the effects of the

plague which reached its peak in the middle of the 14th century and caused too

many people to die to leave the culture untouched.  Also, at this time, the

negative climatic effects of the early phases of the Little Ice Age made

themselves felt.

        But then, in all this turmoil, remember the joyful 'Decamerone' of

Giovanni Boccaccio, written in the early 14th century about the tales told by

people that had fled to a country estate from the plague in their towns

(Naples?). Or does anyone really believe the fairy tale that the renaissance

arose almost fully matured in the middle of the 14th and 15th century?!?

        Also, I can recommend a visit to the relatively modest Arts Museum of

my home town of Basel in Switzerland.  It has been given a gift of a

tremendous collection of paintings of the Early to High Middle Ages. There you

can see the history of local painting over several centuries and see directly

that there was no such thing as the 'Dark Ages' in painting.

        Nor was there one in poetry and other writings of the times.  Just

remember the "Divina Comedia" of Dante Alighieri and his love poems to

Beatrice in his "La Vita Nuova" in the thirteenth century.  Reading these

texts in old medieval Italian (Tuscan), deeply impressed this student of the

Italian language and culture during his teen age years. More objectively,

these literary high points during the high to late Middle Ages persist in

their importance to the present day.



"Dark Ages", my foot!



        Just like science, history should be driven not only by dates but also

by "data" such as cultural achievements and, above all, it should be viewed in

a holistic manner. If you read that kind of history, there are no 'Dark

Ages'.  Humanity did evolve, apart from the usual fluctuations due to change

of cultural focus and political upheavals with a clearly evolutionary trend

upward.



End of Rant on Middle Age History!



Have a nice weekend, Jim and All,



Fritz





"Stokes, James" wrote:



>

> Dear Fritz:

>

> Because the "middle ages" proved that humanity does not always get smarter

> with time.  Do not be overconfident. Cultural and self-destruction have

> virtually been a trademark of human social behaviour throughout recorded

> history.

>

> Respectfully Jim Stokes



--



 " The American Republic will endure until the day Congress

 discovers that it can bribe the Public with the Public's money."

                                       Alexis de Tocqueville

                                       Democracy in America



***************************



Fritz A. Seiler, Ph.D.

Sigma Five Consulting

P.O. Box 1709

Los Lunas, NM 87031, USA

Tel.    505-866-5193

Fax.    505-866-5197

e-mail: faseiler@nmia.com



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