JudgementDay

Dark Age is bringing out fears and trepidations about what the future holds for mankind. Are their hopeful signs to balance the worries? What do you pin your hopes on? Are there signs that presage a brighter future?

A pretty girl gave me a strong girl reaction about an hour ago. The carnitas I am braising is filling my house with great aromas. On the minute-to-minute basis, things are really good for me. I'm looking for the long range hope, or should I just truncate my time scale and live in the now? What's your philosophy?

When the Ostrogoths finally buried the Roman empire, its last vestige was North Africa. There presided the Roman proconsul Martianus Capella. He worried that the love of learning would go down with the Empire. In response, he codified the education provided to young Romans of the elite class, by archiving the seven basic arts. These arts were treasured and preserved by the Arabs of the time. On the other hand the bishop of the province, now called Saint Augustine, facing the same reality, decided that education was wasted on common people, and that only his christian clergy needed learning. His dictates ultimately damned Europeans to the Dark Ages. On the other hand, the Arabs flourished in a golden era. Anyone who has earned a Bachelor of Arts degree (BA) owes it to Capella. By the way, the Arab Caliph of Spain and western Africa, seeded the so-called Renaissance, by passing Capella's classical knowledge to the few enlightened European scholars who persisted despite Augustine's blunder.

In my current thread on the boards I argue that technology will bring new Dark Ages, by fragmenting our society, much as was done by the monster Augustine.