foundations final exam !!
minoans
(3650-1400 BC) their art included statues that were smooth, clean and looked modern. The Palace of Minos at Knossos (city) contained multiple entrances and was extremely fancy and complex, and included the 1st human forms in greek art. Another art piece exhibits the bull leaping associated with passage of right, masculinity, and amusement. Their art exhibits the playful element to Minoan culture.
five basic relationships of confucianism
(that govern society:) 1) father-son (kind v. respectful) 2) husband-wife 3)older brother-younger brother (ob must be courteous, yb must be obedient) 4) older friend-younger friend (courteous v. respectful) 5) ruler-subjects (just and fair v. loyal)
aristotle's vision for morality and how politics plays into it
- Aristotle believes in honoring excellence in social and political activities - politics and distributing justice is about forming good character in citizens and cultivating the good life. we need to PRACTICE virtues by habit in politics in order for humans to realize our nature and our full potential. --> humans are meant to live in a polis to recognize our capacity for language, etc. (polis is prior to individual b/c indivs are not self sufficient) - political deliberation (living the life of a citizen) is necessary to virtue
egypt
- Government based around rivers and gods - economy revolved around trade pharaoh was the messenger of the gods - afterlife (if good) was happy and like a continuation of life on earth (appreciation of afterlife) - polytheistic (more lenient gods) - centered around the nile river - Relied on rivers for survival - had slaves (very strict) - writing was more picture-like - architecture included pyramids and tombs/burial grounds with one converging point for all sides and consisted of chambers - political instability - territorial growth and change - Metal-working technology (copper/bronze) - society-social structure and culture remained thru 1200+ years - Social Structure -Pharoahs -Royal family and advisors -Scribes and gov't officials -Soldiers, merchants, artisans -Farmers and free workers -Slaves -Women (certain female leaders and goddesses were important) -Short period of monotheism
mesopotamia
- Government based around the people - Writing system consisting of pictographs, ideograms and phonetic signs) - Political unification (began as sovereign city-state → became unified under Hammurabi) - Economy revolved around trade - King or ruler was a representative of the gods - Afterlife was descent into gloomy netherworld (didn't fully appreciate it or place a large emphasis on it) - Polytheistic (more harsh gods) - Centered around the tigris and euphrates rivers - Relied on rivers for survival (protection, transportation, etc.) - Had slaves (strict, but slaves could buy freedom back) - More into mathematics - Architecture included ziggurats (big temples for gods), city centers and roadways, steps, and terraces (chamberless) - Social Structure -Kings and nobles -Free clients (workers that relied on royal family) -Commoners -Slaves -Women (domestic rights, fewer political rights) -Polytheistic -Animism -Code of Hammurabi -spread of culture
early classical/transitional period
- after defeat of the Persians in 479 BC - transitioning out of dark age and into golden age
two handles of legalism
- chastisement -- to inflict death or torture upon culprits - commendation -- to bestow encouragements or rewards on men of merit - if sovereign surrenders control over the two handles, the system would be corrupt
chief principles of legalism
- emphasizes the need for order above all other human concern. - believe that the government could only become a science if rulers were not deceived by ideals like tradition and humanity. - in the view of legalists, attempts to improve the human situation by noble example, education and ethical precepts were useless. people needed a strong government and a carefully devised code of law, along with a policing force that would enforce these laws (totalitarian). - if conformers to law are strong, the country is strong - to govern the state by law is to praise the right and blame the wrong. - emphasis on equality ("whatever the law applies to, the wise cannot reject nor the brave defy") --> regardless of your role in society, the law applies to EVERYONE - will of the law overrides will of the ruler (ruler can be deceived) - intelligent sovereign makes law that measure merits and don't allow people to be fake or disguise themselves to try to get out of punishment
confucianist beliefs and principles
- filial piety - honoring relationships - treating others the way you want to be treated (kindness) - being virtuous, honest and humble - showing respect for others - society and family are more important than individuals - it is necessary for one to understand their place in the social structure (fixed state of being) - education is key - honor your family/ancestors -- if not disorder will follow - women are inferior to men - people should be governed by virtue and rules of property (ritual)
what are the functions of the caste system?
- it localizes loyalties which prevents encompassing empire take-overs - accommodated the means of migrating/invading people and helped them assimilate better by... - offering a distinct, recognizable place for everyone - facilitated exploitation of the poor by the wealthy + powerful by making class consciousness and organized resistance across caste lines much more difficult to achieve
main ideals of indian caste system
- ritual purity and pollution cased by contact between higher and lower class (those in higher class must maintain their ritual purity, and by coming into contact with those of lower classes, that purity could be polluted) - karma, dharma and reincarnation
daoism
- teaches that there is a dynamic, cosmic structure underlying everything that happens in the world. Humans need to discover the Dao/Tao, which is immanent in all aspects of the world, not a rule imposed from without, and we need to fit into it, letting things take their course, not exerting ourselves in opposition to it by trying to bend things to our will. - polarity of being (the fullness of things) and non-being (emptiness) (both have an equal amount of significance) - all things have energy and there's a dynamic balance between them - disagree with confucianists b/c they don't believe in a structured society, but rather letting nature structure society - it is man-made creations such as government and structure that create unhappiness
aristotle's def of happiness
--> possession and exercise of moral and intellectual virtue --> happiness combines this, virtue, an element over which we have greater control, with elements over which we have lesser control such as external goods and goods of the body, to define happiness --> an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue --> the key to happiness was the possession of and exercise of intellectual and moral virtue, and in order for ppl to achieve this, they must be organized in a political society where excellence is honored and morals are maintained thru habituation/practice
Four Ranked Varnas
1) Brahmins = priests 2) Kshatriya class = warriors/rulers 3) Vaisya class = commoners 4) Sudras = servants/subordinates to Aryans 5) untouchables = polluted labor - all people in the first three classes are pure aryans and "twice-born" (undergo spiritual rebirth and initiation)
elements of civilizations
1) Central government (to bring order)--> People that can commission other inferior positions and possess order amongst people 2) Organized religions 3) Job Specialization and Social Classes (creating order amongst society through ranks) 4) Art/Architecture/Infrastructure (Having characteristics that define a given era or society (DIFFERENT art forms/styles than previous)) 5) Writing (A written form of documentation for easy records and/or sole communication and currency) 6) Trade and Technology 7) Economies
four goals of hindu life
1) Kama -- pleasure of sensual love within the bounds of dharma 2) Artha -- material success, after kama is satisfied, you move on to the next level of fulfillment 3) dharma -- following ethical duties, not just because your supposed to but because you truly want to (better to give than receive) 4) moshka -- liberation, bliss, unity w/ brahman
4 Noble Truths of Buddhism
1) Suffering and sorrow are a part of life. People everywhere are subject to pain, sickness, and death 2) Cause of suffering and sorrow is people's self-centered desires. People seek pleasure that cannot last, which leads to suffering and unhappiness 3) The way to escape suffering is to overcome desires and reach a state of "not wanting" 4) People can overcome their desires and reach of enlightenment, or nirvana, by following the eight fold (middle) path which gives them guidelines which to live by
four stages of hindu life
1) celibate student - between puberty and marriage, studies sacred texts 2) householder - marriage to birth of first grandchild - arranged marriages, pursuing a career and raising a family 3) forest-dweller/hermit -- 1st grandchild to return to the world detached - retreat from the world to focus on spiritual practice and quest. 4) sannyasin/wanderer -- wandering ascetic, can return to society and yet be detached, neither hate nor desire
four principles of daoism
1) oneness -- simplify your knowledge instead of categorizing it -- YOU are the one category of practice 2) dynamic balance -- yin&yang, balance between polarizing elements, letting nature take its course instead of bending our will to try and fix things 3) cyclical growth - importance and presence of cycles in nature/life (these cycles exhibit dynamic balance) 4) harmonious action -- seemingly opposite polarities are actually balanced and work together through cycles, that you can actually produce one from the other (weakness produces strength, and vice versa)
when did the first hunter-gatherers emerge?
15,000 years ago
john locke
1750, argued that good and evil are not from birth, we get our characteristics from experience. People are blank slates (tabula rasa), and people experiences are what write upon that slate, and define the type of members of the community they will be (beneficial or negative forces). Generally speaking, people are born pure and neutral. Our minds are "void of all character." we learn through either external senses or reflecting on ourselves, sensation vs. reflection. Blank slate = human general intention is to good when they are born
Many Homo sapiens exchanged a rather good life for a more miserable existence. What are THREE things agriculture did NOT offer in return?
Agriculture did not offer a better diet, economic security or security against human violence in return to Homo sapiens exchanging their good lives for a miserable existence. The grains lacked important nutrients that humans needed to survive, were unreliable when climate changed or some other factor came in to play, and the fact that farmers could not move on from the competition of a rival, and instead needed to stay and protect their fields, houses and granaries, doomed refugees to starvation.
5,000 BC on agricultural timeline
Agriculture practiced on every major continent except Australia ◼ The shift to agriculture is believed to have occurred INDEPENDENTLY in several parts of the world, including Northern China, Central America, and the Fertile Crescent — a region in the Middle East that cradled some of the earliest civilizations. ◼ Agriculture is thought to have been practiced sporadically for the past 13,000 years, and has been widely established for only 7,000 years. In the long view of human history, this is just a flash in the pan compared to the nearly 200,000 years our ancestors spent gathering, hunting, and scavenging in the wild. ◼ If the history of modern humans were compressed into a single year, we would not have started farming until the evening of December 7.
industrial agriculture
Agriculture that is mostly mechanized and uses advanced technology to produce food often at a large scale for commercial purposes
9500-8500 BC on agricultural timeline
Beginning of the transition to agriculture in the hill country of south-Eastern Turkey, western Iran, and the Levant. Wheat and goats are domesticated
What techniques have farmers used to protect their "artificial human islands" from interlopers?
Farmers fenced off their artificial islands by walls and hedges, and if interlopers made their way in somehow, they were driven out. However, if they persisted, farmers found ways to exterminate them such as building particularly strong defenses around the home, and being armed with branches, swatters, shoes and poison sprays to keep ants, roaches, spiders and beetles outside of their homes.
How did farming change how humans thought about the future?
Farming forced humans to think farther into the future because although they might have had enough food for the next couple of months or so, they needed to worry about the coming years, as they could not predict the weather/future, and had no way of knowing if bad years were coming soon. Because they depended on things such as rains to water their fields, and rivers to rise in order to spread the fertile topsoil washed down from the highlands, and fill their irrigation systems with water, they had to continue working towards creating a surplus to support themselves during these bad seasons, which were bound to come.
early man
Hunter gatherers Violent conflicts (kenyan and japanese tribes) Tribal people → relied on strong kinship (without the tribe people couldn't survive) Gender differences were prominent (men and women had primarily equal roles) (relative gender equality) Population remained small/linear (women could only have children every 4-5 years) No hierarchy (no need, tribe functioned as it was) No advancements (too busy trying to get food on the table) Dawn of agriculture was around 10,000 BCE and around 200,000 years ago were the first signs of humans, therefore paleolithic man has lasted a lot longer than we have (lifestyle worked for them)
Do you agree, disagree or partially agree with Harari's notion of "imagined order"? If you don't quite understand the theory, ask a question instead.
I partially agree with Harari's notion of "imagined order" in the sense that it works, and allows cooperation to fuel a community that produces enough food for all of its members, protects itself against enemies and expands territory to acquire more wealth and better security. It is efficient and clever, and executes very well. However, I feel that it isn't completely realistic and truthful. Hierarchies are based off of facts and the roles that individuals play in society, and some people aren't higher than others just because it was imagined to be that way. Hierarchies involve reason and truth. People are not biologically equal, however they have the ability to be in certain mental aspects, making the notion of 'imagined order' partially untrue.
What does Harari say about the "necessity" of luxuries? Do you agree?
In Sapiens, Harari states that after a while luxury becomes a necessity as people become used to a more relaxed lifestyle and start to take it for granted. This gets to a point where people count on these luxuries, and ultimately aren't able to live without them. I definitely agree with this viewpoint and believe that humans become too dependent on certain "luxuries", that if they were to be taken away, humans would lose their ability to flourish.
changes in our relationship to agriculture over time
Landowners privatized their lands, they changed the way that food production came about (societal and economic consequences)
commercial agriculture
Large-scale production of crops for sale, intended for widespread distribution to wholesalers or retail outlets
why might agriculture be a bad thing?
Led to the creation of famine, slavery and war Led to the creation of man-made manipulations of the environment, such as dams and the clearing of forests
why did people give up hunting and gathering for agriculture?
Many plausible reasons, all of which likely played some role at different times and across different parts of the world: ◻ Changes in climate may have made it too cold or too dry to rely on wild food sources. ◻ Greater population density may have demanded more food than could be harvested from the wild, and farming provided more food per acre, even if it did require more time and energy. ◻ Overhunting may have helped push woolly mammoths and other megafauna to extinction. (also the challenges of hunting) ◻ Changing technology, such as domesticated seeds, would have made agriculture a more viable lifestyle. ◻ Abundance gave people leisure to experiment with domestication ◻ Planting originated as a fertility rite ◻ People needed to domesticate grains in order to produce more alcohol ◻ Evolutionary desire to eat more ◻ controllable food supply ◻ ability to create a surplus (can support ppl not directly involved in the production of food) ◻ can be practiced all over the world
According to Harari, why are myths so important to cooperation?
Myths enable people to believe in certain principles, that even though they might not be completely true, are essential to creating stable and prosperous societies. If everyone believes in and works towards the same things, cooperation in large groups of people is made a lot easier.
confucianism
One of the most lasting and effective ways in which order was brought into society and government, implemented by confucius (teacher who lived in warring states period in 4th century BCE), new emerging philosophies led to improvements in infrastructure
the currency of evolution
The evolutionary success of a species is measured by the number of copies of its DNA, not by the quality of life obtained by those copies. Harari uses the analogy of a company, stating that a company's economic success is not determined by the happiness of its employees, but rather by the number of dollars in its bank account. The same is true with evolutionary success. The essence of the Agricultural Revolution is the ability to keep more people alive, even if it means they are living under worse conditions.
enclosure movement
The process of consolidating small landholdings into a smaller number of larger farms in England during the eighteenth century
benefits of village life in the agricultural revolution
Village life gave farmers better protection against wild animals, rain and cold. Although it took thousands of years to build effective political structures, they brought human violence under control considerably. Those structures could not have been developed without settlement and the creation of villages.
According to Harari (the author of Sapiens), how were Homo Sapiens domesticated by plants?
Wheat manipulated Homo sapiens to its advantage by becoming much harder to take care of. For example, as the grain evolved, it required Homo sapiens to clear the fields because it didn't like rocks and pebbles. It didn't like sharing its space, water and nutrients with other plants, therefore Homo sapiens spent long days weeding under the scorching sun. It got sick, so Sapiens had to keep a watch out for worms and blight, and it was thirsty so humans had to dig irrigation canals or lug heavy buckets of water from the well. Eventually, since wheat demanded so much from humans, they were forced to settle permanently near their fields, changing their way of life drastically.
What shifted in the practice of childbearing for women during agricultural revolution?
When hunter-gathering was affluent, babies and small children were a burden on nomadic foragers, therefore people tried to space their children three to four years apart by nursing them until a late age. However, when humans started to settle down and adopt agriculture, women were enabled to have a child every year. Babies were accustomed at an earlier age, as extra hands were desperately needed in the fields. This shift in childbearing ultimately allowed population numbers to soar, and resulted in a substantial amount of human development.
cereal grains
a grass that supplies grain for food (corn, barley, wheat)
basic theories of war
agressive drive v. war is learned and can be unlearned
mencius on human nature
all human beings have a mind that cannot bear to see the sufferings of others. The ancient kings had a commiserating (sympathetic) mind and accordingly, a commiserating government.
Siddhartha Gautama
also known as the Buddha, he was prince who lived in India from 563-483 bc. according to legend, he led a luxurious and sheltered life in his palace until one day, his comfortable life was shattered when he saw a man who was very sick, another who was old and feeble, and a third who had died. he realized that life = endless cycle of pain and the only way to escape it is by seeking wisdom. So he left his palace to seek enlightenment, and endured 6 years trying to find wisdom through harsh discipline and suffering, but only felt pain, not wisdom and insight about life. it was not until he rached it at the age of 35, after deep meditation in the shade of a tree, that he felt that the truth of life became clear to him
monotheism v. polytheism
belief in one v. multiple gods
leviathan
book written by thomas hobbes that describes his ideas on human nature
compare and contrast egypt and mesopotamia
both communities are defined by their relationship to water systems. because the nature of the nile was predictable, egyptian society was predictable and ordered (gods were considered good because they provide and give bounty). egyptian life was good but nothing really evolved or came from it. mesopotamians experienced constant change, region was influx with wars/change. the nature of the tigris/euphrates was unpredictable, therefore the meopotamians view of the afterlife is gloomy and gods are capricious, mesopotamians relied on innovations to improve quality of life. Mesopotamia gave us MORE innovative advancements (hamurabi's legal code, cuneiform, mathematics, temple structures) because their culture was constantly adapting and evolving
dark ages
coincided with a loss of literacy, went from the great and powerful mycenaeans to constant warfare and uncertainty, food production drops, population declines
difference between the three chinese philosophies in terms of how they tell people to live their lives to keep order in society
confucianism says that social structure and behavioral norms teach humans how to act and keep order in society, legalism says that laws teach humans how to act and keep order in society, and taoism says that nature and individual free will teaches humans how to act and keeps order in society
difference between the three in terms of how they tell people to live their lives to keep order in society
confucianism says that social structure and behavioral norms teach humans how to act and keep order in society, legalism says that laws teach humans how to act and keep order in society, and taoism says that nature teaches humans how to act and keeps order in society
imagined orders
created laws and imagined structure to contain society and control the way people existed/acted
samsara
cycle/wheel of life, death and, rebirth that is the basic state of existence. - Time is cyclical, not liner-cycles of creation and destruction in the universe -- reincarnation for the universe over vast periods of time
prehistoric violence/warfare
discovery of 27 skeletons in kenya point to the primal origins of warfare, which may date back to around 10,000 years ago (group violence as a result of competition for resources, supports aggressive drive theory. Also found human remains from prehistoric japan, however they were scattered in time and space, suggesting organized large-scale violence wasn't common in japan
indian caste system
distinct social system where one is born into a class and has little social mobility available to them. only can only move up through rebirth, by completing duties in their current life successfully, however by not completing their duties, one can move down a caste in a later life. emphasis on inequality, respect and obedience. this system grew out of interactions among varied cultures with the development of economic and social inequalities
11,000 BC on agricultural timeline
earliest evidence of agriculture. from as early as this date, humans began a gradual transition away from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle towards agriculture (the cultivation of crops/animals for food)
194,000 BC on agricultural timeline
earliest evidence of homo sapiens (anatomically modern humans). ◼ For the vast majority of the time since our species' arrival on the evolutionary scene, we acquired food by gathering it from the wild. ◼ Wild plant-based foods and fungi were important staples in the Paleolithic diet. ◼ While our ancestors' search for food is often depicted as an epic conflict against woolly mammoths, woolly rhinos, giant elk, and other prehistoric megafauna, early humans also took to foraging for insects and scavenging the remains of dead animals.
1700's on agricultural timeline
enclosure movement in great britain (cause of the industrial revolution: wealthy farmers bought land from small farmers, then benefited from economies of scale in farming huge tracts of land.)
how did prehistoric art develop?
exhibits a development of culture that demonstrates the development of humans over the years (feline head --> human head, fertility goddess, domesticated animals and crops by sides of humans, important aspects of their culture such as ram horn to represent males, hierarchies and societies (ruler and his subjects)) As prehistoric art developed over the years, new factors were added that showed new developments in agriculture and humans
economies of scale
factors that cause the average cost of producing something to fall as the volume of its output increases (Production cost is very cheap AND massive profit is made)
malthus theory
food supply can only reproduce at a certain rate and human beings can reproduce at a faster rate, population will eventually outpace the food supply, only way to correct this is die-offs in the forms of famine, disease and war.
high classical/golden age of greece
from 450-400 BCE, sparta and athens became enemies, given us the great monuments, art, philosophy, architecture and literature which are the building blocks of our own civilization
agribusiness
general term for the businesses that provide the vast array of goods and services that support the agriculture industry
dharma
hope for rebirth in a higher cast rests on faithful and selfless performance of one's current caste duties - deeds that create merit - complete the rule of life, not just right v. wrong, but compassion or the golden rule - duties are determined by gender, caste, and stage of life - supports caste system - you are in a lower class because you did not follow your dharma and accumulated bad karma
xun zi on human nature
human nature is evil. It's goodness derives from conscious activity. Now it is human nature to be born with a fondness for profit. Indulging this leads to contention and strife, and the sense of modesty and yielding with which one was born disappears. One is born with feelings of envy and hate, and by indulging these, one is led into banditry and theft, so that the sense of loyalty and good faith with which he was born disappears. If human nature were good, we could do without the sage kings and desist (refrain) from the practice of ritual and rightness. Since human nature is evil, we must elevate the sages and esteem ritual and rightness.
foragers
hunter gatherers; believed to have a short, nasty and brutish lifestyle, but actually had healthier bones and fewer work hours
mandate of heaven
if a ruler doesn't responsibly govern and care for his subjects, he loses his 'mandate' and has the right to be overthrown
neolithic v. paleolithic age
in the paleolithic age, people lived in nomadic groups and hunted/gathered their food, but as agriculture/the domestication of plants and animals developed, the neolithic age began where people settled down in villages and produced their own food
difference between indian v. chinese social systems
india (hinduism) gives priority to religious ideals (karma and ritual purity) and has a system w/ higher restrictions and less opportunity for social mobility
moksha
liberation or release from the world, characterized by union with the divine, awareness and bliss (a mystical state of being that cannot be explained), a return to the sacred source and an end to the cycle of reincarnation
revisionist view of agriculture
life quality went down --> social and sexual inequality was born, disease and malnutrition appeared. diets of hunter gatherers provide more protein and a better balance of nutrients. increase in enamel defects, spinal conditions and infectious disease rates. run the risk of starvation. clumping together led to the spread of parasites and diseases. warfare and tyranny.
thomas hobbes
lived during english civil war, leviathan -- human life was nasty, brutish and short. man is inherently selfish. While men are created equal, they are in constant competition for resources, and therefore, when left to their own devices, a measure of chaos/warfare emerges. One needed an absolute ruler who could provide an environment secure enough for people to pursue their individual interests, and to keep the chaos at bay. You don't have a right to revolt against the body of politic, or else it would crumble. All people are subjects of their absolute ruler.
sans people
lived in angola/namibia/botswana. strong hunter-gatherer society based on kinship and relationships. Celebrate not the person who kills the beast, but the one who owns the arrow. Instead, "Insulted the meat", or the person who brought back the food so that they don't become too cocky/arrogant
capital
machinery, buildings or cash needed to operate a business (a business that is capital-intensive takes a lot of money/equipment to run)
timeline of greece
minoans → myceneans → dark Ages → early classical/transitional period → golden ages → hellenistic era
confucius
most significant philosopher in Chinese history. born in 551 BC. most highly regarded for his conversion of much of the language of China's primitive religion into a moral system for a society that was making a transition from a concern with good and bad luck to a concern with right and wrong. died without knowing of his impact (his philosophies started to appeal to people after he died and china entered the warring states period), himself claimed that he did nothing new, but in reality, he fundamentally change the direction of Chinese thought. Wrote ideas down in his book, "The Analects"
6,000 BC on agricultural timeline
most species of farm animals were domesticated (most we are familiar with today). nothing important has really been domesticated since then
jatis
occupationally-based groups (subcastes) that developed and merged w/ the varna system to form the caste system. each jati is associated with a particular set of duties, obligations and rights for example: within the vaisya class (commoners), there are farmers and merchants - full jatis can move up castes through an overall completion of duties through generations
middle path
offers people practical guidelines for ending suffering (eight steps). by following this path and these 8 steps, anyone can attain nirvana and escape suffering. buddha also believes in cycle of reincarnation which states that some individuals are subject to multiple lifetimes of suffering until they reach enlightenment. - MODERATION -- path between two extremes, self-indulgence and self-mortification --> self indulgence leads to unrealistic, constant desire and only produces an excess of suffering, however self-mortification, or inflicting pain/suffering on oneself as an act of extreme self-dicisiple, is painful, useless and unprofitable.
warring states period
period in the 4th century BC in which power of zhou emperors was on the decline, and foreign "barbarian" invaders began to encroach on chinese imperial territory. local chinese warlords began to fight amongst themselves and challenge the authority of the emperors. overall state of chaos and disorder, which is why philosophies such as confucianism, taoism and legalism appealed to the people during this time period.
filial piety
respecting your elders, being obedient to your parents and honoring your relationships according to ritual and tradition. father sets example for his family and is the ruler, but also must take the blame for his family
eightfold path
right knowledge (insight into the nature of life), right purpose, right speech (avoiding lying/gossip), right action (being honest and avoiding crime), right living (avoidance of harm to others), right effort (prevention of evil), right mindfulness (awareness of one's self)and right meditation.
how did the buddha tell his disciples to find the middle path?
satisfy the necessities of life and keep the body in good health, but without becoming attached to luxuries. recognize the existence of suffering, its cause, its remedy and its cessation (learn the four noble truths). follow the eight fold path and it will lead you to nirvana.
reincarnation
series of lifetimes needed to achieve the goal of liberation/release from the world (samsara - 'wheel of rebirth' -- divine spark is reborn and one usually can't remember past lives) - reborn as: people, animals, gods and goddesses in many heavens, demons in many hells (even gods are reincarnated)
Technological Somnambulism
sleepwalking through technological change. when hunter-gatherers made the shift to agriculture, the massive time investment necessary to domesticate their crops caused people to forget how to forage and do the basic things they were once able to do. (technology brainwashing people)
subsistence
the action or fact of maintaining or supporting oneself at a minimum level.
animism
the belief that natural objects, phenomena and the universe itself possess souls
agriculture
the deliberate effort to modify a portion of Earth's surface through the cultivation of crops and the raising of livestock for subsistence or economic gain
green revolution (third agricultural revolution)
the development of higher-yield and fast- growing crops through increased technology, pesticides, and fertilizers transferred from the developed to developing world to alleviate the problem of food supply in those regions of the globe
Technological Determinism vs. Human Agency
the idea that a society's technology (during a certain time period) drives the development of its social structure and cultural values v. the idea that human actions lead to development and change history
karma
the ideal that being born into a particular class is a reflection of actions in previous life - deeds provide a positive or negative merit - determines your next reincarnation as good or bad, close or far to reaching samsara - only humans can change their karma by doing deeds that produce merit - bad things happen to good people because those good people were bad in a past life DEPENDENT ON DHARMA
monism
the notion that all things are god and god is all things. All reality is united, it is just perceived as different and distinct.
brahman
the shared divine essence of all things, beyond the reach of human perceptions -- we see distinctions and separations, not the unity of brahman. we need knowledge and discipline to see the truth.
atman
the ultimate reality within, understood through contemplation of the self
biotechnology
the use of genetically engineered crops in agriculture and DNA manipulation in livestock in order to increase population
The "Dao" (the way)
to escape the "social, political and cultural traps of life" one must escape by: 1) rejecting former knowledge and learning 2) relying on senses and instincts 3) discovering the nature and rhythm of the universe 4) ignoring political+social laws
myceneans
warrior aristocracy. They invaded and occupied Knossos and Crete around 1400 BC merging w/ Minoan culture. They began a greek pattern of infighting between various kingdoms, which is what ultimately destroyed them. Led to famine, loss of innovation + dark ages. Their art included... → Lion Gate (fortress decorated over gateway to assembly) → Warrior Vase, which represents their warlike culture.
1900's on agricultural timeline
widespread adoption of industrial agriculture (e.g., synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, monocultures) ◼ First introduced in the early 1900s, synthetic fertilizers dramatically increased crop yields, though not without consequences ◼ They have been credited with feeding the lion's share of a global population that grew from 1.6 to 6 billion over the 20th Century. ◼ Other aspects of industrial agriculture, such as the heavy use of pesticides, would soon follow. ◼ If the history of agriculture were compressed into a single year, we would not have introduced industrial agriculture until the evening of December 28.
progressivist view of agriculture
with passage of time, through advancements in technology, life got better; we progressed and were smarter. we were just evolving more (niche-shifting species, essential for us to move on). because evolutionary success is measured in DNA copies, farming helped us increase our populations. serpent in the eden of hunter-gathering -- constant warfare is required to keep the population density down to one person per square mile. Farmers can live at 100 times that density. hunter-gatherers also wrought havoc on many ecosystems.
polytheistic hinduism
worshipped 330 million gods, that are all faces of the one and have various points of contact w/ the divine
