12-29-2020, 12:06 AM
(This post was last modified: 12-29-2020, 12:13 AM by Eric the Green.)
"...The modern age begins with the Renaissance and goes through the Enlightenment. It is one smooth, connected time because there has been no cataclysmic break."
We differ there, and WEIRD advocates should be aware that historians do assign a major break in the early 20th century, whether in the years leading up to World War I, or at World War II which was its direct result. The modern arts, psychology, modern physics, modern music, new philosophy, modern architecture, a surge of inventions-- all proclaim the break, which was followed by the fall of Europe and its empires and kingdoms as the leading civilization on the planet, thanks to the world wars they created. The founding of the League of Nations, followed by the UN, is the signature of our age, which is now a global society. The new age, the green awakening, the counter-culture, the decline of American exceptionalism and imperialism, all followed in the sixties and seventies. That in turn is the post-modern period, which continues, and whose hallmark trait is the end of progress.
These events are all a decisive break from the Renaissance, which is now called early-modern. The Enlightenment was the finalized expression of the Renaissance humanist culture which at the time was still embedded in traditional medieval society. The great late 18th century Revolutions began the shift toward our times, and some historians date "modern times" from then.
Going back to calling the Renaissance "modern," is a mark of the decline in historical awareness and awareness of the new trends that has happened in the recent regressive years. The 21st century so far is a giant ZERO in every way.
But progress may now start to return, redesigned from the previous era of earth-conquest.
We differ there, and WEIRD advocates should be aware that historians do assign a major break in the early 20th century, whether in the years leading up to World War I, or at World War II which was its direct result. The modern arts, psychology, modern physics, modern music, new philosophy, modern architecture, a surge of inventions-- all proclaim the break, which was followed by the fall of Europe and its empires and kingdoms as the leading civilization on the planet, thanks to the world wars they created. The founding of the League of Nations, followed by the UN, is the signature of our age, which is now a global society. The new age, the green awakening, the counter-culture, the decline of American exceptionalism and imperialism, all followed in the sixties and seventies. That in turn is the post-modern period, which continues, and whose hallmark trait is the end of progress.
These events are all a decisive break from the Renaissance, which is now called early-modern. The Enlightenment was the finalized expression of the Renaissance humanist culture which at the time was still embedded in traditional medieval society. The great late 18th century Revolutions began the shift toward our times, and some historians date "modern times" from then.
Going back to calling the Renaissance "modern," is a mark of the decline in historical awareness and awareness of the new trends that has happened in the recent regressive years. The 21st century so far is a giant ZERO in every way.
But progress may now start to return, redesigned from the previous era of earth-conquest.