today's lecture was pretty interesting - i have some thoughts on the final paper, but I'm still in the brainstorming stages -
when Dr. Petersen mentioned the guy who coined the phrase "the dark ages" as opposed to the "light ages" that proceeded it (ancient Greece) the gears started turning, and i wondered - how does humankind go from the wealth of knowledge and freedom that was seen in ancient Greece and Rome to the "darkness" of the middle ages?? what was the difference between the two societies? i believe a large part of it had to do with the availability and the communication of knowledge - it seems that the dark ages were wso dark because there was a VERY low rate of literacy (used as an indication of % of the population that is educated) as opposed to Greece or Rome, where it definitely wasn't 100% literacy, but the information and education was much more widespread. so does the amount of education determine how "good "a society is? can that be shown by examining literacy? i guess i'll find out!
I believe that yes, the amount of education can determine how "good" a society is. And that it can definitely be shown by examining literacy. Literacy is one of those tools used to further along knowledge. It is a type of stepping stone to many more different forms of knowledge. Without it, advancing more in knowledge becomes difficult and limited to those who are literate. It goes back to the idea that knowledge is power, those with the knowledge can control who has it, where it goes, how much is shared. That's how I feel at least.
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