Volcanic eruptions and tsunami have wiped out civilizations and one such catastrophe might explain the fabled story of Atlantis. In the modern era, geologic and archeological investigations hint at an intriguing possibility — that the demise of Atlantis may be related to a catastrophic Bronze Age eruption in the Aegean Sea, which destroyed an advanced Minoan civilization living on the island group of Santorini. (4) Be that as it may we hear about the civilization of Greece coming into focus following this event. History of Europe as a result would never be the same.
A sudden catastrophe brings an entire civilization down and the shockwaves of it impact some other culture on the rise to give a kickstart. Such sudden spurts in a nation’s fortunes howsoever backward it be, owe to the realignment of balance of power played out in other parts. Nature works with the Integration principle so strengths and weaknesses of civilizations are to be spread around.
Nature’s safeguards may seem disasters but history proves truth is something else. The Fall of Constantinople in 1453 marked the end of the final remnant of the Roman Empire, which had lasted for nearly 1500 years. It was a massive blow to Christendom. It also marked the end of Middle Ages. The flowering of Renaissance in Europe however owe to it. If the end of Minoan civilization allowed the Greek Civilization to acquire its high sheen the Renaissance allowed high ideals of the Classical Greece and Rome reach every nook and corner of Europe serving as seeds for the Age of Enlightenment to put out green shoots some centuries later. Ideals of Greece or Rome have not been emoted on any empty amphitheater in antiquity but for enriching the ideas of liberal thought in human thought far removed by many centuries as potent life force. Spartacus movement in Germany at the close of WWI derived from the first rebellion of slaves against the might of Imperial Rome.( 5)
Integration principle demonstrates many abortive movements of past hold freshness and intensity much more than before when lessons of history add to it. In the case of Spartacus League the success of 1917 Revolution in Russia added its own impetus.
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Different strands of ideas, technology connecting the supportive web render time element crucial.
An individual molecule of water can spend 200,000 years undisturbed in an ice sheet in Antarctica whereas in the ocean it may spend some 40,000 years. The same molecule can manage 1000 years in an underground reservoir, 10 years in a lake,10 days in the atmosphere. The same molecule in an animal’s body will endure only around 10 hours. With such a variation for the same molecule depending on the state it finds itself we may apply how civilizations take their own time and wait for opportune circumstances give the various factors their push. Man as terrestrial being may have life span of 80 years or about and it is not the brevity of time but what he leaves for posterity is what matters. A supportive web allows time to give technology its relevance or make replay of an idea irrelevant. Discovery of DNA and Pax Romana attest to the above point.
History of nations require time so man’s individual contribution can be set in right proportion into the nation’s progress. The strength of an individual is never the question but those large slow maturing of events march to quote Thoreau march to the beat of a different drummer. In a closed system these shall catch up sooner or later. Van Gogh sold only one painting in his sad and lonely life- and his genius needed a different scale to be fully understood and now his works are priceless and his genius fully recognized. Many great men similarly may have lost out in the scramble for picking the Fortune’s handout and those whom we looked on in awe as Colossus have turned out to be wimps and Fortune’s fools.
Benny
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