Module 6

Is the human flourishment trite, old fashioned?

Steven Pinker wrote an article outlying the historical bounds that we as humans accomplished during this period in history. He challenges the reader to acknowledge all of the creations and achievements that we have accomplished. "with a flick of a finger and waste disappears with another, pills that erase a painful infection", "the world's knowledge and culture available in a shirt pocket" shows how far humans have come and to not doubt the validity of our achievements to date.

Acknowledging that we are in a period of unchartered expansions of academics, science, and freedom of our thoughts, regardless of the political stances governments take. "Enlightenment’s motto, he proclaimed, is “Dare to understand!” and its foundational demand is freedom of thought and speech".  (Pinker)

To know and understand the four themes of enlightenment is to help advance our societies to a new level which has already begun called The 4th estate - Age of AI. How do we think we have made such leaps and bounds to not be aware of the following: reason, science, humanism, and progress?

Pinker defines the four as follows:

Reason - The nonnegotiable. As long as a person is aware that the decisions, actions, whatever they might be are something that others can believe in makes things to have reason.

Science - To refine Reason with facts and proven tests to validate the concept of something.

Humanism - To know and understand the Reason of thought to then be proven by Science laws. The proof is in the pudding so to speak, to leave no stone unturned.

Progress -  To see the leaps of acquired knowledge and how it is implemented to create a better life. To have a "Reason" which is then proven via "Science" methods, to relate to the results is to be "Human" which then ultimately brings us to "Progress". To see from inception to completion, having scientific data to support allows for even more self-actualism.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Module 12

  begin to flesh out your ideas by writing at least 2 paragraphs in response to each question in the prompt. That prompt is copied below for your convenience, and the questions to respond to are underlined:   How has your chosen element of America’s founding world view evolved from the 1700s until today?   As time passes in the U.S. past the 1700’s, many more inventions continue to improve on our way of life. Independence of the old world takes hold and a clean slate of scholars and creators begins a history of science that continues today. Modernization begins to pick up speed in the 1800s bringing us Magnets, Light Bulbs, and Farming Combines which increased agriculture productivity. We also had medical advancements like the creation of many vaccinations  which lead to extended life expectancy and size in the new generation of Americans.  Combining all of the inventions from the 1700s–1800s, our nation's innovation took center stage as this nation grew its int...
Read more
  W rite a blog post reflecting on “modernity.” What is it?  Modernity is a way of life using the most current technology that society has to offer. The use of new and creative ways of improving our current standard of living. To be as forward as possible in evolving in the quickest way by incorporating the best of the best our communities have to offer. Does it make sense to mark the beginning of the modern period with the European Renaissance?  Yes, during the late medieval time period in Europe, a challenge in the establishment grew. Education was becoming something that more and more people sought. The expansion of the common mind began to expand and question rules and doctrines from the church. An awakening had begun a spanning from the former Roman empire through Ital, branching out to Spain, France, the Netherland, and other regions of Europe. How would you summarize the positions of Plato and Aristotle on democracy?  Plato and Aristotle were very blunt and di...
Read more

Module 5

   What is Enlightenment? Is what I like to call the age of self-actualization is how I would like to define it, which is the period trailing the Renaissance into the Middle Ages.      Having viewed and studied history throughout the time periods, this was time for a revolution. Revolution of the mind, asking ourselves the bigger questions, and trying to combine what was civilizations have learned so far and mapping out our next steps.   Where does it fit in the broader picture of European and/or World history? Understanding that many of the ideals we claim to hold dear and true are not from the Western world. In fact, it is more Asiatic (EuroAsia), the between of outer Europe and the beginnings of Asia. This is what many historians called the old world (East meets West). The old world it was, the beginning of written history, scholars, libraries, monuments to human achievements, and the quest of immortality in seeking god-like status. Understan...
Read more