Age of Enlightenment

[DejaVu]

Age of Enlightenment

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Age of Enlightenment, or simply The Enlightenment, is a term used to describe a time in Western philosophy and cultural life centered upon the eighteenth century, in which reason was advocated as the primary source and legitimacy for authority.[1]

Developing more or less simultaneously in Germany, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, the movement spread through much of Europe, including the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russia and Scandinavia as well as the United States. It could be argued that the signatories of the American Declaration of Independence, the United States Bill of Rights, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and the Polish-Lithuanian Constitution of May 3, 1791, were motivated by "Enlightenment" principles.



What the hell happened? 

[Westville Girl]

The "Age of Unmitigated Greed" is what happened hahahaha!!!!

Good news though:  A second and even more meaningful "Age of Enlightment" is under way as we speak....It's a beautiful thing.

[DejaVu]

The "Age of Unmitigated Greed" is what happened hahahaha!!!!

Good news though:  A second and even more meaningful "Age of Enlightment" is under way as we speak....It's a beautiful thing.

I sure hope you're right about a second "Age of Enlightenment"......I worry about this kind of stuff for some reason.

[Winston]

Age of Enlightenment   What the hell happened? 

I thought it was the inevitable dumbing down through laxed standards of Public Education and Equal Opportunity for the Unequally Capable (granted, that all came a bit later).  Kidding, sort of.     Growth in ALL religious fanaticism and restriction is the biggest threat that will vault us right back to the Dark Ages.

But I agree with Westville Girl on the GREED thing:  Industrial Revolution Robber Barons (bigger than ever now), the push & pillage of the Have-Nots trying to become the Haves -- you know, the usual CLASS STRUGGLE (meaning, for me, the struggle to stay awake in history class, ha.)

I sure hope you're right about a second "Age of Enlightenment"......I worry about this kind of stuff for some reason.

"Enlightenment" (illumination, instruction, lightbulbs going on in heads, objective analysis, seeing the BIG picture) can mean a whole slew of things -- from scientific rationality to religious mysticality  (oddly, concepts at odds with one another). 
Either connotation though is better than its opposite -- "Darkness" (fear, ignorance, superstition, subjective blindness, lies).    And we ALL oughta worry 'bout it -- doesn't seem anybody or anything's getting much brighter yet! 

Good news though:  A second and even more meaningful "Age of Enlightment" is under way as we speak....It's a beautiful thing.

I'm still working on the Age of Aquarius myself.  (Same "Ages" actually -- all to do with expanding both physical and cosmic consciousness.  Far out, yeah, beautiful, man.)   
Must go dig out my bell-bottoms and peace pipe...  Maybe listen to the Beach Boys singing "Don't Worry"  a few more times and laugh at that Age of UNenlightenment...

[DejaVu]

Age of Enlightenment   What the hell happened? 

I thought it was the inevitable dumbing down through laxed standards of Public Education and Equal Opportunity for the Unequally Capable (granted, that all came a bit later).  Kidding, sort of.     Growth in ALL religious fanaticism and restriction is the biggest threat that will vault us right back to the Dark Ages.

Yes! It's all of that. Plus...we (the American people) don't really know who to trust. We don't know who the real enemy is...and to me...it's frightening....maybe it's not like that for others?

But I agree with Westville Girl on the GREED thing:  Industrial Revolution Robber Barons (bigger than ever now), the push & pillage of the Have-Nots trying to become the Haves -- you know, the usual CLASS STRUGGLE (meaning, for me, the struggle to stay awake in history class, ha.)

It's all of that too and I've learned a lot more about History than was ever taught in my History class. I never thought History was that important back then. It's fascinating to me know.

I sure hope you're right about a second "Age of Enlightenment"......I worry about this kind of stuff for some reason.

"Enlightenment" (illumination, instruction, lightbulbs going on in heads, objective analysis, seeing the BIG picture) can mean a whole slew of things -- from scientific rationality to religious mysticality  (oddly, concepts at odds with one another). 
Either connotation though is better than its opposite -- "Darkness" (fear, ignorance, superstition, subjective blindness, lies).    And we ALL oughta worry 'bout it -- doesn't seem anybody or anything's getting much brighter yet! 

I need to see the "Big Picture" it's actually how my brain works. I see in pictures...a constant movie with sounds and everything running in my head...always....I don't think in language. I thought everyone thought like that....but I guess not. I found out it's associated with autism. Me and my brain have been going through some difficult times...and...never mind..it's a long story...........

Anyway...how do we get the dim bulbs to light up? I don't have an answer.

Good news though:  A second and even more meaningful "Age of Enlightment" is under way as we speak....It's a beautiful thing.

I'm still working on the Age of Aquarius myself.  (Same "Ages" actually -- all to do with expanding both physical and cosmic consciousness.  Far out, yeah, beautiful, man.)   
Must go dig out my bell-bottoms and peace pipe...  Maybe listen to the Beach Boys singing "Don't Worry"  a few more times and laugh at that Age of UNenlightenment...

I don't have a good picture of what "cosmic consciousness" is...but I'd like to. 

[Winston]

I don't have a good picture of what "cosmic consciousness" is...but I'd like to. 

Huh?  You mean I gotta explain the entire UNIVERSE to you!?!   (Google it.)   

No, after Buz's "enlightening" video, maybe you should just go take a break and watch Monty Python's "Meaning of Life" movie to counteract the one playing in your head.  It starts:

Man in Pink: [singing] Whenever life gets you down Mrs. Brown / and things seem hard or tough / and people are stupid, obnoxious or daft / and you feel that you've had quite enough! / just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving / revolving at nine-hundred miles an hour / it's orbiting at ninety miles a second / so it's reckoned / a sun that is the source of all our power / the sun and you and me / and all the stars that we can see / are moving at a million miles a day / in an outer spiral arm at forty-thousand miles an hour / of the galaxy we call the Milky Way / Our galaxy itself / contains a hundred billion stars / it's a hundred thousand lightyears side to side / it bulges in the middle / sixteen-thousand lightyears thick / but out by us its just three-thousand lightyears wide / we're thirty-thousand lightyears from galactic central point / we go round every two-hundred-million years / and our galaxy is only one of millions of billions in this amazing and expanding universe.

[musical interlude]

Man in Pink: The universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding / in all of the directions it can whiz / as fast as it can go / the speed of light you know / twelve million miles a minute and that's the fastest speed there is / so remember when your feeling very small and insecure / how amazingly unlikely is your birth / and pray that there intelligent life somewhere up in space / 'cause there's bugger all down here on Earth.

However, later some of the true cosmic meaning of life is made known and it's THIS:

Lady Presenter: M-hmm. Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.

Cosmic and meaningful enough to me! 

[DejaVu]

Huh?  You mean I gotta explain the entire UNIVERSE to you!?! 

No you silly....I just need a picture. 

[Westville Girl]

Hey Winston you are pretty damned funny hahaha! Thanks for a laugh so early in the morning! 

[Winston]

Thanks Westville Girl, but at 7 a.m. I'm definitely NOT funny, as that's when I try to expand cosmic consciousness and meditate transcendentally.   (Not really, usually still trying to transcend UNconciousness and bedcovers.) 

MOOOOOOOO.

[Westville Girl]

Yeah I'm looking back at your posts and seeing that you are mostly funny at night!