Martin wrote :
<snip>
> In these terms, then, I wonder if we are not falling into a trap by assuming
> that the preservation of the past through the construction of models of the past
> based on archaeological data is unique to our era and, therefore, somehow unique
> to western society. Surely, in one way or another, every society is grounded on
> the collective memories embodied in its active population and these memories are
> "memorialized" in real objects that often form the material core of that
> society's self-awareness, e.g., everything from monuments of various sorts to
> ordinary and everyday artifacts - and, of course, there is ongoing negotiation
> over what should be preserved and why and just what these mean. Power structures
> are not unique to capitalist societies, and just as there is ongoing factional
> dispute in capitalist societies, so the "memorials" of non-capitalist societies
> will embody ongoing factionalism, part of which was focused on negotiating the
> appropriate conceptualization of the past.
An interesting,thoughtful letter. Is it fair to say that this is somewhere close
to the popular Po Mo thesis that 'reality is stories we tell ourselves ' ?
As I see it, western culture, philosophy, science, has been telling itself stories
for 2500 years which are patently wrong. Harking back to an earlier topic,
I believe that telepathy is now a scientifically proven fact.
The implications for culture and philosophy are radical,because the whole of
Western civilisation, for 2500 years,has been built up upon the assumption that we
are discrete individual beings,each locked within our own insulated 'self-contained'
mind.
All of our technology,architecture,work-structures,relationships,academic disciplines,
etc,are all organised upon that assumption,which appears now to be proven incorrect by
authentic scientific investigation.
We teach / condition children as to what a human being 'is',e.g. a Christian soul,
or a Darwinian biological creature,or whatever the cultural flavour current at a
particular time and place.But our conception of 'what we are' is wildly wrong,
if the above information is excluded... the commonly portayed model of 'what
a person is' seems to be fundamentally incorrect.
The research by Jacobo Grinberg- Zylberbaum at the National University of Mexico,
seems conclusive to me,and was published by what seems to be a reputable
academic journal : "Physics Essays, an international, peer-reviewed journal of impeccable
quality, supported and advised by a renowned Editorial Board, has been established as the
sole journal to act as the voice of the international physics community in a truly
interdisciplinary fashion."
Chris.
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