Western Civ

The Course of Empire: Destruction by Thomas Cole, 1836

"Western Civ" short for Western Civilization. From what I have picked up over the years, "Western Civ" was an arduous class taught in many schools. I never took such a class. I took a smattering of history and have a vague idea of what people have been doing for the last few thousand years, but I never spent much time thinking about it. The mechanical world fascinated me, possibly because it was a physical manifestation of the principles of mathematics. Using a little math it is possible to construct wondrous machines like bicycles, race cars, jet airplanes and moon rockets.

As I have gotten older, I have become more curious about how the world works, and that requires studying the occupants of this world, which is very annoying because when you start talking about human behavior, mathematics is not much help.

I know that Western Civilization is an amalgam of the philosophy of Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire and Christianity, and while I understand that Christianity is an essential part of this mix, I have never understood just what it contributed. It seems to be a mix useful advice for dealing with people and a whole bunch of mystical mumbo-jumbo. Perhaps because we are dealing with chaotic systems (people), the mumbo-jumbo is a necessary component. Nobody knows why it works, but it does, so we keep using it.

Who Put the West in Western Civilization? by Robert Royal got me started on this. It's a little long for my wandering brain, but I managed to finish it. Here is one line I liked:

"But just because wrong theory has led to hell does not mean that no theory will lead to paradise."

P.S. There is an audio recording of Robert's essay near the bottom of the page, voiced by Amazon Polly, which means it is being read by a robot.