Thanks BroJoeK.
Posted on 03/21/2015 10:09:27 AM PDT by walkinginthedesert
Ping
I have previously read about volcanic and weather and impact events causing the Dark Ages.
But the comet information, especially the fragmentation, is completely new to me.
I especially like the term “Sungrazers.”
Great potential for the title of a new Superhero movie franchise!
Thanks BroJoeK.
I take your point, but I think it is just as likely that the confusion is a confusion of the mind brought on by imprecise definition. The Dark Ages; the Middle Ages; the Medieval Era; The Age of Discovery; The Renaissance; all refer to specific events and times, but these events and times seem to have conflicting boundaries that impinge on and clash with one another.
It seems to be a feature of human action that our behavior cannot always be so conveniently compartmentalized as to fit so precisely that it always can be kept in neatly defined spheres.
This is true, I think, even in the broadest categories of human action over great historical eras.
You are quite right. “The map is not the territory.”
We crate artificial categories and divisions to make things easier to think and talk about and then we tend to then confuse the artificial divisions of our mental maps with the reality of the world.
Thanks for the ping!
I call the present era “The Years of Kenyan Decay.”
Just finished reading “The Greatest Knight” about William Marshal.
This was a guy around whom Chuck Norris would have worked very quietly. Really.
But based on what I read, the Dark Ages really were dark. For instance, bad King John (the subject of the Magna Carta) liked to dispose of prisoners by putting them in prison and forgetting about them. Naturally, they starved to death. This was when he was in a GOOD mood.
Oh, and Michelangelo was a RENAISSANCE painter, not a a dark ages painter. And plenty of good stuff is still painted today. Michael Whelan, Stephan Hicks, Don Troiani and bunch of other come to mind.
In truth, this is a Golden Age. Our “poor” have problems with obesity. We have potable water in such quantities that we flush toilets with it. We have light, heat, and entertainment available at the touch of a switch. Knowledge is down the road in the library and the bookstore.
I gripe and groan as much as anybody about how bad things are getting, but this guy is way off base.
“Fear of Islam stemming from this horrific period still pervades western civilization today.”
Why does the fear have to stem from that period? The mooselimbs are drenched in the blood of the innocent now, just as they were then.
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