Jay Ambrose: Thank The Ancient Greeks For Civilization As We Know It

DC Examiner ^ | 8/9/06 | Jay Ambrose

[BipolarBob]

I am thankful to the Greeks for pi, coconut cream pi specifically.

[sjmiller]

"Known as the founder of integral calculus and mathematical physics". I'm a mathematician, and it's a bit of a stretch to call him the founder of integral calculus; that's usually reserved for Newton and Leibnitz. Archimedes came extremely close, as evidenced by his approximation of pi by looking at inscribed and circumscribed polygons about the circle.

[Balding_Eagle]

All societies have contributed to the rise of mankind.

Americans should be thanked for the atomic bomb, without which there would be no civilization.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

"Meanwhile, our civilization, while veering down many wrong paths, has veered up many right paths..."

Western Civilization has led the World in creating political and economic freedom and a culture that allows progress.

Multiculturalism be damned, all cultures are not equal.

[Verginius Rufus]

Some things are just a matter of geographical good fortune. They couldn't have invented coconut cream pi if they hadn't been living in the country of coconut trees.

At the same time, the Greeks have to take the blame for the college fraternity system.

[zek157]

Willful idiocy, or just provoking today?

[Cruz]

ping

[BipolarBob]

Multiculturism be damned. Whoa!! I have been indoctrinated with diversity courses at my work and YOU are destroying the whole illusion that I have been brainwashed er . . . taught. I am supposed to celebrate Black History month, Cinco de Mayo, the global economy (waving goodbye to American factory jobs), homo marriages, Islam - the religion of peace (but they hate Israel and America and want to kill us), affirmative action and eventually a one world government. That being the case I dare not raise a voice about any other culture I am supposed to celebrate.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

I too have been inundated with multiple celebrations of diversity. I don't have a problem with people having pride in their origin. What I resent is the way these "celebrations" are foisted on us as PC recognitions of the many hyphenated Americans.
We are all Americans with out hyphens.

[Balding_Eagle]

Just a little provoking. As long as we were to fall all over thanking the Greeks, I thought I'd toss in something we should be thanked for.

America is the only society standing between a world of civiliztion and one of utter chaos.

If we fall, there will be a thousand years of darkness accross the face of the earth.

It puts some perspective to the whole idea of thanking societies.

[Rytwyng]

Multiculturalism: Celebrating the achievments of every culture EXCEPT the culture that actually achieved something.

[Sam Cree]

*

[BipolarBob]

What I resent is the way these "celebrations" are foisted on us as PC recognitions of the many hyphenated Americans.

What other people celebrate is their buisness. Not mine. And it has nothing to do with buisness. We may work at a place where everyone is a different age, gender, religion, sexual orientation and ethicity and I say SO WHAT? Let's all just do our job and do our celebrating on our own time.

[massgopguy]

Wow, I'm not going to touch that Tar-Baby.

[jamaksin]

This discovery is thought to be a fragment of what is called "The Method" - and in fact does predate that English guy with the apple (and fluxons) and the German fellow.

[zek157]

I totally agree and watch with breath held as our underpinnings are knocked out.

[longtermmemmory]

bump

Interesting footnote,

shortly after the Greek war of independence from the ottoman empire, one of the Greek leaders said to an american official "we honor our past by emulating your present."

The United States is truly the heir to the Hellenic Enlightenment. It is a WAY of thinking in which all things can be studied and examined.

It is not just the individual parts but how you put all those parts together.

The attack on the classics is a blatent attempt to dumb down thinking. Look at the founders, they activly sought to create a modern Olympus in Washington DC. The multiculturalists want to dumb down everyone into balkanized zombies who cound never have the intelectual thought to make connections. The ancient Greeks were voracious seekers of ideas, the modern NEA is a voracious censor of ideas.

The melting pot is welcoming of ideas put together. Multiculteralism is the anti-hellenic force of destruction that all agree keeps ideas from being shared and growing.

It is a sad mark that the parts of the world suffering stagnation and missery failed to build upon the hellenic past. (this includes europe)

[longtermmemmory]

bump

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

I enjoy reading and studying ancient Greek and Roman History. The more that I learn about the Greeks and Romans, the more I understand how much our culture inherited from them. True, Christianity came from the Hebrews, but Christianity grew and was nurtured by the Greco-Roman culture. Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and Christianity became the official religion of the Empire creating Christendom.

The foundation of our culture, its legal, social, religious, philosophical, lingual and cultural nature is based on the Greco-Roman.

The Greek and Roman legal system provided that a man was innocent until proven guilty. Jury trial with legal counsel were the standard. The law was considered important, even during the Empire and some nasty Emperors.

Socrates preferred death to escape from his sentence, because it would not be honorable to disrespect the rule of law. The Greek and Roman culture found that individuals were important. This was strengthened by Christianity.

The strength of the Hellenic and Roman states were based on the rule of law and a strong military culture. This military culture called for military service by its citizens (in Roman Empire, new citizens were created by joining the Legions, eventually in the late Empire, the military was not connected to the Roman citizenry, since most of the military were not originally Roman). The military culture focused on its soldiers working as members of a well oiled machine. Routinely, Greeks and Romans defeated forces when vastly outnumbered based on their well trained and unified legions.

Our military culture comes from the strong British military culture that is exemplified by similar principles. Good training, initial initiative but operating as a well oiled unit. Also, it expects to win, not surrender like some in this world.