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Home was not where the heart was for the Enlightenment’s intellectuals
- dr_dshiv 7y agoPythagoras was a child prodigy who traveled the world with the desire to meet all the wisest in each land. He then assembled the knowledge into what he called "philosophy". Integrating empirical science and communal spirituality, he taught that the "cosmos" is made of math. Source: Iamblichus, "Life of Pythagoras"
- tim333 7y agoI kind of agree with Pythagoras there.
- toohotatopic 7y agoIt's less strange if you call it ma-the-matica, as in the-ology, pan-the-on, ...
- leetcrew 7y agoyou can think of it that way, but, etymologically, it is unrelated to those words. the root "mathema" is more like "learning" or "knowledge".
- dr_dshiv 7y agoPythagoras had two types of students, the akoustikoi and the mathematikoi. The latter had to take a 5 year vow of silence and live communally. Both men and women -- and mixed races (specifically the Mongolian "visiting scholar", Abaris) Recent scholarship (Creese, Zhmud, Barker) attributes to the mathematikoi the first hypothesis-driven experiments in the history of science -- testing theories of Consonance and Dissonance.
- Mediterraneo10 7y agoCan you cite the claim that Abaris came from Mongolia? Whoever would make such a claim is speaking far too confidently. The details provided in the actual Greek sources are ambiguous and could apply to anywhere in northern Eurasia.
- dr_dshiv 7y agoYes! Def. It is Peter Kingsley's new book, "a story waiting to pierce you". It is very, very good.
- Mediterraneo10 7y agoAlright, I see. I hope you understand that this book, published in New Age circles, is a not a reputable work on history or even a reasonable pop-sci distillation thereof. Consequently, I feel it is irresponsible to make the claim in the post above.
- dr_dshiv 7y agoNot so! Kinglsey is a great scholar and respected as such. This book is extremely well referenced -- more than half the book is notes and references. It also has a blurb from Walter Burkett just before he died. Yes, it's not standard history -- and he takes a spiritual perspective. But it is extremely appropriate for the subject matter. Impuning the book because it is published in new age circles is unfair. I recommend refreshing your perspective by reading "esotericism in the academy" by Wouter Hanagraaf. Or, "western esotericism: a guide for the perplexed"
- Mediterraneo10 7y ago> Kinglsey is a great scholar and respected as such He is not however respected as a historian or archaeologist of Northern Eurasia, which would allow him to claim that any figure in Greek history came specifically from Mongolia. If he says in the book that this is merely his own speculation, that would be fine, but the fact is that speculation is all it would be. > I recommend refreshing your perspective by reading "esotericism in the academy" by Wouter Hanagraaf. Or, "western esotericism: a guide for the perplexed" Esoteric philosophy and its validity or lack thereof is irrelevant to the historical–archaeological claim that you made in your post above.
- leftyted 7y agoGood for Pythagoras. But according to George Harrison "the farther one travels the less one knows". (Apparently he was quoting Laozi)
- melling 7y agoSure, you’ll know much more than before you left but realize how little you actually know compared to how much there is to know. Harrison said it better but it seems to be confusing? Me being explicit probably didn’t help.
- leftyted 7y agoI see the statement as making the case for an idealist philosophical perspective. I.e. the subject that we're really exploring is the human mind, not the universe. Of course you don't have to agree with that. To me it seems clear that we can explore the universe, or at least get real close. But it's easy to see the value of an anthropocentric perspective. At the end of the day we're stuck being human.
- copperx 7y agoSounds like Erdos to me.
- REDDitMen 7y agoWhen I travel and speak to locals, they are often very open and honest. Both when I lightly press them for information on their condition, hopes and aspirations - and when they are just happy to confide in and share something personal with a complete stranger just passing through. Many touching moments, often more memorable and enlightening than the beautiful places I visit.
- sktrdie 7y agoIs there any data on this? Seems to make sense but I don’t think the greatest intellectuals of the past centuries say Newton, Mozart, Einstein, were avidly interested in traveling. And even if they were, they could only reach a very small fraction of what we can reach nowadays with planes.
- watwut 7y agoEinstein was not enlightenment intellectual. He lived well after that period and was more of physicist. He did travel from Germany to united states, through not for fun.
- morelisp 7y agoIn addition to mistiming Einstein, I have never heard Mozart described as an intellectual. Newton was infamously provincial; even when forced out of Cambridge he just went back to his childhood home (this is also one reason Leibniz's approach dominated continental mathematics). Probably the exception that proves the rule.
- jayeshsalvi 7y agoI agree. The article smells of confirmation bias.
- woodandsteel 7y agoI disagree with you. One of the unusual, perhaps unique features of Western civilization is the great hunger for direct knowledge of other societies and other parts of the natural world outside the West. Think for instance of Herodotus.
- cafard 7y agoIf I remember correctly, Immanuel Kant never got very far from East Prussia.