Were the Middle Ages a conspiracy?

T

Troll

Chrono Cadet
What if the so-called 'Dark Ages' were really a prosperous utopian era, populated by the most educated and informed people? We're told to believe that they were primitives and grossly oppressed, but every book from that era is more articulate than any modern text. People were actively seeking immortality and the philosopher's stone, and there were still unknown worlds to explore. Fast forward to today, where the US congress speaks at an 8th grade level, fewer and fewer people pursue the sciences, and violence and oppression are rampant, all while a select few get rich and rule over the population. Maybe we're in the dark ages now.
 
Add to this the fact that most of our 'modern' technology is, in fact, based on 1800s or early 1900s technology: everything from our cars, telephones, TVs, electrical systems, etc., etc. It's like most development simply stopped and people have been kept in a primitive state.
 
What if the so-called 'Dark Ages' were really a prosperous utopian era, populated by the most educated and informed people?
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I agree with you somewhat about today being a dark age where people are dumbed down educationally. I saw it far too often in my professional career where I had university graduates who literally could not rub three words together to form a proper sentence - or even correctly spell all three words.

I have a hard time agreeing that (depending on the definition) the European "Dark Age" was prosperous. The Roman Empire, in the west, had completely collapsed by the 5th Century. Europe, after over 1,000 years of having a system of government was cast adrift. Life was not easy and it surely was no utopia (unless you take the literal Greek meaning of utopia, "no place"). Without the Roman army to keep the peace Europe broke up into warring and virtually lawless "kingdoms" where each king was trying to reunify Europe in their own image. Monty Python may have had it correct.

As far as modern technology being based on 19th and early 20th century ideas goes, it isn't a sign of stagnation. Each of the technologies you referenced is based on one or more of the four fundamental forces of nature - gravitation, electricity & magnetism, the strong and weak forces. That isn't going to change, ever, unless there is some other force of nature unknown to us today. Of the four forces, only E&M lends itself to easy manipulation. Gravity is used in modern technology but only in the sense that it is a constant and unidirectional. Other than introducing a large mass we have no way to actually manipulate it. That leaves the weak and strong nuclear forces. Because they are associated with nuclear fusion and fission (strong) and nucleon decay (weak) they play their parts in modern technology but not in common everyday technology that the average person might understand.
 
That's why I put this in the conspiracy forum. Of course, if you take the official history at face value, it was certainly a bad time in which to live. I simply am questioning whether the history was rewritten in order to make people think they're better off than their ancestors.

You bring up a good point regarding technology, but it still seems an inadequate level of advancement to me.
 
Darby said:
I agree with you somewhat about today being a dark age where people are dumbed down educationally. I saw it far too often in my professional career where I had university graduates who literally could not rub three words together to form a proper sentence - or even correctly spell all three words.

I have a hard time agreeing that (depending on the definition) the European "Dark Age" was prosperous. The Roman Empire, in the west, had completely collapsed by the 5th Century. Europe, after over 1,000 years of having a system of government was cast adrift. Life was not easy and it surely was no utopia (unless you take the literal Greek meaning of utopia, "no place"). Without the Roman army to keep the peace Europe broke up into warring and virtually lawless "kingdoms" where each king was trying to reunify Europe in their own image. Monty Python may have had it correct.

As far as modern technology being based on 19th and early 20th century ideas goes, it isn't a sign of stagnation. Each of the technologies you referenced is based on one or more of the four fundamental forces of nature - gravitation, electricity & magnetism, the strong and weak forces. That isn't going to change, ever, unless there is some other force of nature unknown to us today. Of the four forces, only E&M lends itself to easy manipulation. Gravity is used in modern technology but only in the sense that it is a constant and unidirectional. Other than introducing a large mass we have no way to actually manipulate it. That leaves the weak and strong nuclear forces. Because they are associated with nuclear fusion and fission (strong) and nucleon decay (weak) they play their parts in modern technology but not in common everyday technology that the average person might understand.
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a shrubbery!
 
ruthless said:
a shrubbery!
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Good one, Ruthless.

I was actually thinking about this one:

King Arthur: The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. THAT is why I am your king.
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Dennis: Listen, strange women lying about in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony. [Y]ou can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you!
 
Troll said:
What if the so-called 'Dark Ages' were really a prosperous utopian era, populated by the most educated and informed people? We're told to believe that they were primitives and grossly oppressed, but every book from that era is more articulate than any modern text. People were actively seeking immortality and the philosopher's stone, and there were still unknown worlds to explore. Fast forward to today, where the US congress speaks at an 8th grade level, fewer and fewer people pursue the sciences, and violence and oppression are rampant, all while a select few get rich and rule over the population. Maybe we're in the dark ages now.
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Yes.... And I am King Arthur just awaiting Merlin to show me that sword with the Lady Of The Lake. We are in Dark Times, but seriously?
 
I saw the light in all of it and I see the darkness around us. There are few in my town that have the light and most of us in light are trying to come together to fight the Darkness within the city.
 
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