Essay #1 Semester 2

Can a civilization advance/develop living in cyclical time?

Abstract:
The text below will answer the question, can a civilization advance/ develop living in cyclical time? I will use many resources to write this piece. I will use all of our class discussions, The Earth Shall Weep by James Wilson, and handouts that I have acquired. I also will use various websites.

The best explanation of cyclical time is that time goes in cycles. Every so many years time wil repeat itself. If you think like the Ancient Chinese than time repeats itself every twelve years. If there is a war this year than twelve years later than there must be a war twelve years later. Cyclicalt time differs linear time because linear time never repeats itself, it always is heading in a straight line. The chinese use the moon and jupiter to plot their twelve year cycle. They have observed that people that are born in the same lunar year will have similar traits and characteristics. That is why chniese children are born in the "year of the sheep" or the "year of the monkey".
Many ancient civiliaztions used cyclical time. Among the dozens there were the Incans, mayans, and the ancient greeks. The native americans also used cyclical time. History shows that the native american were developed. Maybe not as developed as Britain at the time but they were developed nonetheless. They had there own religion, houses, and a form of government. That does seem developed enough. As James Wilson said in his book The Earth Shall Weep, When the settlers arrived there were already forms for houses. That is because the native americans had already built houses there. The Greeks also lived in cyclical time. Greece was one of the most advanced civilizations of their time. Many things could not be done without the inventions and innovations of the ancient greeks. Durung the time of ancient greece Archimedes invented the fulcrum and lever. Just think of how life would be without the lever. Also an ancient greek invented the steam engine. Without the engine life would be much harder. Ancient Greece was very advanced and powerful.
The native american civilization might have not been advanced but they were highly developed. They did this when they were split up within the country. They would have innovated much faster if they were united. Another reason the native americans did not advance is because they did not know of anything different. They were happy with what they had. Life is much simpler without technology.

Sources:
http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Greeks.htm
http://www.ichingwisdom.com/IChingWisdom/zodiac.html

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/1300.shtml

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