James Burke : The Day The Universe Changed: "The Way We Are", 2 of 5 (CC)

[ion010101]

Not, "we". Some of us were curious - a minority. A few.

[ma049]

China did invent raea

[Ionian1006]

Wellllll- I guess they were responsible for paper- in one form. Not a very good form for most uses, but paper nonetheless.

[wotan237]

i think the afro -centrics are now claiming the role that Greece had....they say the Greeks got their ideas from Egypt...but Burke just said the Egyptians were lazy and satisfied with marking off land with geometry and doing nothing else and I dont think Egyptians were black anyway....they are even saying there was a good amount of black blood in the Greeks... sounds like wishful thinking to me... Also, i think the Arabs , Chinese and Indians were at one point ahead of Europe but they faltered

[KimberlyRPeacock]

Burke love him. What I would pay for a couple of hours of Burke's quality a week. Instead we are left with mostly garbage, even on the science channel!

I started watching Burke on TLC and bought the VHS tapes and need to convert them to DV. I wish Burke would make connections 4, 5 ,6 and never stop!!

[KimberlyRPeacock]

Burke love him. What I would pay for a couple of hours of Burke's quality a week. Instead we are left with mostly garbage, even on the science channel!

I started watching Burke on TLC and bought the VHS tapes and need to convert them to DV. I wish Burke would make connections 4, 5 ,6 and never stop!!

[vinha1006]

There was another series, even older that I sw on here for some time, but I have forgotten the narrator's name. I think it might have been Eugene or something like that, and the ending part involved the Nazi death camps in some way.

HELP???????????

[kfap69]

lol 

[JFKlone]

Wow..the Greeks were the first to start asking questions?

As much as I enjoy Mr. Burke's programs, that assertion is an EpicFAIL!

[samimalmstrom]

Thats probably the best damn explanation of basic geometry. Damn teachers of mine couldnt explain it logically even if you put a gun to their head. Our present day school system just exists to make people stupid and submissive.

[tonybeir]

I think Jared Diamond would have objections about his idea that "we are the way we are because of the type of people we are"

Well. Aren't we the type of people we are merely because of where we developed in the planet? Direct beneficiaries of the agricultural revolution of the greeks and romans?

[mrpossibilities]

James Burke may be one of the most important intellectuals and educators next to Carl Sagan. In fact, a lot of what he says sounds like it's coming from the same school of thought that Sagan emerged. You can almost hear Sagan's voice in his.

[voodoojedizin]

My one and only criticism of this entire series is the fact that he completely omits the hundreds of inventions that came from China. And in fact gives credit to some Europeans for inventions that came originally from China. An excellent book called the genius of China describes 3000 years worth of inventions, which almost all ended up shaping western society.

[JamesBurkeWeb]

He goes over that in Connections 1; about (in his words) "the Chinese inventing everything" and why, once Chinese inventions found their way to the "west" they had a far greater impact than in China. He cites two major reasons:

A) A ubiquitous bureaucracy (to run massive irrigation systems) and it's effect of pigeonholing everyone. So no possibility of altering "social status".

B) The notion of "Chi" which indirectly precludes going from the specific to the general (ie. scientific induction).

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Oops, typo.

I meant the notion of "Shen" (神) which was at the heart of "Taoist" (Tao: 道) philosophy and hence the philosopher-chemists, or in modern lingo, the "Chinese technologists" of the time.

- JBW

[voodoojedizin]

But I'm sorry that's a very shallow statement, China did do great things. For one thing China was unified, considering the size of the country and the diversity of its people that was no easy task and it was its technological inventions which help it do so. I understand the Chinese philosophy and why they didn't exploit the rest of the world, using their technological advances. But that does not mean they didn't do great things with in their own country with that technology.

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Such as?

[createacomic]

@JamesBurkeWeb If you need to ask that question, then you should read some of "Science and Civilization in China" by Joseph Needham. He details exactly how all of China's inventions impacted Chinese society so remarkably.

Also, Burke himself has admitted that the reason he doesn't focus on China is because he didn't study it as well as the west. So his conclusions on China (and other major scientific cultures, such as India) are not definitive.

[Ionian1006]

@JamesBurkeWeb - Gunpowder? Marvelous invention that has saved millions from living long lives.

[KingsduVTT]

@voodoojedizin it is only fitting that China is now dominating and will do so for the next few decades leveraging Western innovation and technology. As we did from them. He have now come full circle !

[KingsduVTT]

@JamesBurkeWeb I guess it's just fitting that the opposite is happening today, China is now going to dominate the next few decades but leveraging Western innovation ! We have come full circle !

[spencnaz]

@JamesBurkeWeb it was the imbuing everything with the concept of 'shen' that was the fatal hangup for Chinese technology during that time period. 

[daddyofjames]

You're absolutely correct-Re: Amercians belief in they're 'free'. Unfortunately the same malaise has extended in no small part to the Uk. People complain at the politicians (and in recent past behavior, rightly so!) they complain at the survelience society we endure, the complain at the lowering of education standards. Yet although the intelligent know this, it's easier to keep your head down, accept that it's all for 'your own good' and that exam levels are higher than ever before ..cont:-

[daddyofjames]

yet I know from my own experiance working with young adults (20-25) their level of basic English and it's application is woeful compared with most of the people I left school with 30 years ago.On paper these self same adults are more qualified than I am!! That to me is outrageous. This lack of education I believe is engineered; it's purpose to keep the population docile, not to ask questions, not to complain, accept what they're told unquestioning, to comply, to be a slave to the central hub.

[JamesBurkeWeb]

It is almost certainly by design for a consumer based populace controlled by a business based "government". Thing is, it's really hard to sell crummy useless stuff to smart people. Smart people have this nasty habit of asking "why?"... It's also way easier to sell wars, and slavery and all sorts of things to dumb people. If you can reduce the level of education to the bare minimum, you can remain in power (and filthy rich I might add).

Thus this channel.

- JBW

[InTheSticks1881]

Whatta powerful statement about the nature of man, his reason and quest to remain free, to question authority, is all do with his insatiable curiosity. Wow.

[JamesBurkeWeb]

I know. If only more people had that driving curiosity... ;)

[InTheSticks1881]

If it isn't already, that 'drive' and yearning for freedom will be seriously tested in the next few years here in the U.S. as the economy and the dollar tanks.

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Heh... I think you might be a little disappointed with the result. Most Americans think they have things like "rights" and "freedom" even if they're starving to death and living in slums.

The perception is maintained through endless propaganda attesting to such "factoids" and people love to hear that they're doing great!

- JBW

[InTheSticks1881]

I have to agree. They will submit and accept. I'm considering moving to Sweden as this country is done. Although one might disagree with the system there, at least the level of corruption is much much lower. The Sweds do have a better grasp of things. I expect the economy in Europe will recover much quicker, whereas our situation will drag on for 15 to 20 years after a period of hyper inflation.

[puppehs]

Honestly, great video. By the way, when was this video done? Looks a tad old, but i'll be damned if it still doesn't resonate.

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Here's a listing Mr. Burke's television series: • The Burke Special (19721976) • The End of the Beginning (1972) • Connections (1978) • The Men who Walked on the Moon (1979) • The Other Side of the Moon (1979) • The Real Thing (1980) • The Neuron Suite (1982) • The Day the Universe Changed (1985) • After the Warming (1990) • Masters of Illusion (1993) • Connections 2 (1994) • Connections 3 (1997) • Stump the Scientist

[nicanicabad]

brilliant!

[giulianobevisangue]

You don't know what that is, do you?

But you want to, don't you?

LOL!

James Burke's humour is as fresh as ever.

[boxant]

Let me just take this moment to say thanks.

Thank you Greeks. Thank you for being you.

[greenhilljohn]

Burke is spot on.Though he could have gone back further than the Greeks to what is now Iraq and the birth of Agriculture.

However he went from the Greeks forward

and is correct.Great leaps in human progress do not occur on a level across the World.

However the better ideas soon spread out.I reckon you critics focus on the negative aspects of Western Imperialism and forget the positive sides of Western civilation and their consequent universal appeal.

[JamesBurkeWeb]

He goes back further in Connections 1 (episode 1 specifically).

TDTUC really starts (or is meant to start) just after the fall of Rome. Although the interim period, up to about 1000 ad, is gossed over pretty quick.

- JBW

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Woops! "glossed-over" not gossed...

[raincrowlee]

But, to be fair, Burke is a historian of science and technology, and seems most interested in how the past lead to the creation of our technology. His focus is on the Western world because so much of our technology was developed in that area.

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Sure. It so happens that Europe advanced technologically very rapidly and I think a lot of the reason for that was a kind of "pragmatic" mindset in European culture.

Arabic culture was much more philosophic about knowledge; interested more in the meanings of things than all those "dumb" European's always asking: "so how can this be used?"; to say, make money? or to wage war more effectively? and other "primitive motivations" that the EU group had. This is made clear in the examples.

- JBW

[pyroghy]

The precise examples are Eurocentric, but the principle is universal. Every society has their view of the "universe", based on their experience of it. This view is the foundation for all else in the universe. When new experiences occur that are outside of this construct, the construct - hence the view of the universe - changes.

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Right. Better, and more concisely put than me!

- JBW

[koobert]

Is Burke's thesis that the "western" world was the one that advanced technology due to its unique curiousity? Isn't the implied statement, then, that non-western cultures, such as africans, Indians, the Chinese, Japanese, aboriginals, etcetera did not seek to advance knowledge? Or that they did not believe in the western concept of progress?

His statements certainly are a product of the 1970s... still. Great show. I am very glad that so many episodes are posted on youtube.

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Essentially yes. That is his thesis. At least at the time when this show was being filmed (1985). But, he never really specifies exactly who this "we" is. Certainly "we" must include many Buddhist, Hindu, Hebrew, and Muslim cultures: India, Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, China, and Taiwan just to name a few.

I think the "we" that he speaks of are the members of cultures with a world-view wherein the universe is investigable & dynamic rather than static or cyclical (ie. Tibet)