James Burke : The Day The Universe Changed: "In The Light Of The Above", 5 of 5 (CC)

[ZydorsGhost]

As always brilliant stuff. Anyone not yet twigged, take a look at JamesBurkeWeb, click the link above, and "start again" from the start - it will be the most worthwhile journey you have ever undertaken. James has left us and future generations a timeless Classic in "The Day the Universe Changed". Kudos James :)

[TheLastBrainLeft]

One person is a relative of El Cid

[MsLupo1]

great show

[Primalxbeast]

Did they put that traffic light up just for this show? I didn't see any solar panels or anything to provide power.

Thanks very much for putting these shows up on youtube jamesburkeweb. :-D

[MrAndyDick]

Fantastic show! This makes me think that the internet is the ultimate library.

[masterjim2007]

@MrAndyDick i think the internet is a 'get your information much faster library' all other hard copy libraries take forever to find exactly what you want.

[MrAndyDick]

@masterjim2007 Yes and I suppose book burning events have been obsoleted as well.

[JaiNote]

March 10, Wed., "2010". Seven "liberal" Arts?! Liberal!?

Arabs! Arabs all over the place. What really sticks out is this must have been created before "9-11" ! Before the new Era we are in that seems like the Dark Ages all over again! Torture ok= Old Inquisition. Series made in "1985"!

[beepandbop]

@James BurkeWeb: I disagree emphatically with your comment about the Greeks being above and beyond anything other culture in terms of modern contribution.

Don't forget the Hebrew concept of linearity and mans ability and duty to (responsibly) dominate nature . I take it you're British and understand your cynicism, but discounting the two cultural values (synergized with thar of the Greek's through Christian thought, btw) is what lead Europe to THINK UP! ;)

[dooberry20]

Thank you so much for putting these videos up. Everyone should watch these. I just discovered james burke today and he is great. I discovered jacob bronowski's 'ascent of man' a while ago and watched all his videos which were great and now this, wow i love it. Really good to know what has all happened before us that has led to our current lives.

[Dominicussen]

Well don't forget the Greeks. I think their contribution is the most important. Data and theories by them self don't facilitate progress. It's the way of thinking; the skeptical, analytical mind, Aristotle and the other great minds fostered, which is the most important. Arabic arches, Indian numbers are great to have, but the mind, who invents and find new ways to apply inventions, are priceless.

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Yes, the Greek contribution to human knowledge stands far and away ahead of any other culture.

*** HANDS DOWN ***

But Aristotle's contribution was more like a "dumbing down synthesis" of Greek science, philosophy, logic... and so on forever

Surely the smartest human being *that ever lived* was Archimedes without even a near runner up.

People ponder, and some think they've shown that he knew enough to cause the renaissance 2000 years earlier. The story of his untimely death is sadly ironic

[rentatrip1]

@JamesBurkeWeb - I say the GEEK contribution to modern culture surpases the GREEK - The modern Geeks have contributed microcircuits , tweet and garbage in garbage out - so much more pertinant than greek stuff LOL

[oker59]

@JamesBurkeWeb

Archimedes laughed Aristarchus off the stage . . . setting the stage for the coming dark ages?

[oker59]

Dominicussen's point is much more general than Aristotle's contributions.

[knandha1]

How did our world view in the west, originate from India?

Just curious..

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Oh, many things. Mathematics and logic foremost probably (the concept of 0 for instance). Also Vaisheshika (Sanskrit:वैशॆषिक) which, quoting from wiki:

"espouses a form of atomism and postulates that all objects in the physical universe are reducible to a finite number of atoms. Originally proposed by the sage Kaṇāda (literally, atom-eater) around the 2nd century BC"

These and other "Eastern" philosophies were carried to the west via the Arabs after the fall of Rome.

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Here's an interesting example (predating Aristotle by about 500 years):

The atomic theory:

==============

The early vaiśeṣika texts presented the following syllogism to prove that all objects i.e. the four bhūtas, pṛthvī (earth), ap (water), tejas (fire) and vāyu (air) are made of indivisible paramāṇus (atoms):

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Assume that the matter is not made of indivisible atoms, and that it is continuous. Take a stone. One can divide this up into infinitely many pieces (since matter is continuous). Now, the Himalayan mountain range also has infinitely many pieces, so one may build another Himalayan mountain range with the infinite number of pieces that one has. One begins with a stone and ends up with the Himalayas, which is obviously ridiculous

[JamesBurkeWeb]

- so the original assumption that matter is continuous must be wrong, and so all objects must be made up of a finite number of paramāṇus (atoms).

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Also of interest under wiki is:

wiki / Jainism_and_non-creationism

"Jainism does not support belief in a creator deity. According to Jain doctrine, the universe and its constituents - soul, matter, space, time, and principles of motion have always existed (a static universe similar to that of Epicureanism). All the constituents and actions are governed by universal natural laws."

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Of course the above argument contains a logical error; taking Archimedes axiom as given!

[JamesBurkeWeb]

... that is, the reductio ad absurdum "proof" about the atomic theory.

However notice that they already had the logical tool "reductio ad absurdum" (proof by contradiction) in their tool bag.

[koobert]

Interesting conclusion. I wonder if Burke was surprised at the rate of western adaptation possible within a generation in these previously third-world countries, such as Peru, India, the Phillipines.

[JamesBurkeWeb]

I've wondered about that myself. I live in Asia and have seen first-hand the speed and adaptability of western ideas into eastern cultures. In fact, the ease at which "our" world-view fits into theirs (NOT "onto") is nothing short of remarkable.

I'm not so surprised about India (which is where much of our world view actually originated) nor the Philippines (since they've had exposure to "us" for a long, and very sad time). Not sure about Peru.

It's China that amazes me the most actually.