Sediment is what is produced when wind, water, and other forces of erosion dissolve and relocate particles of soil and earth. Over time, these particles collect together, creating layers upon layers of earth, eventually creating a geological phenomenon that looks like a ream of paper with hundreds of these distinct layers, called "Sedimentary Rock." Civilization is not unlike geology in that it has been built up layer by layer, brick by brick, and page by page, creating a long history of human advancement.
Just as a geologist would find a sheer cliff and study the sediment layers, a scholar can find a library and study the literary layers. Just as the geologist, could examine layers as ancient as the the Cambrian, the scholar can inspect the antiquities of the Bronze Age. Just as a geologist or an archeologist might extract a fossilized troglodyte from the bottom of the cliff, a scholar might consult the books of Moses. A geologist might find Sea Scorpion fossils in the layers that constitute the Silurian time period, and a scholar might find ancient polytheist pantheons. In the Devonian layers, a geologist would find prehistoric fish, whereas the scholar could look at layers from the bronze age and discover the Iliad and the Odyssey. Where in the Permian layers, the first Reptiles are found, It is in Classical Greece that the first Western philosophers are found. Where massive dinosaurs are excavated from the Jurassic layers, Roman works in law are to be found in the Iron Age.
This analogy can be taken one step further to include catastrophic events, as recorded on the face of the earth and the pages of books. Where a scientist can consult the crust of the earth and discover primeval floods, meteors, and famine, An academic can track the rise and fall of empires and culture. As a geologist is confounded by the complete extinction of the dread dinosaur, A scholar is baffled at the collapse of the ubiquitous Romans.
And so, the ages are all piled up one upon the other until a complex and beautiful tapestry is woven in the cliff faces and in the worn books. As sediment builds up, different colors become present, and as one creature dies, another takes t's place, and as one civilization crumbles, another picks up the pieces and puts them back together again.
Upon examination, one can see how the sediments of civilization has produced the English language. English has it's original British, making up the bottom layer, and then it's Celtic, Latin, greek, Saxon, Norman, Norse, and German, among others. Look at this paper and see how sediments have been mixed and built upon; you can see traces of Greek words like "troglodyte" and latin derived words like "Sediment."
Thus has civilization and life been built up from primitive times, to the mountainous hight it has reached today. Greeks adopted and adapted much of their culture and knowledge from the Egyptians, as the Roman did of the Greeks. And so principle upon principle and precept upon precept, have we been exalted. However, if the sediment below our feet has holes driven into it, and charges placed, and the sediment demolished and flattened to the ground, would future progress be secured? or Would it be a catastrophic, civilization crushing mistake?
Just as a geologist would find a sheer cliff and study the sediment layers, a scholar can find a library and study the literary layers. Just as the geologist, could examine layers as ancient as the the Cambrian, the scholar can inspect the antiquities of the Bronze Age. Just as a geologist or an archeologist might extract a fossilized troglodyte from the bottom of the cliff, a scholar might consult the books of Moses. A geologist might find Sea Scorpion fossils in the layers that constitute the Silurian time period, and a scholar might find ancient polytheist pantheons. In the Devonian layers, a geologist would find prehistoric fish, whereas the scholar could look at layers from the bronze age and discover the Iliad and the Odyssey. Where in the Permian layers, the first Reptiles are found, It is in Classical Greece that the first Western philosophers are found. Where massive dinosaurs are excavated from the Jurassic layers, Roman works in law are to be found in the Iron Age.
This analogy can be taken one step further to include catastrophic events, as recorded on the face of the earth and the pages of books. Where a scientist can consult the crust of the earth and discover primeval floods, meteors, and famine, An academic can track the rise and fall of empires and culture. As a geologist is confounded by the complete extinction of the dread dinosaur, A scholar is baffled at the collapse of the ubiquitous Romans.
And so, the ages are all piled up one upon the other until a complex and beautiful tapestry is woven in the cliff faces and in the worn books. As sediment builds up, different colors become present, and as one creature dies, another takes t's place, and as one civilization crumbles, another picks up the pieces and puts them back together again.
Upon examination, one can see how the sediments of civilization has produced the English language. English has it's original British, making up the bottom layer, and then it's Celtic, Latin, greek, Saxon, Norman, Norse, and German, among others. Look at this paper and see how sediments have been mixed and built upon; you can see traces of Greek words like "troglodyte" and latin derived words like "Sediment."
Thus has civilization and life been built up from primitive times, to the mountainous hight it has reached today. Greeks adopted and adapted much of their culture and knowledge from the Egyptians, as the Roman did of the Greeks. And so principle upon principle and precept upon precept, have we been exalted. However, if the sediment below our feet has holes driven into it, and charges placed, and the sediment demolished and flattened to the ground, would future progress be secured? or Would it be a catastrophic, civilization crushing mistake?
No comments:
Post a Comment