What is important?
According to dictionary.com, important is something “of much or great significance or consequence.” There are many important things that have happened in ancient history that have shaped the way we live today. These include the idea of war, knowledge, worship, and expansion. All of these have had a significant influence on the things we do.
War has been around since prehistoric times. Whether its animals fighting over food, or people fighting for their freedom, war has made an impact on modern society. People have always desired dominance. They want to be on top. Some humans are born with passion and will to be the best, and rule over everyone else. Because of this, mankind has suffered but improved. Without the American colonists’ desire to be their own country, there would be no America. We would still be ruled by England. Spain wanted to conquer England. They built the Spanish Armada, which put the country into debt. When their plan failed, the country was at the bottom. Spain has still not recovered from this tragic defeat, while America has flourished since gaining its independence. Two contrasting results have come from two similar events.
England ruled over Europe for an extremely long time. They did this by building a large and powerful army. After achieving this, they waged war upon surrounding countries. War is the reason for its reign. War has made and broken countries. Without the constant fighting between countries, mankind would not have everything that it has now.
Worshipping objects, gods and goddesses, and a single God has been a common factor in many civilizations throughout history. The ancient Greeks and Romans worshipped many gods and goddesses. The belief in more than one god is called polytheism. Greeks and Romans revolved their day around the gods and goddesses that control the weather, war, the sea, and music. They would pray to a god or goddess before competing in an event, or playing a musical piece before a large crowd. They even named planets after gods and goddesses. If something went wrong, the Greeks and Romans believed that they angered the god or goddess in control of that element. To prevent tragedies from happening that would offer sacrifices and pray often to that specific god or goddess.
There are only three religions in which the belief of one God is accepted. These religions are Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Although these are the only three religions that have one God, they all have conflicting ideas. Christianity and Judaism share the Old Testament, but Christianity then goes into the New Testament, something that Jewish people do not believe in. Islam is the religion that differentiates the most between Christianity and Judaism. Islam follows the teachings of Mohammed. Neither Christianity nor Judaism follows his teachings. These differences have caused many disputes between religious groups. Muslims are notorious for civil differences between the Shi’ites and Sunni. They have been fighting for hundreds of years and still are today. That is one of the reasons as to why there are so many problems within the Middle East, the Mecca of Islam.
Knowledge has always been an important factor in human life. More intelligent people will usually create the structure of the government of a nation. If the government is not led by an intellectual person, the whole country will suffer. The leader also needs to surround him or herself around intelligent people. Humans have always wanted to gain more knowledge, whether it is for personal gain or for the benefit of mankind. Knowledge leads to scientific breakthroughs which lead to a longer lifespan which leads to a better country.
In prehistoric times, knowledge helped individuals to survive. If they were smart enough to find food, then they would live. If they did not know how to find food, then they would die. Knowledge is a valuable tool in modern times, and it was just as important in ancient times. Wisdom gives you a power that not everyone has. Intelligence has given us some of the greatest, and dangerous discoveries, such as the atomic bomb. An atomic bomb has immense power, but causes places to be uninhabitable. Because of this, atomic bombs are not to be trusted with everyone.
As well as all of the other things mentioned, people have always had the will to grow and expand their civilizations. The bigger the civilization, the more dominance it holds. There are two ways that a civilization can grow and become larger, peacefully and forcefully. Forcefully is the path usually chosen because no country will be willing to give its land up to another country. Force usually means war, which has already been pointed out is of major importance in human history. Expansion can give a country more power and more knowledge. With these two things, almost anything is possible. Having the ability to create new weapons will give the country more power. Having the power to teach people makes those people more knowledgeable.
There is a flaw to expansion though. The bigger a country gets, the harder is gets to control what goes on within it. A perfect example of this is the Roman Empire. The empire eventually got so large that there was no way for the leader of it to know what has happening on the outskirts of it. A group could have been planning a conspiracy to overthrow the emperor, and he would never know. But, money is a solution to this large problem. Money can be put towards police forces and government intelligence. Overall, expansion is good for a country or civilization.
All of the things discussed are desires. Man desires power, someone to believe in, knowledge, and growth. Will and desire ultimately are the things that shape human civilizations. It is the driving force of life. If not for will, there would be no improvement or growth. It is important to always strive for greater things then the things we already have. If we do not do this we will eventually crumble.
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