Comments on: Ancient civilizations: crazy about Earthquakes http://www.nuncscio.com/2008/08/26/ancient-civilizations-crazy-about-earthquakes/ Politics. Media. Culture. Now you know. Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:34:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Karen http://www.nuncscio.com/2008/08/26/ancient-civilizations-crazy-about-earthquakes/comment-page-1/#comment-9711 Karen Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:11:19 +0000 http://nuncscio.com/?p=1323#comment-9711 It's kind of funny, because the fact that geologically active areas have richer soils and better water supplies has traditionally been interpreted as a "stabilizing factor" in the development of civilizations, ie. it provided enough regular food and water that people could spend time thinking about things instead of farming or hunting all day. In this article, they are taking exactly the same data and interpreting it to mean that change and "a little shaking up" is what really contributes to the evolution of civilizations, which probably says more about our current fears and sentiments as a society than those in the past. The answer, obviously, lies somewhere in between change and stability. It’s kind of funny, because the fact that geologically active areas have richer soils and better water supplies has traditionally been interpreted as a “stabilizing factor” in the development of civilizations, ie. it provided enough regular food and water that people could spend time thinking about things instead of farming or hunting all day.

In this article, they are taking exactly the same data and interpreting it to mean that change and “a little shaking up” is what really contributes to the evolution of civilizations, which probably says more about our current fears and sentiments as a society than those in the past.

The answer, obviously, lies somewhere in between change and stability.

]]>