UNIT 2_Intellectual Revolutions that Defined Society

• Intellectual Revolution - is used to refer to Greek speculation about the "nature" in the period before Socrates (roughly 600 to 400 BCE). The alternative, technical terms are "pre Socratic" or "non-theological" or "first philosophy". It is the period where paradigm shifts occurred. It is where the scientific beliefs that have been widely embraced and accepted by the people where challenged and opposed.
• Three characteristic features of this form of speculation:

  1. The world is a natural ‘whole’.
  2. There is a natural 'order‘.
  3. Humans can 'discover' those laws.
• Three intellectuals who significantly changed the views about the world and human:

  • Nicolaus Copernicus
  • Charles Darwin
  • Sigmund Freud
• Copernican Revolution - This caused the paradigm shift in the field of astronomy of how the earth and sun were placed in the heavens/universe (from a geocentric understanding of the universe, centered around Earth, to a heliocentric understanding, centered around the Sun).
• Geocentric Model - Aristotle and Claudius Ptolemy, an

  Egyptian astronomer, mathematician, and geographer supported and introduced the geocentric model in

  the 6th Century. It described the absolute perception of

  the universe with earth as its center which was thought to be true by most of the people at that time. the circle and the sphere are “perfect” shapes, so all motions in the sky should follow circular paths. objects obeyed the rules of “natural motion,” which for the planets and the stars meant they orbited around the Earth at a uniform speed.
• Heliocentric Model - In the 16th century, Nicolaus Copernicus, a mathematician and an astronomer was the first to explain the observed looping (retrograde) motion

  of planets, by replacing a geocentric model. It proved the idea that the sun is the center of the solar system. This is why retrograde motion is referred to as “apparent retrograde motion” by many. Nothing is changing in the planet’s motion, and retrograde motion occurs as a natural perspective effect.
• Evolution - The process by which organisms change over time as a results of changes in heritable physical or behavioral traits.
• Natural Selection - Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution states that evolution happens by (). The theory is sometimes described as "survival of the fittest,“.
• Freudian revolution - may be viewed as the discovery of a way of locating in the mind objective entities which can be studied like physical things. Sigmund Freud, a father of psychoanalysis and one of the 20th century’s most influential thinkers, developed the idea of psychoanalysis that helped in understanding human behavior, especially neurological conditions. Freud-believed that mental illness is a result of nurture, not nature.
• Three Component Parts of the Mind

  • id
  • ego
  • superego
• Information Revolution - Accompanied the history of mankind and began as early as 3000 BC with Sumerian

  Pictographs. 1455, Johannes Gutenberg’s invention on printing press. Early 1830s, Charles Babbage worked on Analytical Engine. During 1870s, Invention of the first telephone. During World War II, Alan Turing refining the concept of algorithms and computation using Turing Machine. Contributed the Turing test concerning the possibility of developing conscious and thinking machine in Artificial Intelligence.
• Mesoamerican Civilization - Located in region and cultural area in the Americas. Contributed greatly in agriculture( as early as 7000 BC) Transition from hunter-gatherer tribal groupings to the organization of sedentary agricultural villages. Main food source were beans, corns, & squash (triad of products known as the“ three sisters”; introduce the rotational crops and slash-and-burn aided in retaining the nutrients in the soil. Cacao, important crop because used as trade currency and in rituals.
• Mesoamerican Civilization - Cotton plant & rubber trees used for making culturally significant products like textile (vibrant colors) and rubber balls (used in performance games) due to ritual significance. Created chinampas (plots of mud and soil placed on top layers of thick water vegetation) First to use irrigation techniques. First one to create calendar (like civil calendar or Haab and Tzolkin Calendar).
• Asian Civilization - bore two of the world’s great early civilizations: From India & China. About 4000 years ago, civilization arose in the Indus River valley. People used weapons and utensils made of bronze and copper. Birth of the two world’s known religion: Hinduism & Buddhism. Hinduism, based on Vedas ( 4 sacred books; believed written by Aryan People); People believed to be divided into a “caste system”; Priests called Brahmans( ranked highest) and the “untouchables” as lowest.
• Asian Civilization - In Buddhism, praise Buddha (meaning “The Enlightened One”) who is in the person of Siddharta Gautama (believed that human greed and selfishness lead to human pain). Another religion Confucianism, developed along the Huang Ho riverbank in Northern China, based on the teaching of Confucius. Created the Great Wall of China, built to protect from invasions of “barbarians” from other parts of Asia.
• Middle East Civilization - Considered as the home to the “Cradle of Civilization”( seen world’s oldest cultures and civilization). First to practice intensive year-round agriculture and currency-mediated trade as opposed to barter. Gave the rest of the world the first writing system. Laying the foundation for astronomy and mathematics. First generalized government and law codes. Invented the clay cylinder seals (on which little pictures of objects could be recorded. Early writings evolved from pictures baked on clay tablets.
• African Civilization - According to some historian, Africans were nothing more than savages whose only contributions to the world were farming and slaves. Lineage and culture of achievements have emerged at least 40,000 years ago in Africa. Some were the following: Developed modern concepts in mathematics like the first method of counting. People in present-day Zaire and Yoruba (now Nigeria) developed Numeration system 8,000 years ago. Yoruba system lauded this system because it required much abstract reasoning
• African Civilization - African Stonehenge ( in present-day Kenya) constructed around 300 BC the remarkably accurate calendar. people of Mali have various astronomical discoveries like the Saturn’s rings, Jupiter’s moon, spiral structure of the Milky Way and the orbit of the Sirius Star. Built great architectural Monuments along the Nile like Great Pyramid of Giza, Great Sphinx of Giza, great cities like in Zimbabwe & Mozambique (made of massive stone complex and huge castle-like compounds existed).
• African Civilization - Empire of Mali boasted impressive cities including Tumbuktu with grand palaces, mosques & UNIVERSITIES in 13th century. In Medicine, some practices were: use of plants with salicylic acid for pain, kaolin for diarrhea, and extracts that confirmed to kill Gram-Positive bacteria. Other plants used had anticancer properties, caused abortion, and treated malaria.