In the book "The ancient Maya" from Robert Sharer
he says "before we decry practices such as human
sacrifice, we should remember that Europeans of
500 years ago burned people alive in the name of
religion and submitted 'heretics' to an array of
tortures and protracted executions"
I wonder why civilization and barbarism go
often hand in hand? The Romans for example
were very civilized, but also very brutal.
It seems as if a system becomes especially
brutal if it's existence in threatened
(the church by heretics in the Middle Ages
which lead to inquisition, the Romans by
insurgents which lead to crucification, the Nazis in
WWII..) The concentration camps of the Nazis
turned into real death factories when the
existence of the Nazi regime was threatened
towards the end of the war.
Maybe this is the reason why the Aztecs
- who were even worse than the Maya
when it comes to human sacrifices -
developed a high culture (including
hieroglyphic writing systems and
elaborate temples) and yet drowned in
all the blood.. Because a small number of
tyrannic rulers knew their existence was
questionable and threatened..
-J.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Vladimyr Ivan Burachynsky" <[email protected]>
To: "'The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group'"
<[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2010 2:08 AM
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Palenque, Chichen Itza and Katyn
My my how elitist we are discussing the brutalities of vanished
civilizations. Those ancient butchers were so grotesque they did each
murder
one at a time. Just imagine the effort involved, each methodical death
blow
by death blow. Such brutes, in retrospect. They must have had tag teams of
executioners on high holidays switching arms as they grew weary. They
probably had a drum roll to accompany the changing of the Blades. I can
just
see the flint knappers running up the stairs with arm loads of replacement
inserts. Quick quick snap to it boys there is a rhythm to maintain for
these
special ceremonies.
Only an academic can think to disregard the recent activities on the news
and Just 70 years ago, Katyn. ( I was told it took teams of machine
gunners
all day to dispatch and fill the pits. They did not even have time to
remove
the wallets and personal items. A rush job.)
Was I mistaken did I hear of seven heads delivered by the Taliban only
yesterday. And modern Mexicans are every bit as inventive as their distant
ancestors. Do you think they used electric saws for seven heads or did
they
still use flint maces?
Lets tsk, tsk all those brutal Mesoamericans. And the death toll from
white
diseases in North America has anyone ever come up with realistic numbers.
Tsk tsk, I defy any archeologist to turn up anything like Auscwitz or
Katyn
Civilization is organized and focused brutality. We have just become
better
at it none of us would waste so much effort for so few heads.
What is remarkable is not the head count but the incredibly inefficient
ritualized waste of resources these people conducted. We have surpassed
them
in every measurable manner and we don't even leave evidence behind to
implicate us anymore. Katyn was a sloppy job.
Dr.Vladimyr Ivan Burachynsky
Ph.D.(Civil Eng.), M.Sc.(Mech.Eng.), M.Sc.(Biology)
120-1053 Beaverhill Blvd.
Winnipeg, Manitoba
CANADA R2J 3R2
(204) 2548321 Phone/Fax
[email protected]
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
