Dark Ages: The Case for a Science of Human Behavior

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During the Dark Ages, the progress of Western civilization virtually stopped. The knowledge gained by the scholars of the classical age was lost; for nearly 600 years, life was governed by superstitions and fears fueled by ignorance. In this outspoken and forthright book, Lee McIntyre argues that today we are in a new Dark Age--that we are as ignorant of the causes of human behavior as people centuries ago were of the causes of such natural phenomena as disease, famine, and eclipses. We are no further along in our understanding of what causes war, crime, and poverty--and how to end them--than our ancestors. We need, McIntyre says, another scientific revolution; we need the courage to apply a more rigorous methodology to human behavior, to go where the empirical evidence leads us--even if it threatens our cherished religious or political beliefs about human autonomy, race, class, and gender.

Dark Ages: The Case for a Science of Human Behavior
by Lee C. McIntyre

I'm not a historian but my art teacher in college (was from Eastern Europe) and she
made it clear the term "dark ages" had no realtionship with fact. Progress did not some
how stop or slow down. Though again I'm not a historian but I got a feeling WP members who live in European countries will know their history will confirm the term "dark ages" just refer to a time period and not to a "dark" situation.

I do like the story of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giordano_Bruno who while being
burned at the steak by the Catholic church did not allow the Catholic official to pray for him as he burned.

TheMachine1 wrote:"I do like the story of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giordano_Bruno who while being
burned at the steak by the Catholic church did not allow the Catholic official to pray for him as he burned."

Oh god, protect me from you followers! Most of the learning that came into Europe during the "Dark Ages" came from the Arabs who were not laboring under the burden of the same all loving god the churches were selling.

How I posted that last message makes it look like The Machine said what in fact was half of what I was saying, or trying to say.

Thats the point of my post the notion that Europe was in some "Dark Ages" and needed some outside technological/culture input from other peoples/places like
Arabs is false. There was no such thing as a "dark ages". I'm hoping someone knowledgable on Eurpean history can confirm this.

I'm not very knowlegeable on history (all sciences at school) - but I have seen some documentaries that support TM1. Just because the Romans were not there writting records, it doesn't mean there was not progress.

Incidentally madpeasant, welcome to WP. Try using the "edit" button

Let's also consider how many advances were made in the fields of construction, artisanship, and military technology. Philosophy and physical science may have taken a dive, but what was immediately practical thrived in the hostile enviroment of the warring, disease ridden city-states.

The Arabs were actually the inheritors (not quite sure how) of the knowledge of the Greeks, and were essentially the stewards of it until western scholars translated it back out of Arabic at the dawn of the renaissance.