Cultures and Sub-Cultures

I'm going to try typing in the "bold" mode like you do. I think it's easier on the eyes. Don't you?

I think I understand now what you mean by "our culture". The other little cultures that dwell within it are more properly called "sub-cultures", aren't they.

Funny you should mention the Enlightenment, I was just thinking about that today. Remember when you challenged me about turning the clock back? You asked me what time I would turn it back to and I couldn't say for sure. Well, I've decided that I would turn it back to the 18th Century, the Age of Enlightenment. I wouldn't want to turn the technology back to there, just the political and philosophical attitudes. I'm surprised, though, to hear you talk about it like it's still going on. I thought the Enlightenment expired in the 19th Century, giving way to the egalitarian social activism that has continued even unto this day. You seem to consider them both to be the same thing and, come to think of it, maybe they are. Without the one, you wouldn't have had the other, so you could think of them as two consecutive chapters in the same book. In some books, the Enlightenment is said to have sprung from the Age of Reason, and others talk about them like they were both the same thing. There seems to be general agreement, though, that the Age of Reason was preceded by the Age of Faith. So you have the Age of Faith giving way to the Age of Reason, which gave birth to the Enlightenment. I don't think, however, that any of this is necessarily anti-religion, it's just that religion is viewed differently now than it used to be, except for those Christian and Islamic fundamentalists that are still hung up in the Middle Ages. In their view, the Crusades are still going on.

Well, if that's what you mean by "our culture", then I tend to agree with you that it's way ahead of whatever culture is in second place. That doesn't mean we should force it on other people at the point of a gun, but a little friendly persuasion wouldn't hurt. If they want to have this global economy, then they need to have some sort of common ground upon which to build the global marketplace. Kind of like that ethnic food festival that they have in Chicago once a year, they serve food from all over the world, but I'm sure there are certain foods that are not allowed, like cannibal casserole. I mean, you have to draw the line somewhere !

I seem to remember that Kelvin Scale from school. In that one they have something called "absolute zero", which is when all molecular activity ceases, Hell freezes over, and Minnesota schools have a two hour delay. One thing I try to remember when our local weather gets me down: It could be worse, I could be living in Minnesota.