Humanism Vs. The Flat World
Honors History 10 - 9/28/07
by Heidi Wyman
Humanism in the 14th-16th centuries and the flat world are very similar. These two forces both make us look at how we classify ourselves, in the 14th century people were classified by the church. In the world today we classify ourselves by our country, but once the flat world hits will be classified as world citizens? Though the flat world and humanism have many similarities, the consequences of these two forces have similarities and some differences. Humanism revolutionizes how people view themselves and the meaning of their life and their destiny. The flat world revolutionizes how we view ourselves as Americans.
The flat world today has revolutionized how we view ourselves as a whole. The flat world derived off humanism, the humanism pushed us to invent, which created technology. In the flat world today it does not matter what country or state you live in or where you grew up, the only thing that matters is your intelligence and your ability to invent. This changes the way we identify ourselves. We will not be seeing our selves as an American citizen; we will be seeing ourselves as a world citizen. The flat world has brought more competition to being an individual and doing something important with your life. People who want to be successful are no longer just coasting through life with no worries. With the flat world we are competing with all of the individuals not from your town, state and country, you are competing with individuals from all over the world. In the flat world you are not just looking for the meaning of your life, you are looking for the best meaning for your life as an individual.
Humanism in the 14th century was the push to become an individual. Humanism started the question what is the meaning of life? Before humanism in the fourteenth century people only lived to get into heaven; the church meant everything to them. With humanism people began to do other things such as read or write outside of the church. People started to become individuals and they changed the way they identified themselves. People were known for their achievements, characteristics, personality, actions and effort rather then Catholic achievements. People became interested in learning other literature of the Greeks and Romans other then holy writings. They were interested in writing and speaking elegantly. They wanted to gain great knowledge that could be supported in more then one way. These people were working to control their destinies. These aspects of humanism were refuting the church. Therefore pushing the Renaissance revolution to come and starting a new meaning of life.
Humanism and the flat world are very similar. The first similarity is that they both either caused or are going to cause a revolution. Humanism caused a revolution where the people realized that there was meaning to there life outside of the church. They did not use the church standings to classify themselves they now classified themselves by there personality, achievements and individuality. Before the flat world we saw ourselves as Americans the leading country in the world. In the flat world with all of the countries leveling out we are going to see ourselves as a world citizen who now has to compete with all of the intelligent individuals of other countries.
Secondly, these two forces both defined the way we live today and how they lived in the fourteenth century. People in the in the fourteenth century saw the meaning of life as the church. They lived to do good deeds for the church, to stay away from hell. Humanism changed the meaning of life for these people. They started to live life to the fullest, being an individual not just another person from the church. The flat world changed the meaning of life from just coasting through life, getting a mediocre job that would pay all of the bills to striving for the best at what you are doing, having a job that you have individualized to pay all of the bills and a job that no one can take from you.
Thirdly, these two forces questioned the boundaries that were set for them. The humanist questioned what the pope and church were saying; they wanted support from the church to back up the information that they were teilling their people. In the flat world today we question the things we have not found yet, we push what we already know to find more extensive knowledge on what we don't know and to create new and faster technology.
The consequences of these two forces are both similar and different. Some similarities start with the fact that they both changed society for the better. Humanists became individuals and the flat world people are using there individuality to help everyone. The second similarity is how people of the 14th century and the flat world realigned themselves. They were both trying to go from one thing to the next step up. Humanism went from the church to the individual and the flat world went from country to a whole world. Thirdly, they are similar because they are both increasing the knowledge and education of the people.
Though there are similarities to the changes there are also some differences. First, the biggest difference between the flat world and humanism is the rate at which they spread or are spreading. The flat world because of technology is spreading at a much faster rate then humanism did.The next difference is the knowledge that the humanists and people of the flat world are seeking. Humanists were seeking knowledge away from the church and the people of the flat world are seeking any knowledge available. Thirdly, the drive behind the change is different. The drive of humanism was to find the meaning of life, but the drive of the flat world is technology and economics. As you can see the consequences humanism and the flat world have similarities and differences.
Many people can look at the history of the world and predict what is going to happen in the future. This is because we believe that history repeats itself. You can predict what the outcome of the flat world will be by looking at the result of humanism. First, like humanism some people will be against the countries coming together and having to work harder for their jobs. You can also predict that there will be a revolution that will change the economy world wide, the way we educate people, the way we classify our people, the way we communicate and the way our businesses work.