Have you ever felt caught in a situation where every possible escape route circles back to where you started? Or encountered a concept that seems to twist back on itself, creating a paradox that defies straightforward explanation? These are the hallmarks of what philosopher Douglas Hofstadter calls a “strange loop.”
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Between 1000 and 1300 AD, the world underwent significant transformations that reshaped the political map of Eurasia and laid the groundwork for future developments. This page contains links to the resources that supported the Shepway and District u3a’s Seminar for the Science, Philosophy, and Spirituality Group in July 2024.
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Between 1000 and 1300 AD, the world underwent significant transformations that reshaped the political map of Eurasia and laid the groundwork for future developments. This narrative explores the major changes and innovations during this period, focusing on maritime trade, the Song Dynasty in China, the rise of the Mongol Empire, the cultural mosaic of India, and the evolving landscape of Christian Europe.
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Much of the history we were taught at school was Eurocentric, reinforcing our Western worldview and way of thinking. This page contains resources from the Shepway and District u3a Science, Philosophy and SpiritualityGroup session on the early Mediaeval period (roughly 500 AD to 1000 AD) The approach is to look at the history differently: starting with the birth and flourishing of Islamic culture, turning to its Eastern contact with Tang China, its Western borders in Asia with Byzantium, and finally it’s struggle with Western Christendom.
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Much of the history we were taught at school was Eurocentric, reinforcing our Western worldview and way of thinking. This brief review of the early Mediaeval period (roughly 500 AD to 1000 AD) looks at it differently: starting with the birth and flourishing of Islamic culture, turning to its Eastern contact with Tang China, its Western borders in Asia with Byzantium, and finally it’s struggle with Western Christendom.
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