| Honoring Time |
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| Written by Sylvain Rey | ||||
| Tuesday, 10 June 2008 09:45 PM | ||||
 It seems today, people can seldom live without technology and are fascinated by the latest scientific discoveries. They live with cell phones glued to the ear, can’t travel without electronic systems and all papers must be typed using sophisticated word processors. Not a single day dawns without a new invention that, we are told, will revolutionize our lives. Education, obviously, has followed the trends closely. In recent years, enrollment into technological-savvy fields has increased, so much that few universities today don’t possess a strong science or business program. In all this stand men whose timeless voices have been diminished by the scientific invasion of the last 200 years. These men have sung about long-gone wars, extinct empires or forgotten rulers. Others have written about their quest for the divine. And many have designed, painted and sculpted works that have been used as models for the two following millennia. I’m referring to the great minds of Antiquity, to the deeds and feats of men who have written history in the same way as our own generation is writing its history, which is a continuation of their ancestors. I sometimes wonder why we admire the latest car or cell phone model more than beautiful Classical columns, the works of Greek philosophers or historians. We may be right to admire the latest findings in the remote cosmos or microscopic world under our feet. We may be equally thankful to enjoy the benefits of high-tech medicine. Despite all the good they may bring, such inventions are useless if used for their own sake. Technology and science don’t allow an individual to be satisfied because they exist outside of a person’s individuality. An individual is also part of a larger culture. That culture is the product of centuries of evolution, and thus makes the individual part of a whole — part of history. However, the trend over the past 50 years has been to push classical education back, as if learning about it were not only useless, but dangerous. The current political dryness and politicians’ seeming lack of ideas are the result of lacking classical education. When the Founding Fathers outlined the structure of the U.S. government, it was to the Roman Republic that they looked. When the White House and Capitol Hill were designed, it was from the same source they drew. Thomas Jefferson knew Greek and Latin and his training in architecture led him to design buildings in the classical style. We shouldn’t forsake a classical education because, by doing so, we forsake our roots. An individual cannot build his identity on scientific discoveries, nor can a state. A classical education from the texts of Homer, Virgil, Plato or Cicero is important for our culture. These timeless works have met the admiration of so many generations. Why not ours? — Sylvain Rey is a anthropology senior and reporter for The Shorthorn Views: 1687 | E-mail
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