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"Physically the Celts are terrifying in appearance, with deep sounding and very harsh voices. In conversation they use few words and speak in riddles, for the most part hinting at things and leaving a great deal to be understood. They frequently exaggerate with the aim of extolling themselves and diminishing the status of others. They are boasters and threateners and given to bombastic self-dramatization, and yet they are quick of mind and with good natural ability for learning."
That was a happy surprise for me,people think there is no information on our ancient ancestors and study Egypt and whatnot, but there is loads of information in the myth,folklore,Roman accounts etc.
That people think it won't repeat when they don't learn from it.
It does not repeat. Sometimes new events have similarities to past events, but that the lesson learned from the previous event has an application for the current one, may not be the case.
As an example, the French learned from WW I that automatic weapons and fast firing artillery had made the defense supreme in war. They prepared the Maginot line based on that lesson and of course it turned out to be useless because technology had shifted the advantages to rapidly moving offenses.
That ancient peoples from every continent, have "mythology"that pre-dates any contact with eachother, regarding a "Great Flood".
I'm not saying the flood itself is a historical fact; I'm saying that every culture of ancient peoples, from Africa to South America, China, India, the Inuit, the Native American, the Norse ... etc, all have a consistent story in the form of Mythology; about the flood.
Consistencies include: Large boats, sometimes just one but the Finnish tell of 44. Entire continents under water, anywhere from one week to over a year. Both select male/female from human & animal species spared (on boats) for their "seed".
Weird.
It's as if most ancient peoples have based their civilizations around water - the sea, rivers, lakes. And that things like floods, hurricanes, tsunamis and deluges happen almost everywhere that peoples have lived.
Oh, wait. That is where most ancient peoples lives, and those phenomena do happen where most peoples live.
That ancient peoples from every continent, have "mythology"that pre-dates any contact with eachother, regarding a "Great Flood".
I'm not saying the flood itself is a historical fact; I'm saying that every culture of ancient peoples, from Africa to South America, China, India, the Inuit, the Native American, the Norse ... etc, all have a consistent story in the form of Mythology; about the flood.
Consistencies include: Large boats, sometimes just one but the Finnish tell of 44. Entire continents under water, anywhere from one week to over a year. Both select male/female from human & animal species spared (on boats) for their "seed".
I went through a phase when I was totally intrigued by this sort of stuff. The flood. The ancient mythology. The sun god appearing in so many religions. And I would wonder if it all sprang up separately as if humans are programmed somehow to know it or if it really did occur once in one place and all other cultures sprang from that one original culture.
I got intrigued by Celtic strapwork designs and their possible meanings. Not Irish but wherever the Celts came from before that--maybe northern Spain or France. The mystery of the Basques and their language.
The more classes I took (art history, anthropology, etc.) and the more reading I did, the more I became convinced that a lot of things got their start in ancient Crete. From there, you can take a journey of the imagination to Atlantis or to ancient aliens. So that was about the time I stopped wondering, because their were no answers and it was getting pretty weird. So it wasn't one particular thing that I learned but bits and pieces of history that intrigued me. My desire was to be able to piece them together.
The main thing I've learned about history, is that sometimes it changes without regard for the actual facts. It can be more of an instrument to promote a certain cause, than to tell truth. It may be, as part of its name implies, just a story.
Over my life, I've witnessed several events that were historical and today, the accounts of them are quite different from what I knew to have happened. This doesn't involve just major issues, but sometimes, just small things that have little significance. So this shift in history isn't always done for a deliberate purpose, but just seems to be an innate characteristic of it. Just like the way genetic drift occurs with DNA.
I like how it changes. Ok, not like, but am amused by it.
I collect US History textbooks. My earliest is from 1822. How something is portrayed sometimes tells me more about the time of publication than the time being portrayed.
Still, I shake my head as I look at how some of my daughter's texts are laid out. It's a series of pictures and short articles....like nobody would have the care or attention span to understand the real concepts and form their own opinions.
In terms of funny, one book referenced the different state militias being confused during the Whiskey Rebellion and seeing each other as the opposing side at first when they were to meet up and march on the rebellion together.
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So it wasn't one particular thing that I learned but bits and pieces of history that intrigued me. My desire was to be able to piece them together.
