Angkor vs Guns, Germs and Steel
Reading Guns, Germs and Steel was mind-blowing. It felt like all my questions, frustrating questions, on how are the huge differences in society development/civilization around the world possible had been answered...and, going by the arguments and scientific proof presented, it makes perfect sense that the ultimate factors behind of all these, lay far, far in the past....
But the visit to Cambodia this wkd has challenged my newly aquired opinions/thoughts.. Angkor is not as visually astonishing as I expected...It's not as shiny and colourful as the royal palace in Bankgok, in terms of size the buildings are not the biggest I've seen..But, beyond all, the whole Angkor area is the proof of a strong, developed society - which had the intelectual, material and physical human resource to build what was done there over the course of couple of centuries.
This was less than a thousand of years ago...Today, Cambodia is frightengly poor and underdeveloped...how come? even looking at decayed former empires/civilizations I can't think of any which is in this state today...what went different here? how can an advantage so big be erased over few centuries? or was the Angkor period the 'accident' in this country's/region's history?
If anybody knows more about it/knows a good read on the topic, would love to hear from you...
I was hoping to learn the world by travelling...but all I get is more and more questions...
But the visit to Cambodia this wkd has challenged my newly aquired opinions/thoughts.. Angkor is not as visually astonishing as I expected...It's not as shiny and colourful as the royal palace in Bankgok, in terms of size the buildings are not the biggest I've seen..But, beyond all, the whole Angkor area is the proof of a strong, developed society - which had the intelectual, material and physical human resource to build what was done there over the course of couple of centuries.
This was less than a thousand of years ago...Today, Cambodia is frightengly poor and underdeveloped...how come? even looking at decayed former empires/civilizations I can't think of any which is in this state today...what went different here? how can an advantage so big be erased over few centuries? or was the Angkor period the 'accident' in this country's/region's history?
If anybody knows more about it/knows a good read on the topic, would love to hear from you...
I was hoping to learn the world by travelling...but all I get is more and more questions...
2 Comments:
I have not read Gund, Germs and Stell, but I have made myself those questions on how does a civilization disappear? How come a highly developed civilization just ceases existing? I have had does questions in my head while seeing the Mayan and Aztecas pyramids in Mexico or Guatemala, while being in Machu Picchu in Peru, while seeing the pyramids in Cairo, ...
For some of them (like Incas and Aztecs) it was a result of being conquered or overcome by another civilization (Spanish "Discovery" of America in this case) but that always the reason in all these cases? What happened to the Mayas? What was it in the case of the Egyptian Pharaos? Is our current society going to suffer the same end or something even worse?
If you find a good book with some answers, just let me know
Even though some natural impact (e.g. climate change, ..) might have brought cilizations to fall, which was rather rare, in the past and today i think the answers to why societies would decay and others would blossom lies in the conducted utilisation of strength and power. In case of Angkor, Wikipedia would tell you this: "During the 15th century, nearly all of Angkor was abandoned after Siamese attacks, except Angkor Wat, which remained a shrine for Buddhist pilgrims. The great city and temples remained largely cloaked by the forest until the late 19th century when French archaeologists began a long restoration process."
To make it short, think of all the european cities which losts its magnificance after wars or during the socialistic era. So the questions I would raise is whether men would ever value sth as a common humanly shared heritage and culture more than his own demand for power, posessions and wealth?
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