As a student of the classics, I often wonder about ancient creators. Aristotle, Cicero, Pythagoras, etc…, fathers of their respective fields, known worldwide and celebrated for their discoveries thousands of years after their deaths. I can’t help but think about how so many men seemed to make this kind of headway in math, science and art in lieu of today’s recession of discovery. Is it that there is nothing left to figure out? Have we reached the ends of the universe that is knowledge? Or is it that those smart enough to carry on in the ancient scholar’s path no longer walk among us?
I don’t think that mankind has learned everything there is to learn. Although now almost every field of study has fundamentals and basic research, there is still room for evolution in every expanse. The reason it may seem like our strides aren’t nearly as impressive is because of specialization - only someone well-versed in whatever field the advances are being made within can truly appreciate new findings. This unavoidable condition makes it feel like we have reached a null in discovery and growth, when in fact it is only harder to observe.
The answer may also be that like machines, people are just not capable of the same things we once were. It might be argued that we not do have the same mental capacity, the same thirst for knowledge, or the circumstances allowing for great steps forward into the vast unknown. Time, unfortunately, bars us from ever knowing how those great men from years ago lived compared to their peers. Thus, making it impossible to know if they were any different from you or I. We cannot try to view and shape our lives through that foggy lens they left behind in their literature and art. It it due to this that our view of geniuses and what makes a man notable so subjective - nobody knows whether men like Caesar were anomalies or if their population was equally as capable. Genius is an indescribable quality.
As we continue forward in life, though, man changes every day. We grow more thoughtful, more diverse and more observant. The feeling that nothing more can be found through research and thought has brought a light into the picture: those who feel there is nothing here for them do not try to find it, and those who refuse to accept that defeat challenge what we think we know. We are built to seek more than what we already have, and through fear of finite ends, we discover new infinities.
