Within early civillizations that we know of, there are many "advanced" possibly more so than us... WHY?

Question

There are a lot of civilizations I read about, while studying, that are "advanced" some so advanced that they still baffle us. Atlantis was one of these such cities, and though we have no proof they existed, we still have stories. Now, another would be ancient Rome, the Romans, also the Egyptians before them, were advanced, the reason we know this is, they built amazing structures WITHOUT the tools we have, in less or the same amount of time as we would WITH our tools.
Other civilizations are spoken of as being advanced, and Rome had most of the things we have, but without the “technology”. I heard all the time that we are advancing every day and getting better, I see this is some areas, but, I don’t buy that we all were primitive, in fact, the further back in history we look, the more advanced we get. I just wonder what happened to all that advancement, and how we lost it. Anything you have to say on the subject would be nice.
Thank you.

Answer 1

there were advanced civilizations going back at least 5,000 years, but even though some did things we could not, they did not achieve the across-the-board technological level we have reached. That is not to dismiss or invalidate those woh came before, but because Civilization X excelled in one or two areas in particular, one cannot conclude that they excelled in all areas (Egyptian dentistry was partucularly horrid, for instance, and dental absesses were a significant factor in their low life expectancy).

"Primitive" has been an overused term to dismiss viable societies that might not have made as many toys and tools, but still delivered significant quality of life (pre-Columbian North American aboriginal peoples tended to have longer and healthier lives, stable communities, rich traditions and complex agriculture that stack up extremely well to Rome or other Empire-based civilizations; lack of a writing system might be considered the only "shortfall"). Yet without authority/hierchy/socail classes/castes, native life was much more egalitarian, free, healthier and (for the average person) arguably better.

As for lost terchnologies, it happens. Roman cement-making methods were only reinvented in the late 1800s. Not everything gets written down, and if traditions are not handed down, they get lost. If you came up with the best chili recipe anyone ever made, but kept it secret, it too would become a lost technology.

Answer 2

You said "Other civilizations ...had most of the things we have, but without the “technology”." And "...he further back in history we look, the more advanced we get."

If you don't mean technologically, how do you mean "advanced," exactly? Roman, Egyptian, Mayan and Inca civilizations depended on slaves. The Romans were famous for crucifying their enemies, The Incas and Mayans practiced human sacrifice, and the Egyptians brutally suppressed neighboring peoples. So you don't mean morally or philosophically, either, I guess. I can't really speak to mythical civilizations like Atlantis. The best guess of historians these days is that the stories about Atlantis were based on the Minoan civilization, which left some beautiful art, but which was also brutal and technologically primitive.

It's true that some technology gets invented one place, then lost and reinvented later. China built ships in the 14th century that were the largest ever built until the 20th century. Ancient Greece used sophisticate machinery and steam power before it was lost, only to be rediscovered almost two thousand years later. But in general, technological progress is pretty steady and cumulative.

I would argue that we have not advanced much morally or philosophically. From all the history we have, it seems that ancient people were pretty much like we are, with all the same strengths and weaknesses. But there are so many of us now, and our technology magnifies our influence so greatly, that it gives our actions a profoundly greater significance.

Answer 3

I would say we advanced in and created new areas of endeavour. What of aeroplanes, of giant steam ships, DNA manipulation and computers that enable a person on one side of the world to have a conversation with someone on the other side of the planet?

Yes, the ancient civilisations of Rome, Mesopotamia, Egypt etc were remarkably advanced, but I think we only see them so because we're surprised at how like us people who lived so long ago can seem. Undoubtedly, in terms of technololgy and societal structure, we've advanced far beyond them, though of course new problems crop up as a result.

Answer 4

Some inventions were lost and reinvented later, e.g. Minoans had flush toilets. Some sensationistic authors write nonsense about past cultures having things much more advanced than we have now. Overall, that is sheer nonsense. Atlantis is an invention of Plato, as his prize pupil Aristotle testifies.

Answer 5

HEYYY I SO AGREE!
i think that aswell, i think that back then they were led by passionaite leaders and had great people who had not taken there world for granted and were atonished at eveything little thing they came across,who believed in there tribes,nations,city and knew about unity to work together and boult great places, they wrote about philosophy on love on culture they were REAL MEN AND WOMEN, really they are as strong as we are today , would we have built the acropolis and glorified the parthenon today with no technology? NEVER! i guess we have become so dependent on techonology and making machinery do things for us and we have become so lazy and "uncaring" about life and its wonders. we are bloody facinated with image, money, and george bush and john howard, might i add that politics in ancient history is much more interesting...people thing america is so great and hold o much power BUT not as much as some countries were for example mesopotamia and greece, i wish we would become so passionate about life and think of new ideas instead of using technology and watching t.v i wish we all could write and paint and sing and teach instead of creating war in iraq and creating new war weapons, goshhh! i wish so many thing but im scared of what the future holds, i imagine things getting way expensive and loser politicians making it hard to afford living because they will enjoy the wealth of many luxeries....agree to disagree? or agree?


this may sound really dumb, but im to angry so some of this may seem weird.

Answer 6

I will send you an e-mail, since a lot of what you want to know is forbidden knowledge.

Answer 7

simple we were helped by alliens