Awesomeness Geography: What can we learn today from the ancient Greeks? | Culture

The harmony between physical and rational beginnings Unlike us, the Greeks did not have physical and mental activity. In the famous Plato Academy, predecessor of contemporary universities, there were conditions for the improvement of the body and the intellect. For the Greek, body and mind were two parts of an integral part of the universe. The healthy mind and the unhealthy body did not fit. Imagine Roden's "Thinker" sculpture and you will have a true Greek ideal: a naked man who has drowned in thought.

An unprincipled attitude towards art and creativity. The Greeks did not have the word "create", at least in the sense that we use. If you had asked the Greek poet what he was doing, he would answer that he was making poems, literally, that means "doing". Art has taken so much of everyday life that it was considered a virtue. It was functional. Beauty was an addition. Today, for many of us, our art still does not live up to our prose routine. We proclaimed the art "extraordinary", but maybe we helped where it could not be done?

Internal motivation and experience in the process. What is the effect on the creative thinking of the promised reward? For example, in one experiment, a group of volunteers was divided into two parts. Both groups were invited to make a collage. It is said that his work will be appreciated by the commission of artists and that the authors of the most creative collage will receive a monetary prize. The other group is told to have fun. The results were surprising. Employees who were not evaluated or monitored seemed to be the most creative. From the study, we can say that people are the most creative when they are motivated by the interest, pleasure, satisfaction and challenge posed by the work itself, rather than by the external pressure. However, why does sport get better athletes than coaches? Why is the Nobel Prize attracted by so many researchers? It is obvious that experienced artists encourage competition, but inhibit inexperience.

Corollary of regularity and irregularity. Let's take a look at the Greek myths, they were not at first light, but chaos, which was a pure material for creativity. It is therefore not surprising that the mess of Greek stimulates creative thinking. For example, many do not realize that Partenon is a hidden combination of regularity and irregularity. Because each column is slightly curved one or the other. This is characteristic of their wise engineering, while in Athens are aligned with curves and wings, order and chaos. In the city, you will find a very strict code of laws, and a stormy market, just like a statue of sovereign, and without any perceived order, connected streets.

A microcultural state. In particular, the power of microculture flourished in ancient Greece. It turns out that during times of fragmentation (degradation) humanity has made the biggest creative leaps. This trend is also called Danilevsky's law. According to him, people are more likely to reach the highest creative potential when they belong to a free nation, even if it is small enough. After all, nature hates not only emptiness but also monopoly.

The imperfect creative environment. One of the biggest misunderstandings on venomous sites is the belief that they are reminiscent of paradise. Not far away. In fact, paradise and genius are incompatible things. There are no demands on heaven, so there is no need to look for new creative ways to satisfy them, but it also helps raise the geniuses. After all, Athens was a dirty little town, located on a ruthless land, surrounded by ferocious neighbors and living people who, when they decided, brushed their teeth, did not wet their noses, rubbed their fingers, spat and died malaria or tuberculosis. "Athens has matured because the challenges have fallen on them from all sides," wrote Nietzsche. In other words, creativity is a reaction to the environment. Greek painting was a response to exceptional lighting (indeed, the Greek painter Apolodorus had invented the way to translate the depth), Greek architecture was an answer to a difficult terrain and Greek philosophy responded to a difficult and uncertain life. Do not remember the genius recipe. And maybe?

Inferiority and equality. As mentioned, the biggest drawback of RA is that it is perfect, and therefore causes no reaction. That's why rich people and places often include stagnation. Athens was and was not rich. They can be called a place where public luxury and personal poverty reign. The house of wealth was not different from the poor. The Athenians looked at their personal property with great distrust, the drama of Aischila was full of stories about the problems he was doing. Almost all, from artisans to doctors, have won a similar one. The laws limited how much money could be spent at funerals, and women banned more than three travel dresses. In ancient Athens, poverty was not a shame: more than others were believed to be wealthy. Thus, the ancient Greek step by step would really be dead without splendor and without glory. And while public athletes were extremely expensive, at best they were implemented for other funds. They built the Partenon and other magnificent structures at the expense of the Delo (equivalent of NATO).

Walking. For most of the ancient genius, the best thoughts came by walking. They did everything outside. The house called back the room. They spent less than half an hour in their daily routine. "How long does it take to face a woman?" This is confirmed by research and subsequent history. For example, when writing a "Christmas song", Dickens traveled around London for 15-20 miles, sweeping the plot in his mind. Recently, psychologists from Stanford University conducted such an experiment: participants were divided into two groups: walkers and armchairs. They were asked to find other ways to use everyday things. The results confirmed that levels of creativity were twice as high for walkers as for seated ones. It does not matter if it is walking outside or inside. In addition, it took only 5-16 minutes to walk.

Peace. Although most of its history, Athens was preparing for war, fought or sought to recover from the war. However, between the Persians and the Peloponnesian wars, from 454 to 430 m. pr Kr., Athens reigned peace, at that time, Pericles paid twice as much for cultural projects as the Parthenon. Peace is therefore one of the necessary conditions at the golden age, since war negatively affects all forms of creativity and living conditions