I emailed Prof. Burton and asked if we had to do a blog post this week, and he said there was no specific assignment but we were expected to post about something that pursues the learning outcomes and is relative to the units we are in between, folk knowledge and oral knowledge. I decided to do one last post on folk knowledge, and I decided to go to the list and find the topic I was least interested in, learn and subsequently blog about it, and I thought that maybe then I would gain a greater interest in and appreciation for it. So here goes: Water.Water is the sustaining liquid of life. Our bodies are majority water, and without it we would die, we couldn't have fun swimming, and we would all smell bad from lack of bathing. The way people obtain and use water is a large part of what defines their cultures. I wanted to focus on what I think is one of the most amazing feats of ancient civilization, Roman Aqueducts.
The Romans were truly amazing thinkers and engineers. According to http://www.unrv.com/culture/roman-aqueducts.php, the aqueducts were built over a span of 500 years, beginning in 312 B.C. The aqueducts supplied water to over 200 cities in the empire, something that had not been seen before in any civilization (or for many years after). Surprisingly the large majority of the aqueducts were underground, a very small percentage of them were the ones we think of when we hear aqueducts today. Towards the end of the Western Roman Empire, invading Germanic tribes destroyed many of the aqueducts carrying water to the city, and the same level of availability of running water wasn't seen again until Renaissance times.
The Romans revolutionized the way people get their water and in many ways set the blueprint for how American society transports its water today. Although the ease of obtaining water for nearly every American today (turning a faucet) is astounding relative to the history of the world, does it add to or take away from, or simply change our culture? Is there something binding about a whole community gathering, out of necessity, at the town well to get their water? Or does the accesibility and ease of obtaining water give us more time for more valuable things, like reading, learning music, or blogging and facebooking? It would be very hard to imagine how different our culture would be if something as simple as the way we get our water was changed.
Wow, I never would have considered water availability a factor in shaping our culture. Its true though when you think about how some civilizations don't even have wells,but only a nearby river as a water source. You hear the stories about mothers and children who have to walk three hours just to obtain a pot of water;they have to sacrifice a large part of their time to acquire the bare necessities. You really gain a greater appreciation for the blessings we have of running water.
ReplyDeleteThere is this book by Barbara Kingsolver called "The Poisonwood Bible," about a family that moves with their Baptist preacher-father to the Congo, that reminds me of that. There are so many aspects of the importance of water in the book, especially because a child was attacked by a crocodile in the river and when the preacher wants to baptize the people in the river, they think he wants this to happen to them too. He refuses to use their way of gardening, to make big ruts in the dirt, but later learns this is because the rain will wash away the seeds, which happens. Tata Price (the preacher) refuses to accept the advice and folk knowledge of the African people of the Congo, who have had more experience, and eventually learns he can no longer survive there. Before this happens, however, rain finally comes, and Tata Price, who is kind of going crazy, uses the rain to baptize the children of the village. In this story of the people of the Congo, rain is a danger, must be protected against, cleanses, is essential for life, and protects them from an attack of fire ants when they escape to another river. http://www.gradesaver.com/the-poisonwood-bible/study-guide/section9/
ReplyDeleteYeah Rachel you bring up an excellent point about accepting folk knowledge. You mention how the preacher refuses to use the knowledge that the natives offer on matters of water and in the end he's the one who looks foolish.
ReplyDeleteI guess there are some people we are completely against learning folk knowledge from, whether it be by racism or other forms of bias. For example, I would never take music advice from Justin Bieber. He may be a brilliant musician, but because I detest his music and fame I would bar myself from ever acquiring knowledge from him.
Are their other times we bar ourselves from the wisdom of others? Maybe we disagree with a prophet or parent simply because we assume they can't truly understand how another person should live. Prejudice can be a hindrance to acquiring knowledge.