What I read
The article "Swedish archaeologists reveal 5th Century massacre at Sandby borg" (2018) says that a three-day dig on a Swedish island shows that the inhabitants were apparently all violently killed by enemies 1,500 years ago, perhaps when a traitor opened the gates of their walled fort to invaders. The rich jewels and remains of meals also give insights into the ordinary lives of the people who had lived there.
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My response
This short article makes a nice contrast to the one I blogged earlier this morning, although it's not exactly cheerful reading with my morning coffee. Although it wasn't really surprising, the title caught my interest as likely to provide evidence for my belief that our ancestors were much more violent than we are today, which explains the title I've chosen for this blog post. I think it's common for people to think that society is becoming more violent, but it isn't. When we read old literature, like Homer, Chaucer and Shakespeare, it is clear that the daily lives of people in those times were far more violent than our lives are today in modern, developed nations, where murder is actually rare and generally decreasing. The crime statistics also show that in most countries, murder rates are generally dropping, even though there are exceptions. When, for example, was the last time that there was a brutal massacre of an entire community in your country? I would guess you have to go back at least to the time of the wars with Burma for a similar atrocity in Thailand.
The photograph of the brooch also reminds me that violence often goes together with beauty. Human beings are complex, and the same people who commit awful acts might truly love beautiful things. In fact, it might have been their love of the beautiful things of other people that led to the massacre 1,500 years ago. Thankfully, these days most people focus more on creating value than on killing and stealing.
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My question
Do you agree with me that society is becoming better?
This is a Yes/No question, but when you respond, It would not be the best strategy to simply write "Yes" or "No." You should write for five to ten minutes as we have been practising. The question is only a prompt to start you thinking.
This is a Yes/No question, but when you respond, It would not be the best strategy to simply write "Yes" or "No." You should write for five to ten minutes as we have been practising. The question is only a prompt to start you thinking.
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Reference
- Swedish archaeologists reveal 5th Century massacre at Sandby borg. (2018, April 26). BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43899393
This just took me 17 minutes and 32 seconds to write, which is uncommonly fast, but I was trying to be fast for this one. Often, find an interesting article, read it once with my morning coffee, and then email the link to myself. Later in the day, or the day after, come back and read it again. Then write my blog response to it. It seems to help to let my subconscious work on it over a few hours while I'm doing other things: this often helps more ideas come up in my response.
ReplyDeleteAnd my summary paragraph here is only 70 words, which is very good. Unusually, the response to what I read is only two paragraphs, and not at all like an academic essay, which needs at least three paragraphs.
Of course, even though it's not an academic essay, I am still thinking of my readers, so I want something that works like an introduction to my response and a conclusion that does the job of any conclusion. Do you think I've succeeded with my introduction and conclusion to the response here?