the inferiority of the past

One of my pet peeves about the 21st century is the assumption that we are smarter, more advanced, more morally developed, than the ancients and the medievals. That the past has nothing to teach the present, and the only purpose of the past is to be swept away by the glorious perfection of the present, which is itself only preparation for the perfection of the future.

Very well. You want to prove that 21st century Americans are smarter than the ancients? Fine. Here’s how:

1.) Build a pyramid 480 feet tall using 5.9 million tons of stone. Do so in 20 to 30 years.

2.) Move this enormous amount of stone, and construct it into a pyramid, using only tools made of stone, wood, and copper.

3.) Build the pyramid so well that it lasts for 4500 years.

Yeah. I don’t see us doing anything like that anytime soon.

-JM

(Though, in fairness, the ancient Egyptians never surpassed the Great Pyramid themselves. After building the pyramids of Khufu and his immediate successors, it’s like the ancient Egyptians looked at each other, said “holy crap, you guys”, and spent the next six hundred years building pyramids on a much more modest scale before saying “screw it” and burying their kings in tombs constructed entirely underground.)