The Modern Mind Emerges - The Greeks

A good place to begin discussion of the modern mind is with the ancient Greeks during the era of approximately 750 BCE to 350 BCE.  The Greek accomplishments during this era are sometimes referred to as the “Greek miracle”.  The Greeks introduced deductive thinking, reason, and logic as foundation for guiding human knowledge and civilization.  Prior to this time, human affairs were largely governed by mystical beliefs about the nature of the world, i.e. human group affairs were largely still governed by the right brain prior to this time. 

The Greeks formally developed the left brain thinking and reasoning ability, and established the rules of inquiry into life and science.  They believed, and knew, that human reasoning could explain the workings of the world and did not need to rely on mysticism or gods.  They believed that the universe was orderly and they established the rules of science and mathematics.  Nearly every scientific discipline today can trace its roots to the ancient Greeks.

One of the most enduring contributions of the Greeks is in the field of philosophy.  Philosophy can be very broadly defined as the study of understanding the world.  It is the study of general and fundamental issues such as existence, knowledge, values, mind, and our relationship with the universe.