Analysis Of Gombrich's A Little History Of The World

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Gombrich doesn’t only accentuate creativity in necessities, such as literacy and language, but also emphasizes on creativity in luxuries and pastimes. Gombrich reiterates on the Renaissance and it’s spark in creativity after the Dark Ages. Gombrich speaks of new creativity in chapter twenty-six, “A New Age”. The major movement of the Renaissance, within the arts and ancient ideas of humanism, sparked in the early 1400s when people became more interested in human achievements and potential as opposed to a life solely based on religion. Many people searched and looked back into the ancient times of the Greeks and Romans for influence on the ideal society and beauty. People became curious about the world around them and how everything works. …show more content…

I find that the general theme of humanity that Gombrich has chosen fits perfectly into a book with the subject of history of the World and the overall development of society overtime. Gombrich ties in the themes of creativity, spirituality, leadership, and destruction into the portrayal of humanity, which I find very efficient, because these are the characteristics that define us as humans. Without these themes, this book would be like any other historical textbook full of facts and informational text. I believe that Gombrich chose this first theme of creativity, because starting with the first humans; we have always been curious creatures, wanting to know how things work. From our curiosity, we have investigated into our environment and the objects surrounding us, and once learning of these objects, putting them to use. Humans are the dominant species due to our creativity in adapting to new environments and creating new inventions that will benefit our survival and us. Creativity is still applicable in the modern world, not necessarily for our survival, but for luxuries and pleasures that we like to take part in throughout our lives. Without creativity, we as humans would never have evolved and developed to what we are today. From the great contribution creativity has had on our development, Gombrich has acknowledged this trait as one of the necessities to display in his

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