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In one of the comments dedicated to the “eternal” topic “our children know nothing,” I read a brilliant question: “Why would anyone, except the children of the elite, be given excessive education?” What is characteristic is that the commentator was not “joking” at all, did not exude sarcasm - the question was asked completely seriously. And from the entire direction of the discussion of this topic, it is clear that the majority, at least of the active audience, is clearly on the side of the version that “there is no need to torment our children with “extra knowledge.”
“Superfluous”, “redundant” or simply “unnecessary” - these are, perhaps, the words that are most often found in discussions of the topic “how and what to teach children.” For the average person in this matter, “everything is clear”: the average chemist, without a shadow of a doubt, cries out, “Well, why did I care about this Princess Olga of yours?” (referring to both history and literature), the average philologist yells, “Why the hell did I give up on these Pythagorean pants and the Boyle-Marriott law,” the average janitor modestly remains silent (since he prefers TV out of all social networks), but in his heart he is sure, that no education is needed at all.
And everyone has the same “unkillable” argument: “ I then it was of no use!” And it’s really useless to argue: this is what it is essence the average person - that for him the basis of the foundations and the beginning is his personal experience - or, more precisely, nothing significant exists for him outside of his personal experience.
And really, why give unnecessary education to non-children of the elite? And if you think about it - why is it?
The problem is that the average person does not understand the difference between himself and the child. More precisely, he understands it too one-sidedly: in his view, he himself is an accomplished adult, a conscious member of society, a full-fledged person; Well, a child is just that, a semi-finished product, don’t understand what, it’s not worth talking much about him. However, the opposite view also makes sense: an adult is uninteresting, he is a “cog” who has already “got on his skis”, has settled into a rut and will follow it until retirement. Everyone already knows what to expect from him, and, as a rule, you can’t expect much. If he can support himself and does not become a burden on society for as long as possible, then thank you for that, you can’t ask for more.
Another thing is a child. The child has - potential. Who he will become is unknown in advance. Perhaps he will reach the heights of mastery in some as yet unknown area, perhaps even open up new paths for his community, his nation, and even, who the hell is he kidding, for all of humanity? This is unknown. But chance There is. The chance is small - but it exists. Potentially, children are much more interesting than fathers (who usually have already played their cards). Actually, this is precisely why (and only why) any discussion of children arouses such burning interest (as we have now).
Money and things, masculine and feminine
Here you can also draw a well-known analogy: some people value money more, others value things. It is believed that the former are more often men, the latter - more often women.
The female approach is more “subject-specific.” Money in itself attracts her little - and what, exactly, is attractive about it? These are nothing more than nondescript pieces of paper, or even worse - just some numbers on an account. Either way - a specific, cute, so attractive blouse! The blouse is thing. Owning it is real happiness. That is why women are usually “famous” for their ability to spend any amount of money at once on a heap of the most varied purchases - which drives their husbands and fathers into despair and rage, but they deserve the ardent love of all kinds of merchants.
It's different with men. The man reasons like this: “I have a thousand rubles in my pocket. It would seem that this is not much. You'll drop it in a second and won't notice. But! Let's figure out what I can do with them? Well, I can have lunch in a mediocre cafe. I can take my friend to the cinema and buy her popcorn. I can pay a fine for not wearing a seat belt - that is, I have the opportunity to ride without wearing a seat belt! Or buckle up, but take half a tank! I might also buy a pair good books. Or a bottle of inexpensive whiskey. Or a bouquet of roses and instead of a movie, come straight to her house. Or... God! How many opportunities! And the man becomes imbued with the most tender feelings for the pitiful thousand.
Naturally, the ability to abstract thinking plays a cruel joke on our little guy. The entire range of possibilities is not available to the owner of a thousand at the same time - in any case, he can only spend it on one thing. However, until the piece of paper is spent, its owner has the right to console himself with the thought that all the listed 33 pleasures are available to him. Often someone with male attitude money, in the end he doesn’t spend it on anything - he puts it away in a box or pillowcase: it’s enough for him to know that he Maybe afford it all.
Both approaches are not without a flaw: women with their “spontaneous purchases” are sitting on a pile of blouses, but penniless, and men with their “fan of opportunities” to their gray hairs, like Kashchei, languish over their pitiful pile of gold (and their girlfriends, accordingly , toil without flowers, and even without a movie session). But we are not talking about them now.
We mean that in our comparison, children are “money”, and their parents are “things”.
In a certain sense, society "possesses" both of them - both children and parents. Like everyone else, we have both money and things. The question is which we love more.
Various thinkers have long said about Russia that it has “ female soul" It’s funny that the “feminine essence” of Russia is also manifested in this issue: judging by the discussions on the topic of education, here too we have feminine values - we are inclined towards “accomplished adults”, that is, we prefer “things”. "Blouses." And they are quite ready to spend it thoughtlessly, like Maryivanna in the Megamall, even if they have all their available “money” on the first “blouses” they come across.
What should we invest our children in?
As funny as it may seem, this is not a question for parents. From the point of view of a healthy, normal society (which is focused on the benefit for myself), children should go not where “where their elders told them”, and not even where “they can earn the most money” - but where it personally suits them best. The most important word- “personally.” The child will reveal himself (and bring the most benefit to society) in the field that to the greatest extent corresponds to his own, for the time being (and for quite a long time) hidden potential.
This, you will be surprised, is main meaning school: it teaches everything, because it is unknown what exactly is most suitable for each particular child - chemistry, physics, literature or cutting out with a jigsaw. Plus, it puts the necessary load on all sorts of areas of the brain responsible for understanding the world around us - because science has long discovered that in the learning of any mammal there are so-called “sensitive periods” when the brain is most receptive to the transfer of certain mental skills. If you don’t give a load in childhood, then it’s very difficult to “catch up”, even with a great desire: thinking is rigid, it’s difficult to pave new “paths”, everything strives to return to what “was taught at school”. If at school they only taught how to count on their fingers, an over-aged “conscious member of society” solves all the assigned problems by counting on their fingers...
Usually they firmly believe that this is the only way to solve problems, “there are no other ways.”
You can, of course, not teach children. The children themselves will only be happy. But we must be aware that by doing so we are depriving these children of the opportunity to choose “what to become.” Not completely, of course - but we are narrowing down this choice. If we continue the analogy with money, our “money” becomes “limitedly convertible”. To the point that they soon become like the Soviet ruble - which can only be handed over to the state; no one needs it anymore.
This is such a “prophetic Oleg”. Of course, 90% of those who read that “children do not know who the prophetic Oleg is” do not themselves know who he is; they feel themselves (arms and legs are in place), look into their wallet (there is money), take work book(respected at work), they look at the stamp in the passport (divorced; but that means someone got married!) - and give a verdict: no one needs this prophetic thing, “I didn’t need it!” A common defense of self-esteem.
And no one is obliged to look from the point of view of society - they don’t pay money for this. So what if our children are “limitedly convertible”, that their choices in life are narrowed as much as possible already at school, and then they have a straight path - to hang an unnecessary “blouse” on unloved job, study chemistry all your life and hate this very chemistry (really “but” not knowing any other subject area)?
We are small people. We firmly learned only one thing from school: “The less you know, the better you sleep!”
People have come up with a great variety. There are them for every occasion, you can choose any popular saying to your taste. According to what folk wisdom uses every single individual in life, a lot can be said about his inner world, character and life position. Someone said “my house is on the edge,” without irony, and it is immediately clear that in the event of some kind of conflict you cannot count on him, he will not stand up for the weak, he will remain on the sidelines. Or here’s another: “The less you know, the better you sleep.” The motto of people prone to self-deception is blissful mental weakness. So it seems at first glance. But is this really so?
Secrets you should stay away from
There are situations in which there is some mystery. It is known to few, and dedicated people are terribly afraid of its disclosure. And suddenly the secret, as almost always happens, becomes apparent. Long-time keepers of the secret are puzzled by the revelation, but in addition to a completely natural preoccupation with this circumstance, which often threatens many troubles, both material and moral, they suffer from the fact that they do not know who revealed what they were hiding. Suspects include anyone who was familiar with information that is not subject to disclosure. These are usually friends, relatives and other close people. Even if the true culprit of the leak is found, bad aftertaste remains forever. Relationships, as they say, develop a crack that can never be repaired.
It is better to stay away from other people's intimate secrets and never boast of knowledge, even if they become known by chance. It is in such cases that the saying “the less you know, the better you sleep” is very true. Secrets, by the way, are not only personal, but also corporate, commercial and even state.
Protect your brain
Today it is believed that excessive brain activity is harmful. Humanity has existed on the planet for a long time, and only in recent decades has it encountered such an unusual problem as excessive consumption of information. Nervous system it simply cannot withstand the flow of news pouring from radio and television receivers, from the pages of websites, not to mention the press. The headlines are filled with reports of terrible incidents, loss of life, wars, floods, man-made disasters and other disasters occurring around the world.
Previously, about two hundred years ago, not all of them became known at all, or the sad news came with a significant delay, which undoubtedly reduced the severity of perception. Today, the chronicle of some catastrophe is transmitted a few minutes after it, and it often happens that the death of people can be observed in live. The proverb “the less you know, the better you sleep” is quite applicable to such situations when the brain simply rebels from information flows, entering depressive state. There are also cases of insanity.
It is worth remembering Bulgakov’s character Professor Preobrazhensky, who did not recommend reading Soviet newspapers while eating.
"Extra" knowledge
Quite a long time ago, the image of an eccentric professor or simply a scientist, absent-minded and constantly being “a little out of control,” was formed. This, of course, happens, although in the majority prominent figures Sciences know how to think soberly and practically. People with little education (or simply ignorant) find special pleasure in humiliating the “educated”, thus establishing themselves in the eyes of others, and their own. They seem to say: “Yes, we didn’t go through any science, but we are simple people, and the balls don’t fit behind the rollers in our heads. And in general, you know little, you sleep soundly. And if your brain is filled with all sorts of nonsense, then this will only cause problems.” What do such people need? Their needs are simple: to eat, sleep and perform a few more simple physiological procedures. And the next day everything is new, but exactly the same.
Yes, people naturally have different brains, but in any case, it is used only to a few percent of its capabilities, so it is almost impossible to overload it, especially with useful knowledge. The saying “the little you know, the deeper you sleep” is just an excuse for laziness of the mind. However, there are also people who are truly incapable of learning. Yes, and fools do not translate.
Callousness
Almost every person has friends. In difficult times, they usually come to the rescue. They support morally, and if possible, then financially or in deed. But there are such unfortunate cases when some of them are just in Hard time disappear somewhere. Then, when the troubles have passed, such “friends” appear again, and explain their absence by ignorance, while assuring that “if only ...”, then “for sure it would.” And how can you not believe them! But then, one way or another, it turns out that they all knew. But I don’t want to talk about it with them anymore. The less you know, the better you sleep... Yes, such friends don’t complain about bad sleep, and also about their appetite.
Family nuances
There is a type of family in which the facts of adultery are very tolerant. Usually in these cases they do long hikes“to the left” both husband and wife, this explains their mutual forbearance. The main condition, sacredly revered in such a family, is the observance of external decency. It is also, as a rule, not customary to tell each other about your adventures. For what? The less you know, the better you sleep, and it doesn’t matter who and with whom. The most terrible enemy of such spouses is an external “whistleblower” who violates the idyll. Therefore, even if it becomes known about someone’s betrayal, you should not rush to open your eyes to his other half - she is most often in the know. In addition, we should not forget about the circumstances indicated in the first section of this article.
Doom
There are lies that are shameless, cynical, rude, and vile, but sometimes they are also sacred. For example, if a person is hopelessly ill, it is better for him not to talk about it, at least until he himself begins to guess, otherwise the illness will finish him off even before the allotted time. It is about this gentle untruth or understatement that they say: “The less you know, the better you sleep.” And it’s hard to keep such a secret, and to live with it, and then to tell the truth is also almost impossible. If possible at all. This situation is very difficult, only those who experienced it truly know about it. The rest are left to guess.
The Depravity of Curiosity
The desire to know everything does not always have such a laudable motive as love of truth. Sometimes the cornerstone of this desire is a trait as little respected as curiosity. It is this that encourages you to read on the pages of the “yellow” press news about the lives of celebrities, not related to their work, but describing in detail who, when and with whom he started an affair, where he went or how much he spent and on what. But there is also the life of acquaintances, which also needs to be discussed in a small circle. The expression “The less you know, the better you sleep” even received a continuation: “But until I find out everything, I won’t be able to sleep at all!” All this is quite natural for people of a certain character, but gossip rarely leads to good. Again, we should remember the first point of this article.
There are those who disagree
Folk sayings have become part of national culture and are considered the standard of universal wisdom. But does everyone agree with the statement “the less you know, the better you sleep”? The person's personality matters. Some are quite content with blissful ignorance. Others strive for the truth, no matter how difficult and unpleasant it may be, especially in cases where it concerns them. Nothing can scare such people - neither the betrayal of friends, nor a fatal diagnosis. It’s hard for them to live, and it’s not always possible to sleep peacefully. In addition, there is such a thing as conscience, which also prevents sleep, if, of course, it exists. But it is impossible to remake its owners, and there is no point in trying. Such people are very necessary; everything depends on them.
Sayings differ from proverbs in that, first of all, there are many more situations for their application. Let's take, for example, everyone famous expression“A mosquito won’t erode your nose.” Its meaning can range from “no one will know” to “everything will be fine.” Proverbs necessarily contain a conclusion, and sayings can be used “by the word” and be ambiguous. So, in what cases is it appropriate to use the saying “the less you know, the better you sleep,” and what does this mean?
What prevents you from sleeping peacefully?
This expression is completely in vain called a proverb, because not a single sane person would accept direct action the words “the less you know, the better you sleep.” Otherwise, he would have to give up any knowledge for the sake of healthy sleep. But the multiplication table or the rules of the Russian language are unlikely to lead anyone to insomnia. So what kind of knowledge, then, that interferes with a night's rest, is the saying talking about? To do this, you need to contact intelligent
dictionaries and look lexical meaning the words "know". It seems so elementary to everyone that it never occurs to anyone that there might be some kind of misunderstanding in connection with it. And still. For example, in the 18th century dictionary, “to know” had eight meanings, the main one of which was the presence of information, news about something. In modern Russian, in Efremova’s dictionary, the verb “to know” has five meanings, the first of which denotes knowledge, the second - awareness, the third - acquaintance with someone, the fourth - experience, the fifth meaning (figurative) is used to guess. So now it is not difficult to conclude that the saying “the less you know, the better you sleep” does not call for remaining ignorant, and is not at all about scientific knowledge it says, although one of the options for using this expression in direct meaning, but with a tinge of irony still exists. This will happen if suddenly during class one of the students, who is also a bad student, falls asleep. It is in this situation that in the expression “the less you know, the better you sleep,” the verb “to know” will be used in the meaning of “to have certain knowledge and skills.”
A dream that is not a dream
Is this always what this saying is about? A person's sleep is disturbed when increased anxiety. And all kinds of guesses, experiences and information lead to it, which lead to suspicions and thoughts; even knowing someone can be “dangerous” for sleep. But is it always in this saying we're talking about about sleep in literally? When a woman buys an expensive handbag, when asked by a friend how her husband would react to this waste, she replies: “The less she knows, the better she sleeps.” With this phrase, the lady immediately makes it clear that she will not say anything to her husband. In this case, the saying has a slightly different meaning: the desire to hide some information from a person so that he does not ask unnecessary questions; there is also a clear desire to make a decision on one’s own, without consulting anyone. But when the seller, changing the expiration date sticker on the package of cottage cheese, says: “The less you know, the better you sleep,” then he, at a minimum, commits a forgery, as a result of which, if not a disaster, then a big nuisance can happen. So it is quite possible to assume that someone with this saying even commits a crime.
Continuing the conversation about the crisis in humanitarian sciences, I note: one of the main contradictions between natural scientists and humanities, oddly enough, is projected on the attitude towards the question of the possibility of the existence of alien intelligence. The essence of the contradiction is simple:
Conventional natural scientists (physicists, chemists, physiologists, etc. - both theoreticians and practitioners), realizing the absolute insufficiency of their knowledge, do not say yes or no, but simply explore the universe from all sides and each time freely discuss any about the matter, be it a new hypothesis, be it fresh data that requires additional research or decoding. Among them, of course, there are oversteps scientific ethics with subsequent accusations of pseudoscience, but against the general background this is by no means a pattern. With the possible exception of ufologists, standing apart, and among whom, unfortunately, there is too large a percentage of charlatans and falsifiers.
The same conventional humanists (historians, psychologists, theologians, philologists, etc.), despite all the relativity of their theories and hypotheses, are initially prone to rigid dogmatism and absolutization of their theories, and any assumption about the possible participation of aliens in the birth and development of the earth civilizations are immediately labeled as quasi-learned, followed by expulsion from their close-knit ranks, even to the point of the notorious “not shaking hands.” Anthropologists and archaeologists (paleoarchaeologists) suffer the most, who have not yet decided on their scientific and branch affiliation and are trying to somehow fill the gaping voids of human origins or explain inexplicable artifacts.
Particularly funny are the attempts to lay out all the stages of construction in detail and colorfully. Egyptian pyramids, long and firmly included in school books and crumbling at elementary analysis. Everything else is amazing megalithic, scattered throughout the Earth, as if it did not exist. Laughter is laughter, but the result is no scientific discussion, but only total silence. Michael Cremo’s finds are of no interest to anyone, Dr. Cabrero’s museum is closed and the fate of the collection is unknown, excavations of the underground granite city under the pyramids were stopped long ago and reliably, the Nazca plateau raises only the question “why?”, instead of “how was it done?”, Cyclopean buildings with masonry of granite blocks weighing hundreds of tons, folded according to arbitrary geometry and without the slightest gaps, are widely attributed to primitive cultures that have just mastered the extraction of ore, in best case scenario, copper Nothing bothers anyone, not even the death of hundreds of people in Peru while trying to lift one of the once fallen blocks up a small slope with the help of strong ropes and various wooden and stone rollers.
The same applies to ancient artifacts containing written sources, when any attempts to go beyond established linguistic dogmas are immediately suppressed and declared quasi-scientific. Not the slightest hint of discussion, even if the troublemaker offers to calmly discuss the facts and point out mistakes, if any. I propose to talk about this in more detail, because I probed, climbed, crawled and analyzed the length and breadth of the most different corners planets. As a result, I am in full agreement with the understanding of the reasons for the total silence initiated not by natural scientists and humanists, but by the so-called representatives social sciences, called politicians and who understand that a broad scientific discussion will inevitably lead to a revision of the history of the emergence and development of the entire human civilization. This is really dangerous, as it will immediately call into question all the so-called achievements of the “king of nature”, and will inevitably send politicians to the scrap heap.
However, there is more to all this interesting aspect(especially considering modern realities), directly relating, perhaps, only to Russia and its history, deeply hidden in the thickness of fiction, other people’s interpretations and outright lies, everywhere perpetuated on official level. And let me be wrong, let me incur the righteous wrath of the defenders of academic scholarship, but I am not going to remain silent. After all, those who do nothing make no mistakes. And vice versa: those who do their job even as conscientiously as possible are not immune from mistakes.
In general, I suggest leaving the aliens alone and switching to something that is somewhat closer and has been on the surface for a long time. After all, your own shirt is closer to your body.
* * *This one is truly Detective story has been unfolding in the center of Europe for more than five centuries. It is associated with the names of many people, most of whom have long been forgotten. To begin with, I propose to trace in more detail the path of one famous narrow circles the person who left the deepest mark on the topic that interests me.
On October 17, 1785, a boy was born in the Polish Shawli, named Tadeusz. The family was quite noble: the father was the court adviser to King Stanisław August, and was also the godson of Tadeusz Kościuszko himself.
Further, the boy’s biography is interrupted for more than a quarter of a century and emerges already in the military campaign of 1812, where he participated as an officer in the Napoleonic army. Participation in the war was marked for young man the title of Knight of the Legion of Honor, which, according to the Regulations, meant official recognition of special services to France, where membership in the order is still the highest (or one of the highest) badges of distinction and honor.
The way forward the future, in all respects, controversial personality turned out to be no longer at all connected with his army career, but was entirely devoted to archeology, collecting artifacts and, most importantly, deciphering ancient inscriptions, before which for a long time his predecessors and contemporaries gave in. The name of Tadeusz Wolanski became so widely known in the first half of the 19th century that many historians, archaeologists and linguists, including in Russia, referred to him. Sensational discoveries so amazed the author himself with their novelty and inconsistency with generally accepted historical interpretations that he, possessing a keen sense of scientific ethics, began to write letters to various European (including Russian) academic institutions with a request to evaluate his works and point out possible mistakes. By the middle of the century, T. Volansky had a huge library of rare books, among which by that time there were already a large number of his own works, in which his unusual hypothesis was consistently presented and proven.
Unfortunately, scientific conscientiousness played a cruel joke on the scientist: the letters did not receive the proper assessment, and in 1847, when his main work was published, “the Catholic Primate of Poland, which was part of Russian Empire, contacted Holy Synod Russia with a request to seek permission from Emperor Nicholas I to apply autodofe at the stake from his book to Volansky." Simply Catholic Church sentenced the scientist to be burned at the stake, made from his own books.
Then events received a new unexpected development: the emperor, nicknamed Nikolai Palkin by his contemporaries, requested a copy of the book and summoned the famous historian and versatile encyclopedist Yegor Klassen (German by birth) for examination. According to his conclusion, Nicholas I ordered the seizure of “the required amount of this book for safekeeping, the rest, so as not to harm the clergy, to burn, and to send a military team to Volansky to assist him in his expeditions to collect those stone inscriptions and henceforth to protect his person from possible misadventures."
Thus, Tadeusz (name in Russian tradition - Thaddeus) Wolanski found himself under the highest patronage and was able to continue his research, but was never adequately appreciated by the scientific community. Or it would be more accurate to say that he was consigned to oblivion, “so as not to harm the clergy.” The scientist died on February 16, 1865 in the village of Rynsk, now Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland.
So what kind of heresy did Thaddeus Volansky create in order to become a sealed secret and not receive a single line in any textbook for the past century and a half? The answer to this question is both simple and complex at the same time.
Simple, because there is nothing simpler than to name the area of specific interests of the scientist, as well as his predecessors and followers, who were also not recognized by the notorious “scientific community”, which once and for all believed in the inviolability of its theories of the origin of the Slavic tribes, which have long been firmly considered the younger stepsons European peoples. Keywords Here: " Slavic tribes", whose language is also considered, albeit related to European (the notorious Indo-European group languages), but much younger.
Complex, since the traditional historiography of European peoples has become so firmly entrenched in the consciousness of citizens not only of Europe, but also of Russia, that even a hint of the much more ancient pre-Christian history of the Slavs evokes, at best, an ironic smile, and at worst, attempts to get personal with biting accusations in ignorance and graphomania. And if at the same time we also touch upon issues of linguistics and linguistics (comparative) with evidence of unique uniqueness Russian language, based on his primogeniture relative to any European ones, then “non-handshake” is practically guaranteed.
However, I am not a historian, not a linguist, and not a scientist at all; by definition, oblivion does not threaten me, however, just like “not shaking hands.” Therefore, I’ll go straight to the main thing: I’ll indicate some significant names and scientific works on the ancient history of the Slavs, widely known in narrow circles, but never becoming not only the property scientific community, but not even awarded the title of “subject of broad scientific discussion.”
1. Mavro Orbini (1550–1614), Italian historian of Yugoslav origin, monk of the Benedictine monastery on the island of Mljet, later abbot, Archimandrite of Raguga in the Sicilian city of Ragusa.
His main work, translated into Russian in 1722, is called: “HISTORIOGRAPHY of the beginning of the name, glory, and expansion of the Slavic people and their Kings and Rulers under many names and with many Kingdoms, Kingdoms, and Provinces. Collected from many historical books, through Mr. Mavrourbin Archimandrite of Raguzhsky.” It was first published in Italy in 1601 under original name: “SLAVIC KINGDOM. The Origin of the Slavs and the Spread of Their Dominion” and immediately caused a series of huge scandals with historians and, most importantly, with the Vatican. The publication was immediately included in the Index of Prohibited Books.
Nutrient medium for a native of Dubrovnik was literary salon“Dubrovnik Aspasia” by Tsveta Zuzorich, where the fate of the Slavic tribes and, first of all, the Russians, who had recently protected Europe with force and wisdom from the invasion of nomads while simultaneously confronting the Catholic West, was widely discussed. As a result, the author, relying on numerous treatises of his predecessors (Vinko Pribojević, Ludovik Tsrijević-Tuberon, etc.) and searching all available monastic and private libraries, as well as unique archives Duke of Urbino, states:
“The Slavs fought with almost all the tribes of the world, attacked Persia, ruled Asia and Africa, fought the Egyptians and Alexander the Great, conquered Greece, Macedonia and Illyria, occupied Moravia, Silesia, the Czech Republic, Poland and the coast Baltic Sea. They invaded Italy, where they skirmished with the Romans for a long time, sometimes suffering defeats, sometimes taking revenge on them with heavy casualties on their part, sometimes ending the battle with an equal advantage. Having finally conquered the Roman Empire, they occupied many of its provinces, destroyed the city of Rome, making the Roman emperors their tributaries, which no other tribe in the world could do. They took possession of Thrace, founded kingdoms in Spain, and the noblest families descend from their blood. However, Roman historians are not as generous in their praise of the barbarians, as they call them, than of their own... So, having collected together all the most important things that were scattered throughout different books“, I wanted to publish all this information for the glory of all Slavs, whom I ask to favorably accept the fruits of my labors as a memory and evidence of the greatness of their ancestors, as a clear sign of their valor and, finally, as their own property.”
Let the reader, evaluating what he has read from the heights of humanistic times, not be confused by the author’s epithets regarding the belligerence of the Slavic tribes, for there was a time when military valor and victories were at the highest price. The main thing for us here is that, even despite the publication of the book in Russia in 1722 (in a greatly abbreviated translation by Savva Prokopovich) and the subsequent use by famous domestic specialists (Tatishchev, Golenishchev-Kutuzov) as a source of valuable information, the fate of most of Mavro’s works Orbini turned out to be more than sad, falling out of the sight of historians for many centuries.
2. Thaddeus Wolanski (1785–1865), Polish archaeologist and collector, Slavophile, philologist, author of the hypothesis about the Slavic origin of the Etruscans and other ancient civilizations.
Main work, equipped detailed images artifacts and an interpretation of their origin: “Letters on Slavic Antiquities,” 1847. From the title it is clear that the publication contains some letters, namely, twelve letters from 1844 to 1847. to various European authorities (academies, universities, museums), including the Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg (first letter). At the end of the book the author gives detailed tables artifacts, the inscriptions on which he attributes to the pre-Christian period of history and culture Slavic peoples. Here's what he wrote:
“Scientists stumbled over these monuments and worked in vain until our time to analyze their inscriptions in the Greek and Latin alphabets, and seeing the inapplicability of such, they searched in vain for the key in Hebrew, because this mysterious key to all unsolved inscriptions is found only in the Slavic primitive language... How far the residence of the Slavs in Africa extended in ancient times, let the Slavic inscriptions on the stones of Numidia, Carthage and Egypt prove... Is it in Italy, India and Persia - even in Egypt - there are no Slavic monuments?... Don’t the ancient books of Zoroaster, the ruins of Babylon, the monuments of Darius, the remains of Parsa-city (Persepolis), covered in cuneiform, contain inscriptions understandable to the Slavs? The English, French and Germans look at this, “jak kozioł na wodę”. We, the Slavs, will be able to bring this research to completion only if our children and grandchildren want to follow in our footsteps!”
Simply put, the author proposed deciphering numerous inscriptions incomprehensible to contemporaries on monuments left, for example, by the ancient Etruscans around Mediterranean Sea, with the help of Slavic runes, which he methodically outlined in his works, equipped with detailed drawings and comparative tables.
Further fate We already know Thaddeus Volansky, and we also know that “children and grandchildren,” unfortunately, ignored the author’s will.
It should be noted that Volansky was an extremely conscientious researcher, inclined to doubt everything and therefore recheck his conclusions many times, for which he sought to attract the most authoritative scientists. Here are his words from the Preface to the publication:
“Let the researchers of antiquity correct me where I was wrong, since anyone who, like me, stepped onto such a dark road without a guide, shrouded in a thousand-year fog, could and should have been mistaken.”
Despite the obvious desire for truth, based on facts and free from baseless interpretations, Thaddeus Volansky earned only the reputation “that the author was too gullible and extremely gifted with a magnificent imagination” and, along with his works, sank into obscurity for a long time.
3. Egor Klassen (1795–1862), a Russian scientist with a wide range of interests, German by birth (a Russian citizen since 1836), enjoyed the trust of Emperor Nicholas I in matters of pre-Christian history of the Slavs.
The main work of E. Klassen, published in 1854: “The most ancient history of the Slavs and Slavic-Russians before the time of Rurik. New materials for the ancient history of the Slavs in general and the Slavic-Russians before Rurik’s time in particular, with a light outline of the history of the Russians before the Nativity of Christ.” In the book, written precisely based on the materials of Thaddeus Volansky (which I mentioned earlier), the author writes:
“Meanwhile, the history of the ancient Slavic Rus' so rich in facts that its traces are everywhere, intertwined in the life of all European peoples, with a strict analysis of which Rus' itself will move forward and show all the ramifications of this greatest tribe in the world ... "
E. Klassen, being an ethnic German, nevertheless, following the norms of scientific ethics, which should be free from bias and engagement, following the convictions of Mikhailo Lomonosov, spoke sharply negatively about Russian-German Norman historians such as Gottlieb Bayer, August Schlozer, Gerhard Miller and others, calling them slanderers of the history of the Slavs:
“If Schletser really did not understand the Russian Chronicles, then he is a blind man, pompous with German distrust of the originality of the Russian states in pre-Rurik times; but if he penetrated into the essence of the legends and rejected them solely out of being faithful to his plan, then he is an evil slanderer!
And what did not fit into the author’s understanding of the history of the Slavs at all was the denial of a huge number of facts that they had written language before the arrival of the Greek monks known to us in Rus':
“That the Slavs already had writings long before Cyril and Methodius is evidenced by very old Slavic writings located in the Munich Library. ...The Slavs had literacy not only before all the western peoples of Europe, but also before the Romans and even the Greeks themselves, and that the outcome of enlightenment was from the Russians to the west, and not from there to them.”
The denial of generally accepted and tendentious historiography led E. Klassen to a logical result - oblivion and deletion from the list of historical scientists worthy of at least mention in textbooks, including domestic ones, and any mention, as a rule, was, at best, ironic in nature : “A certain Yegor Klassen (a gardener by profession) proclaimed then that “the Slavic-Russians, as a people educated earlier than the Romans and Greeks, left behind many monuments in all parts of the Old World.” (A. A. Formozov, 1928-2009).
4. Alexander Ivanchenko (1936–2003), Soviet-Russian historian, owner of a brilliant literary talent, author of the unique book “The Ways of a Great Russian.”
When researching the pre-Christian roots of the Slavs, he had to refute not only German version history of Rus', but also to enter into tough polemics with such recognized pillars as B. A. Rybakov and D. S. Likhachev, who have long been on the rails of traditional historiography and do not tolerate any deviations. By his first profession, A. Ivanchenko is a geologist. Started on foot and traveled to different types transport, including dog and reindeer sleds, the most severe regions and regions of the Russian Far North: Yakutia, Kolyma, Chukotka, Kamchatka, islands Arctic Ocean. I worked as a journalist for a long time. Then he “sailed” for several years. Made four circumnavigation of the world, visited many countries. His profession helped him discover traces of the ancient Slavs in the farthest corners of the Earth, as well as obtain numerous evidence of the presence of developed writing among the Slavs, supported by good knowledge ancient languages. A. Ivanchenko was very scrupulous about the careful selection of artifacts, understanding that science does not tolerate fuss and frivolous fantasies. Considering his work extremely important for the self-awareness of the Russian people, he wrote:
“I want the Russian reader to think about our common origins, and remind him that human genes, passed on from generation to generation, live for thousands of years. But the call of blood, the most powerful thing in a person, can be drowned out if we take away from him the historical memory and knowledge accumulated by previous generations. And then spirituality is replaced by base instincts (a holy place is never empty), and the human community turns into worst kind herd In a wolf pack, a pride of lions, a bear family, and indeed all animals, the laws of natural expediency dominate, which, although they are perceived by animals at the level of instincts, these instincts are developed in them under the influence of the same laws of natural expediency. Therefore, anyone who carefully observed wild animals could not help but notice that in any of their communities a certain order always reigns, a certain measure is maintained in everything and the established rhythm of life is not disturbed, as if according to some schedule. Man, unlike animals, must perceive and assimilate everything that is expedient with his mind. For this reason, Nature gave him Reason. But the brain cannot function normally without accumulating and independently comprehending knowledge, taking into account the experience of previous generations. The latter is especially important, because only in this case is progressive and the only expedient development possible along the path of improving all aspects of existence.
The shorter and leaner people have historical memory, the easier it is to force them to accept newly invented institutions and dogmas, since due to the lack of sufficient historical knowledge they cannot compare what is new with what their ancestors were guided by, whether it was worse or better. And very often, instead of the desired progress, regression begins, a person reinvents the wheel and inevitably repeats all those mistakes from which his forefathers long ago learned the bitter lessons and drew the appropriate conclusions.”
Unfortunately, questions of linguistics, if they go beyond the framework of traditional generally accepted theory, always cause terrible scandals and confrontations, which has not escaped A. Ivanchenko, who has not yet even been awarded a line in Wikipedia.
Thus, I have given only a few names of researchers of the history and writing of the Slavs, crossed out from all academic lists. In fact, this list is much richer, and there are different names in it, not only well-known, but also quite outstanding:
“At the beginning of the sixth century after Christ, the Slovenian name spread greatly; and the power of the entire people not only in Thrace, in Macedonia, in Istria and Dalmatia was terrible; but it also contributed a lot to the destruction of the Roman Empire” (M. Lomonosov).
“... the Slavs of ancient Nestor had a written language, but they were lost and have not yet been found and therefore have not reached us. The Slavs had letters long before the birth of Christ” (Catherine II, German by birth).
"What is Slavic language? Create (history) of the human race. All the peoples of the Light, whether out of simple curiosity, or with the intention of learning the secret structure of their own, native language, and the true meaning of all his words and the images of the boundary words will study him; and many will learn and write on it their creations, research, discoveries: and if we do not participate in this worldwide direction towards the development of “ single language“Then everyone will ridicule us, and rightly so” (Platon Lukashevich).
But what can we say, if in the “Pannonian Life” the monk Kirill himself claims that long before “he created the alphabet, he visited the Crimea, Karsuni (Chersonese) and brought from there the Gospel and the Psalter, written in Russian letters.” The message about the books from Karsuni is contained in all 23 lists of the “Life”, both East and South Slavic. That is, the “Cyrillic alphabet” existed before its creators, who only had a hand in simplifying it, which, you see, is, at a minimum, a historical and linguistic incident screaming about its immediate solution.
In conclusion, I note that even now, not all historians and linguists who are our contemporaries have fallen under the influence of generally accepted dogmas, making great efforts to restore our lost self-awareness. I consider their work extremely important and worthy of all respect, even if Wikipedia labels them “authors of pseudoscientific historical and linguistic ideas,” as was done in relation to A. Dragunkin, the author of the original and effective methodology teaching in English, based on the hypothesis of its origin from Russian.
E. Klassen, ibid.
E. Klassen, ibid.
A. Ivanchenko, The Ways of a Great Russian, p. 16
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