German philosopher Oswald Spengler (1880), born in Blankenburg, Germany. He studied the history of civilizations; his theory was they all undergo an organic blossoming and withering over the course of 1,000 to 1,200 years, and that, by studying the past, it was possible to predict the future of all civilizations. "Each culture," he wrote, "has its own new possibilities of self-expression which arise, ripen, decay and never return."
He put his theory forward in his book The Decline of the West (1918), in which he asked, "Is there, beyond all the casual and incalculable elements of the separate elements of the separate events, something that we may call a metaphysical structure of historic humanity, something that is essentially independent of the outward forms — social, spiritual, and political — which we see so clearly? ... Does world-history present to the seeing eye certain grand traits, again and again, with sufficient constancy to justify certain conclusions?" He examined six cultures — Egyptian, Chinese, Hindu, Greco-Roman, Magian (mostly Arabic), and Western — and he believed that Western civilization had already experienced its creative flowering; it was in a period of reflection and material comfort, and that it had, at most, 200 more years. He believed that you could no more revive a dying civilization than you could bring a dead flower back to life.
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I was intrigued by this man's thoughts. The grand puzzle of humanity, one with pieces that should go together but appear not to. I wonder if he mentioned what might happen when the 200 years was up, perhaps too difficult to speculate on. Anyone have any ideas? Hans Børli gave a kind of answer here didn't he? LuvAnnW

PÅ EVIGHETEN TAVLER.........................................On Infinity's Tablet (?)
 
Ingenting forsvinner. Alt...........................................Nothing disappears. All
blir uutslettelig risset inn..........................................things are indelibly engraved on
på evighetens tavler.................................................forever's tablets
Om bare en fugl flyr gjennom solfallet,..................If only a bird flys through the falling sun
to mennesker veksler noen vennlige ord..............two people chat a few friendly words
ved postkassa en morgen, eller.............................at their letter box in the morning, or
et spor snør langsomt igjen innpå skogen,..........a track winds slowly again into the wood
så vil disse små, små tingene................................so too will these little things
bli bevart i den universelle bevissthet...................be saved in the universal consciousness
så lenge dagene gryr, i øst,.....................................as long as day dawns, in the east,
nettene senker sin nåde over Jorden.....................nights sink their grace over the earth

Det finnes en hukommelse i rommet,....................There is a memory in space.
en altfavnende kosmisk hukommelse....................an all embracing cosmic memory
som opphever Tiden................................................that stops all time
og forener alle ting...................................................joins all things
i et eneste stjernehvitt Nå........................................it is the one and only star-white Now.

                               - Hans Børli