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We have different ways of elevating ourselves, individually and collectively, some recognized and deliberate, some hidden and unintentional.  One that works on both levels may be called “Chronological Snobbery."  Although the term as used by Williams is primarily a literary term, the fact pervades our culture. It is the idea that today is superior to yesterday, that what is recent is better than what was earlier, that in general people of long ago do not measure up to modern man.

The idea is so powerful, the influence, so subtle, the presence in the West so widespread, that it deserves attention. Certainly if we se on the screen an actor dressed in a toga, we expect to see and hear a modern man. If we see a matinee idol playing Moses, we expect to see a contemporary dressed in a costume. But if we think about groups rather than individuals, a city of Romans or a tribe of Jews, we tend to assume, without too much reflection, that compared to modern people, they are not quite as advanced, a little limited.

Yet if we consider examples of past intellectual achievement such as Enlightenment science, Renaissance literature, medieval philosophy, classical drama, ancient Wisdom or other traces of earlier culture, it is clear that we are dealing with impressive intellects, well matched with our own. We have better machines but not better minds, better communications, but not necessarily better messages, wonderful new clothes but the same genes.

We might therefore be well advised to be particularly alert to any distortions in our thinking brought about by “Chronological Snobbery."