How the enlightenment era happened 400 years ago and not in the days of ancient Greece or Rome?

by Magnivilator

As far as I can understand, The Age of Enlightenment began in Europe after the Renaissance. The Renaissance according to my understanding was a period of time where many of the arts (and the sciences) were reborn, and then the enlightenment happened and after that the industrial revolution, etc etc.

Why it didn't happen 2000~ years ago? I mean as far as I can understand the technological different of the year 1700 wasn't that ahead of this in the year 100.

EnclavedMicrostate

Hey there,

Just to let you know, your question is fine, and we're letting it stand. However, you should be aware that questions framed as 'Why didn't X do Y' relatively often don't get an answer that meets our standards (in our experience as moderators). There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, it often can be difficult to prove the counterfactual: historians know much more about what happened than what might have happened. Secondly, 'why didn't X do Y' questions are sometimes phrased in an ahistorical way. It's worth remembering that people in the past couldn't see into the future, and they generally didn't have all the information we now have about their situations; things that look obvious now didn't necessarily look that way at the time.

If you end up not getting a response after a day or two, consider asking a new question focusing instead on why what happened did happen (rather than why what didn't happen didn't happen) - this kind of question is more likely to get a response in our experience. Hope this helps!