"The heresies of present-mindedness are temporal provincialism and
ethnocentrism. Temporal provincialism is a vulgar conviction that current
ways of doing things are normative. It confers a timeless validity on
transient contemporary taste. Unlike the present-mindedness of artists,
philosophers, and scientists, which manipulates knowledge of the past in the
interest of innovation, it is blinkered by ignorance. Ethnocentrism is a
cultural bias, the notion that (some specific) civilization is the proper
yardstick for judging all others. Knowledge of other cultures and of our own
remoter past points up the relativity of the present, induces a healthy
skepticism about current arrangements and achievements, and exposes the
status quo to continuous critical reappraisal."
Eugene Rice
(back to lurk mode)