{"id":2976,"date":"2017-09-24T22:27:50","date_gmt":"2017-09-25T05:27:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/?p=2976"},"modified":"2017-09-24T22:32:27","modified_gmt":"2017-09-25T05:32:27","slug":"why-humans-explore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/featured\/why-humans-explore\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Humans Explore"},"content":{"rendered":"

The eMagazine has a section that address the topic of Ways to Explore<\/a> to offer you some motivation to get out and explore. \u00a0These motivations are, for the most part, associated with moving your interests outdoors and using them as a basis for your explorations. \u00a0There are many other motivations and one way to discover some of them is to study the greatest voyages of exploration.<\/p>\n

History’s Greatest Voyages<\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"History'sI’ve been listening to a series of lectures by\u00a0Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, Ph.D. of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. \u00a0The course is titled History’s Greatest Voyages of Exploration<\/em><\/a>. \u00a0In it Dr.\u00a0Liulevicius examines a series of explorations, beginning in pre-historic times. \u00a0In each case, the explorers were motivated to explore. \u00a0What were their motivations?<\/p>\n

The historic voyages in these lectures had varied motivations, yet\u00a0Dr.\u00a0Liulevicius says we all have one thing in common: “It’s in our genes. The drive to discover is at the core of human identity.” \u00a0Exploration and travel has been built into us since the original migrations out of Africa. \u00a0Starting with this base level of motivation, the voyages of exploration had other motivations, or perhaps they were justifications to explain the base motivation.<\/p>\n

Quest for Knowledge<\/h2>\n

\"\"Around 340 BC, Pytheas the Greek left Greece alone and traveled as far as Iceland in the pursuit of knowledge<\/strong> – scientific exploration. \u00a0He documented his journey around Great Britain, into the land of the midnight sun and the polar ice. \u00a0He is the first explorer noted as having journeyed simply for knowledge. \u00a0He began a movement that has continued today as we explore the moon and beyond.<\/p>\n

While Pytheas was exploring the northwest portion of the known world, \u00a0Alexander the Great was headed east to India and south into Africa. \u00a0While his apparent motivation was discovery<\/strong> and\u00a0conquest <\/strong>by war and nation-building, he is also known as a seeker of knowledge; another scientific explorer.<\/p>\n

Religion<\/h2>\n
\"Portrait

Portrait of Xuanzang<\/p><\/div>\n

When Jesus told his followers to spread the word, he set forth a motivation based upon religion<\/strong>. \u00a0First, the apostles traveled from today’s Italy to India. \u00a0Later, came Saint Brendan the Navigator. \u00a0He was born in about 484 AD and ultimately set out to get lost in a sort of religious quest. Along the way, he recorded visiting lands as far as Iceland and perhaps even Newfoundland.<\/p>\n

Religious<\/strong> motivations were not limited to Christians. \u00a0In 629 AD,\u00a0Buddhist monk Xuanzang set out from China to India to acquire holy texts. \u00a0His journey took 17 years and passed through the Gobi Desert, Tashkent, Samarkand to the Buddha’s home in the eastern Ganges. \u00a0He returned to China with hundreds of cases containing texts, relics and even plants and medicines. \u00a0His journey was also scientific<\/strong> in that he was seeking the basis of Buddism by collecting the ancient \u00a0texts that were not then available in China. \u00a0The idea was to supplement his and China’s understanding of Buddhism.<\/p>\n

Pursuit of Wealth<\/h2>\n

In 1291 AD, brothers Ugolino and Guido Vivaldi and their crews set out from Genoa to travel to India, by heading west across the Mediterranean and through the Strait of Gibraltar. \u00a0Their motivation was primarily to tap into the riches of India and build their wealth<\/strong> by bringing those riches to Europe via water – a much faster and cheaper approach than the overland routes of the time. That’s the same motivation that<\/p>\n

\"Marco

Marco Polo<\/p><\/div>\n

drove Columbus to North America a couple of hundred years later. The Vivaldi’s also took a couple of Franciscan Friars, so it is believed there were also religious<\/strong> motivations. \u00a0The voyagers were last seen off the coast of Morocco – the voyage failed – but their motivations had to have been very strong to take the risks that led to their demise.<\/p>\n

Beyond the Vivaldi’s and Columbus there were many explorers who sought wealth. \u00a0One of the best known is Marco Polo who began his adventures in 1271 AD when he was 17 years old. \u00a0He traveled from Venice to what is now\u00a0Beijing, China, and \u00a0encouraged expansion in East-West trade with his writings.<\/p>\n

Adventure<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Norsemen were motivated primarily by adventure <\/strong>and conquest<\/strong>. \u00a0For a couple of hundred years that involved major violence across much of Europe. \u00a0Those weren’t the only motivations. \u00a0They also succumbed to curiosity, fame <\/strong>and the desire for wealth<\/strong>. \u00a0By the 900’s AD, they were exploring<\/strong> Iceland, Greenland and around 1001 they were in Vinland – somewhere between Newfoundland and Georgia – where the natives told them of a visit by men in white robes – perhaps Saint Brendan’s party.<\/p>\n

\"Routes<\/a>

Routes of the Norsemen
Mediatus (H.J.) \u00a0[CC-BY-SA-3.0<\/a>]<\/p><\/div>\n

The Motivations<\/h1>\n

With these stories, Dr.\u00a0Liulevicius highlights some of the major motivations that led to the greatest voyages in history:<\/p>\n