Cyclic history

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Cyclic history is a theory which dictates that the major forces that motivate human actions return in a cycle.

Among these forces are religion/spirituality, politics, science, philosophy, curiosity, and creativity.

Religion recurs whenever a new sect reaches a large population. Christianity peaked three times: around the second century AD, when the core of believers gained political power; in the Middle Ages, when the Church controlled almost all knowledge in Europe; during the reformation, where the religion spilt and the many branches modernized themselves.

The theory of cyclic history was considered in A.E. Van Vogt's 1950 science-fiction novel, The Voyage of the Space Beagle.

[edit] Recursion of historical cycles

For more articles about the concept of recursion of historical cycles see:

The ricorso of Giambattista Vico.

The Decline of the West by Oswald Spengler.