Ancient Civilisation: In the beginning of the world, humans did not really know much about it — our primary job was survival and managing to fend for ourselves. Our earliest attempts to understand the world around us, as recorded from the Stone Age, were not philosophy but superstition, fairy tales, and religion. People spun theories of how the world worked — rain, fire, wind, the sun — through ritual and myth rather than reason.

The first group of people to arrive at philosophical answers — answers arrived at through reason, observation, and accessible to anyone through an empirical approach — broke away from this. No longer did one have to rely on a medium to request for “rain” to occur. This philosophical approach, through rigorous logical application, is thought to have originated in ancient India, China, and Greece. These became the bricks for modern-day secular thought.

But why the Greeks specifically? The Chinese, Babylonians, and Egyptians were much more advanced at that stage — with more powerful states, more extensive societies, more practical technologies, and advanced mathematics. They knew how to build and organise societies with construction, bureaucracy, and order. The difference was this: the theological sophistications of the Greek myths and religions were laughable for many. The behaviour of the gods on Olympus was infantile, erratic, and transparently human. One did not need much effort to dismiss their rational plausibility. Because of this, Greek religion never truly became a tool for conquest and control the way it did in other societies. Instead, "questioning" tendencies grew. Religion did not cage inquiry — it left space for both philosophy and theology to flourish. And so the Greeks exponentially grew their intellectual capabilities by asking tough questions and solving them rationally — their thoughts essentially “soared free in the real world.”

As a result of this open and free society, Greek culture grew at a miraculous pace. It is no wonder, then, that the Greeks created democracy. The word “democracy” comes from two Greek words: demos (people) and kratos (rule). Most Citizens (Except — Women, Children and Slaves) had to actively serve in the government for one year, responsible for debating and making laws. Every new law was brought before the assembly, and every citizen had the right to vote — but only if he showed up.

How They Greece Fell from Grace

But this system did not last forever. After the invasion of oligarchic Sparta, Athens’ democracy began to hollow from within. Demagogues rose, flattering the masses while twisting politics based on identity, warmongering and hatred. The ideals of collective wisdom gave way to moral manipulation and tribalism. Democracy survived in name, but the representation of civic responsibility and trust that had once fueled it were fraying fast.

Eventually, the autocratic Philip II of Macedon crushed the combined Greek armies at Chaeronea in 338 BCE. With that defeat, Athens’ independence ended. The assembly still met, but decision-making shifted — first to Philip, then to his son, Alexander the Great.

And like the other great civilizations — India, China, Egypt — Athens too fell from grace. By the 4th century CE, the empire had shifted its foundations. Constantine legalized Christianity; Theodosius crowned it the empire’s official faith. In Athens, this was not just a change of gods, but a change of discourse. Pagan rituals were suppressed, not debated. The Parthenon, once a temple of civic devotion, became a church — a symbol of how collective skepticism gave way to collective obedience.

When Justinian shut the Neoplatonist schools in 529 CE, it was more than the silencing of philosophers; it was surrender of the city’s soul. Knowledge, once pursued in the open, was now subordinated to religious theology. Athens, the city of Athena, became the "city of bishops".

A culture built on debate and self-rule slowly learned to accept a moral code that promised order, unity, and divine truth. For aristocrats schooled in Plato and Aristotle, knowledge remained a pursuit. But for the ordinary citizen, whose voice once carried weight in the assembly, life became framed not by argument but by obedience.

Where Socrates had once asked, “What is justice?” the pulpit had declared, “Justice is God’s law.” Athens, the city of questioning, became a city of "divine" answers — answers not to be challenged, only to be believed.

What Singaporeans Can Learn

Democracy is not something to take for granted. It is something freedom fighters bled for, wars were fought over, families lost people to. Democracy, a citizen's right, has historically been treated as a privilege — and now that we have it, we cannot get complacent about its role in society.

It is democracy that ensures the people are represented, peacefully and without bloodshed. But it only works if the people themselves remain open to rational inquiry — not divided by metaphysical beliefs, not by creed, religion, race, or tribe.

Democracy has always been for the people, by the people. But it only survives if the people look out for one another. Otherwise it collapses, not with a dramatic coup, but with the slow plague of power plays and complacency.

Note: The information shared in this article is not meant to flare or hurt the sentiments of readers. Its purpose is to encourage inquiry, rationalism, and civic questioning — the very habits of mind that sustain a thriving democracy.