People today, just like people a thousand years ago, are testing the latest ways to figure out how to do the right thing. Some Hindus were considering the latest text of the Bhagavata Purana, which hinted at an essential unifying nature of the universe. Western religious philosophers considered how to prove the existence of God using what they knew about the natural world. They worried about how much of their lives were set by unchangeable divine destiny. A millennium later, philosophers and moralists still have a full plate.
Human nature is still human nature.
At the close of the 10th century, even the greatest lord's immediate influence was limited to a few days' ride. A half-century ago, the atomic bomb ushered in an age when one nation could instantly alter conditions for the entire world. Today, even individuals can wield power beyond the dreams of medieval kings. An average schmo with a modem can deliver ruination or enlightenment across the globe. By the turn of the 11th century, Europeans were figuring out that the ruinous annual Viking invasions had tapered off, said Mark Silk, an expert on medieval history and director of the Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life at Trinity College in Connecticut.