Archived threads in /his/ - History & Humanities - 344. page
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Why is it that some people form their own ideas through reading but others just rotelearn and regurgitate?
What causes this difference?
>>1188156
Effort and motivation
>>1188156
It's the same kind of difference that drives some into studying theology and others into only following ritual and public expression when it comes to religion I guess.
I think there's a major mental divide that happens in people. Basically there are 2 types of brains, slaves and masters. Slaves look at the world and see its complexity and political intrigue, and reach a point where they just decide "enough is enough", they adopt some form of religion or stance, and just go with it. For example they trust in a religion, in a political party, in a particular newspaper, in a particular leader, in money, or something else, and just decide to stick with that for the rest of their lifes. Instead of considering and thinking about the...
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Presuppose the actual existence of infinite parallel universes.
Let's imagine they are 'generated' at a rate of X per Planck-second per number of extant universes, where X is the number of possible outcomes of any given quantum-level event (or whatever). The point being that they are literally infinite in number and range.
Imagine a machine which allows you to travel between these alternate universes. But not simply one to the other and back again. Imagine a wearable device which, once powered on, simply and seamlessly transports you to the nearest suitable parallel universe where whatever condition you're seeking to satisfy happens to obtain.
By this I mean: You want to fugg Emma Watson. But you can't simply be transported to a universe where you're nailing Emma Watson. There are specific things you have in mind (or don't have in mind) and you must have or avoid them. So the device transports you from new universe to new universe with every action you take, narrowing down the possibilities until the exact moment you turn the device off, at which point you are occupying the only universe in all of existence which satisfies the particular conditions you've created.
Are you morally responsible for your actions while wearing the device? Why or why not?
>>1188154
I've found life is more enjoyable when you don't spend all day contemplating pointless moral quandaries.
People do things they shouldn't regardless of whether or not they'd be responsible for their actions all the time. Here's my recommendation for solving your problem:
>Get a job NEET
>>1188399
The internet: where not caring isn't enough, you have to tell everyone you don't care.
>>1188154
Yes
Has anything good come from German unification or was it one of the greatest mistakes in history?
>>1188119
It all depends. If Haber is still able to develop the Haber–Bosch process, German unification wouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things. If however our dear Fritz for some reason (internal struggles, fragmentation of power, lack of funding, etc) wasn't able to single handedly save humanity from starving, then German unification is the best thing that happened, ever.
>>1188119
Germany needs to be destroyed and returned to their rightful master, France, Poland, Austria and Italy.
>>1188173
>to single handedly save humanity from starving
>implying this was a good thing
Let's list some people who were genuinely good /his/. They didn't have a bad bone in their body.
>no memes
>>1188050
>>1188050
American Revolution thread:
The war head everything. Winter fighting. Guerrilla warfare. Big set piece battles. Sieges. Urban street fighting.
> April 1775, Massachusetts militia pwn British regulars in the first battles. Solid k/d ratio.
> May 10, 1775, Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain boys take Ft. Ticondaroga in upstate New York. Knox drags the artillery all the way to Boston and uses it to force the British to abandon the siege.
> November 1775, General Montgomery...
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Forgot, during the Battle of New York Washington goes into full rage mode screaming "are these the men with which I am to defend America?" and then unleashing an uncharacteristic profanity laced rant that gets the men to reform the lines and retreat in order.
At Monmouth the Patriot lines broke early and he charged ahead like Napoleon before Napoleon existed and got them to rally behind him. He had multiple horses shot out from under him that day.
![Gilbert_du_Motier_Marquis_de_Lafayette[1].png](https://i.imgur.com/aCjg8wJ.jpg "Gilbert_du_Motier_Marquis_de_Lafayette[1].png")
>>1187894
I wonder if less Americans would make white flag "jokes" if they realized it was an army under a white flag that gave them their freedom.
>>1187963
France was based until 1939.
We would have won anyhow though.
Also, despite being bad ass under Napoleon, Toussaint L'Ouverture wrecked his armies.
What the fuck was his problem?
>>1187639
he was a turkroach
>>1187639
other than appearing in scary movie and those snoop dogg MTV shows, his carreer degenerated to midget boxing and gizmo porn.
>>1187639
his face was too ape-like
What can /his/ tell me about the ancient Israelites, from sources OTHER than the Bible?
Also, can anyone recommend any non-biblical books on the subject?
>>1187637
Why don't you just make up whatever you want?
>ancient Israelites
>from sources OTHER than the Bible
lol
Israel Finkelstein: Bible unearthed
You'd find out that Judea was a backwater and Jerusalem was an irrelevant craphole and not a holy city and everything of importance was concentrated in the northern kingdom. The reason we think otherwise is because Judeans got to write the post-Torah books and flat out make shit up.
Why wasn't this movie about the mongols invading china?
Because it's a Disney princess movie, faggot.
Because the mongols won you fucking idiot
>>1187505
Mongols weren't around yet.
What would China be like today if the ROC kept its authority stable during the Civil War through magic and terrific fortune and the Communists were wiped out?
The same shithole, but with a different banner.
>>1187483
>through magic and terrific fortune
The KMT had two opportunities to win: If Chang Kai Shek hadn't been kidnapped and held at gunpoint by his own officers to force him to make peace with the Gommies during the Japanese invasion, and if he hadn't invaded the Gommie held Manchuria after the war, which turned into a disasterus reversal.
As to what it would be like, probably much more like India, tho also probably a fair bit wealtghier than it is now.
>>1187554
>Oh no, a perfectly good Communist division, among the first to wildly submit to my inept unified command.
>I know how I'll make a good example of them to draw more Communist units under the unified command.
>I'll kill them all, except the women, who will be kept as pack mules and rape slaves until they suicide or die of exhaustion.
>I'll be sure their cages are in especially full...
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Up until the 18th century, Europe had normal relations with nonwhite nations. Brown and black people were regularly hired as sailors or soldiers and essentially treated as equals, especially if they became Christian.
But sometime around the mid-18th century, European states began seeing the governments of Asia and the Middle East as just potential subjects to be conquered.
What changed?
bourgeois middle-class mentality prevailed so everything which was not just like them had to be extinguished
>>1187347
The ability to go to such places, fight them, and win.
Europe cant do that shit between the 1500's-1700's (well, provided you aren'y a native american or some tribal people). Remember how the Ottomans alone were giving them a hard time? Now imagine starting shit with Ming/Qing China from, I dunno, one of your SEAsian colonies.
Social Darwinism
At what point in history did the US take the leadership of the world? What led it to this point?
post-wwii to both questions
>>1187209
In terms of Industry, they were the China of the world by the late 19th Century.
Its overwhelming global hegemony started at the end of WWII.
As for "leadership of the world" well that's a loaded term, as the USSR existed.
>>1187209
Look, you people need to realize something. When they say the US is not the world police, what they mean is that the US is the world's police.
And the police do not call the shots. They go where they're told to go.
Find out who tells the US to go and fight, and you have found the real power brokers.
Is stoicism the superior philosophy of life?
I have no strong opinion towards one way or another
>>1186984
When is something a superior philosophy of life? Stoicism is pretty much dead and its members don't breed like rabbits.
>>1186990
kek
what does /his/ think of Winston Churchill?
>>1186744
Fat drunk idiot who sold the empire for a song and doomed Britain to second-class status.
>>1186744
I like his food reports, but a black white photo is a bit too much, even for him.
He looks pretty unlikeable on a personal level but he was able to suppress any defeatism in the British public and get the people 100% behind him. Other than that, I don't think he's a remarkable genius, certainly not "The Greatest Briton".
Is there some kind of correlation between being a republic and producing great art? America over the past century, Florence and Venice during the renaissance, and Rome and Athens during classical antiquity.
>>1186614
Republics are run by the bourgeoisie who get all their power from making mad stacks so they can spend money on commissioning fine art.
>America
>Great Art
>>1186668
America has dominated music, film and television for decades. Whether their art is great or not is of course subjective, but they've been the most artistically influential nation for a few generations now.
Were siege ladders used as per medieval/movie art of them? It's fucking crazy?
I mean, siege towers are great because it dumps shitloads of men on the enemy. But ladders? fuck that. Men in single file with hands preoccupied climbing the rungs are easy targets for the blokes on top. It's a meat grinder.
So how were they used, /his/? Lets keep it around BCs to 1500's and all cultures combined.
>>1186367
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O47wvvEG50
>>1186367
Well for one thing: The besieged will face SHITLOADS of ladders placed upon their walls.
Another, there's covering fire from below. Stand near the ledge and waiting for enemies swarming up ladders is a good way to get your ass slain.
Finally, ladders are utilized in combination of many other siege weapons. Towers are shitting enemy soldiers on your walls, catapults are hurling stones on your asses, and justto make it fun, the enemy soldiers are moving ladders on your ass.
Pic related, there...
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As other anons have pointed out, there are several ladders going up at once. They are fairly fast to climb. The guys on them will be veterans in heavy armor. On the ground will be guys with heavy crossbows ready to play whack a mole with anyone who sticks his head up and archers providing covering fire. And the thing is, even if you do knock one guy of the ladder there's one right behind him and they only need to get one guy over the top to keep a few defenders busy. In the next few seconds there will be another guy there, and another one and so on.
