Ponderings of science, philosophy, history, society, and many other topics
People often worry that our civilization may be in decline, or even about to fall. And there's something to be said for not being complacent about this. Historically, every civilization eventually fails. Entropy always wins in the end. So it isn't a matter of if but when. Whether it happens tomorrow or in 500 years, … Continue reading Factors in the fall of civilizations
I rarely post about contemporary events, particularly ones involving any kind of armed conflict. Too often we don't have a clear view of what's happening, and what we do know comes through the fog of war. Which I definitely think is the case in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It's often years, sometimes decades, before we … Continue reading Some history possibly related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Given recent events here in the US, there have been a lot of statements made about our political future, often with implicit or explicit comparisons to one of the most famous societies in antiquity: the Roman Republic. Often the narrative is, once a democratic norm has been shattered, it puts us on an irreversible course … Continue reading The decline of the Roman Republic
This is the final post in a series about or inspired by Yuval Noah Harari's book, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. This final post is a brief summary of the overall book and some final comments. Harari's subject matter, as the title suggests, is the history of the Homo sapiens species. He breaks that … Continue reading Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Aeon this weekend highlighted a 2017 article by Joel Mokyr looking at how Europe became the richest part of the world (or at least one of the richest). Historically, there have been many theories, ranging from racist rationals, cultural ones, to it merely being Europe and the overall west's turn to be on top. That … Continue reading The rise of the west and the changing sociopolitical landscape
For most of human history, the Earth was seen as the stationary center of the universe, with the sun, planets, and starry firmament circling around it at various speeds. The ancient Greeks quickly managed to work out that the Earth was spherical but struggled to explain the motions of the heavens. Eventually Eudoxus, a student … Continue reading A theory more pleasing to the mind
I've been thinking lately about the history of science, particularly the period between 1500 and 1700, what is usually referred to as "the scientific revolution." I'm a bit leery of many accounts of this period, as they often assume that there's some bright line separating science from what came before. There's a tendency to look … Continue reading The discovery of discovery
According to tradition, in the early days of ancient Rome, King Numa Pompilius established a religious institution: the Vestal Virgins. The Vestal Virgins were chaste priestesses of Vesta, the goddess of home and hearth. Their duty was to maintain the sacred flame in the temple of Vesta. The Romans believed that as long as the … Continue reading The soul of the Roman Empire
When thinking about human history, it's tempting to see some developments as inevitable. Some certainly were, but the sheer amount of time before some of them took place seem to make them remarkable. The human species, narrowly defined as Homo sapiens, is about 200,000 years old. Some argue that it's older, around 300,000 years, others … Continue reading Breakthroughs in imagination
My memory of what I learned in early grade school about the history of American voting rights went something like this. Prior to 1776, we were ruled by the king of Great Britain. He was a tyrant who oppressed us with taxation without representation, so we rebelled and set up a democracy. (UK readers, I see … Continue reading America’s long path to universal voting rights
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