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  • Showing only topics with the tag "history". Back to normal view
    1. If you could send someone to any historic moment, who and when?

      It's been a while since we had a lighthearted talk on here about something silly, and this question has been bouncing around my head for years now. Figured it'd be fun to ask and see what people...

      It's been a while since we had a lighthearted talk on here about something silly, and this question has been bouncing around my head for years now. Figured it'd be fun to ask and see what people come up with!

      So, you can take one person from any time period and send them to any historic event for a duration of your choice. You can go for serious stuff, like sending a bodyguard to save someone from an assassination, or yourself to some moment in history you're curious about... Or you could send Stephen Hawking to his own time traveler party. Maybe throw some conspiracy theorist at Roswell 1947 or let some ancient king crash Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee.

      The options are literally limitless. I'm just interested to see what everyone comes up with!

      26 votes
    2. History book recommendations

      Hey all, I'm trying to get into reading historical books - I have a broad range of interests and would be open to trying anything. The only thing that bothers me is when the author is very clearly...

      Hey all, I'm trying to get into reading historical books - I have a broad range of interests and would be open to trying anything. The only thing that bothers me is when the author is very clearly pushing an agenda. For example, last year I read Band of Brothers which I really enjoyed, but I felt there was quite a bit of American propaganda mixed in which detracted from the historical aspect.

      I typically read more fantasy/scifi novels:

      Examples of some of my favorite fiction series:

      • Dune
      • Mistborn Trilogy by Sanderson
      • Cradle series by Will Wight
      • progression fantasy in general
      • LOTR
      • Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

      I'm interested in more historical novels because i've listened to a handful of excellent history podcasts and think I would enjoy getting closer to the source, but I've been struggling to pick a book because I'm afraid of choosing one that is too dry.

      Podcasts I enjoyed:

      • History of Rome by Mike Duncan
      • Revolutions by Mike Duncan
      • Hardcore History by Dan carlin

      Please give me some recommendations!

      17 votes
    3. Easy access to stimulants aided scientific progress in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

      https://mastodon.social/@tef/112763581163648202 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Erd%C5%91s#Personality His colleague Alfréd Rényi said, "a mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into...

      https://mastodon.social/@tef/112763581163648202

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Erd%C5%91s#Personality

      His colleague Alfréd Rényi said, "a mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems", and Erdős drank copious quantities

      After his mother's death in 1971 he started taking antidepressants and amphetamines, despite the concern of his friends, one of whom (Ron Graham) bet him $500 that he could not stop taking them for a month. Erdős won the bet, but complained that it impacted his performance: "You've showed me I'm not an addict. But I didn't get any work done. I'd get up in the morning and stare at a blank piece of paper. I'd have no ideas, just like an ordinary person. You've set mathematics back a month."

      https://kolektiva.social/@sidereal/112764385284252961

      They were called the "greatest generation" because they collectively had far easier access to stimulants than anyone before or since


      Random showerthought time:

      The war on drugs, medical skepticism, stigma, and other factors caused stimulants and medications, especially those useful for treating conditions such as ADHD, to become less accessible. This adversely affected the people who needed or would otherwise benefit from these stimulants and medications, and scientific progress and society more widely has suffered because of it.

      35 votes