One thing I would probably notice (which I know I would notice because I notice it now) is how awfully convenient it was for many things in history to play out as they did. How odd is it, for example, that every nuke and world-ending event that was about to be deployed was cancelled at the last moment, or how the most important historical figures always die as their own hands, or how 99.9% of all public figures, “philosophers”, inventors, important rulers, generals, diplomats, and so on were all men?
For many things, missing one thing would have meant it coming up elsewhere.
Consider how some discoveries were made by different people independently.
Some were not recognized or became public knowledge. You may very well find that what happened was not how convenient they were but that it was pure chance, and could have been more convenient in more instances.
How? Like with the last one, recorded history goes back six thousand years if not twelve thousand years… and this explanation lasted that long, applying to every human setting, for tens of thousands of significant people? Even if there was a dimorphic cause for it, statistically you’d think at least one female founder of some group somewhere would arise, but being the history disciple I am, even then it’s like there is some kind of everpresent force that’s stuck on man-mode that maybe I wonder about because I’m not a man.
There are also some which I know could have a reasonable explanation but which would be no less suspicious. Like the threat of nuclear conflict for example. Hundreds of times people have said “someone almost launched a nuke at someone, but one random guy in the submarine made a difference by not following through” or “this nuke or that nuke was dropped from a crashed plane but miraculously held onto its last remaining safety code and didn’t work” or “this nuke that actually was dropped and blew up just so happened to do so far enough away from civilization that nobody saw it”. If it’s not our biggest stroke of luck, it’s the ultimate form of “I’m really, really going to do it”, though I wouldn’t count on that as someone whose parents and grandparents were impacted by the nuclear tests of Chirac and Mitterand.
You ever notice how few slaves throughout history were inventors? It’s similar: when your ideas are considered someone else’s intellectual property, you don’t get credit in history books. When you’re not allowed an education, it’s nearly impossible to take part in the philosophical zeitgeist. When your most productive years are spent in a continuous cycle of pregnancy, childbirth, and recovery, your creative potential is diminished.
You’d think, in the two hundred or so nations that have existed, one of them would’ve done things differently at some point. Though it makes this eyebrow-raising in a whole other way. Note to self, don’t marry.
There are examples of women’s contributions to science, philosophy, government, and arts throughout history (Hypatia, Boudicca, Cleopatra, Hildegard von Bingen, Iaia, Queen of Sheba Makeda, Wu Zeitan, Queen Victoria, etc.). Most of those women were either religiously celibate or widowed young, which allowed them to “respectably” act as individuals. Had they been married to men who lived longer, I think we probably wouldn’t know their stories. My suspicion is that (the mostly male) historians simply overlooked women at best, and actively suppressed their roles in history or attributed their work to their husbands at worst.
The major world religions have played a huge role in our understanding of the world, given that most scholars whose work we still have access to were in some way affiliated with Christianity, Buddhism, Confucianism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Platonism or Zoroastrianism. Every single one of those religions was, at least at one point, dominated by a patriarchal cultural mindset (though interestingly, most of them started out relatively egalitarian).
Note to self, don’t marry.
I mean, you’re not wrong, but that carries a different risk. (sorry about the source, but it’s relatively comprehensive)
One thing I would probably notice (which I know I would notice because I notice it now) is how awfully convenient it was for many things in history to play out as they did. How odd is it, for example, that every nuke and world-ending event that was about to be deployed was cancelled at the last moment, or how the most important historical figures always die as their own hands, or how 99.9% of all public figures, “philosophers”, inventors, important rulers, generals, diplomats, and so on were all men?
Men got the credit for them, no matter who actually did the work.
It’s not convenient, it’s survivor bias.
For many things, missing one thing would have meant it coming up elsewhere.
Consider how some discoveries were made by different people independently.
Some were not recognized or became public knowledge. You may very well find that what happened was not how convenient they were but that it was pure chance, and could have been more convenient in more instances.
Brother. None of those things were convenient. They all have perfectly reasonable explanations.
How? Like with the last one, recorded history goes back six thousand years if not twelve thousand years… and this explanation lasted that long, applying to every human setting, for tens of thousands of significant people? Even if there was a dimorphic cause for it, statistically you’d think at least one female founder of some group somewhere would arise, but being the history disciple I am, even then it’s like there is some kind of everpresent force that’s stuck on man-mode that maybe I wonder about because I’m not a man.
There are also some which I know could have a reasonable explanation but which would be no less suspicious. Like the threat of nuclear conflict for example. Hundreds of times people have said “someone almost launched a nuke at someone, but one random guy in the submarine made a difference by not following through” or “this nuke or that nuke was dropped from a crashed plane but miraculously held onto its last remaining safety code and didn’t work” or “this nuke that actually was dropped and blew up just so happened to do so far enough away from civilization that nobody saw it”. If it’s not our biggest stroke of luck, it’s the ultimate form of “I’m really, really going to do it”, though I wouldn’t count on that as someone whose parents and grandparents were impacted by the nuclear tests of Chirac and Mitterand.
You ever notice how few slaves throughout history were inventors? It’s similar: when your ideas are considered someone else’s intellectual property, you don’t get credit in history books. When you’re not allowed an education, it’s nearly impossible to take part in the philosophical zeitgeist. When your most productive years are spent in a continuous cycle of pregnancy, childbirth, and recovery, your creative potential is diminished.
You’d think, in the two hundred or so nations that have existed, one of them would’ve done things differently at some point. Though it makes this eyebrow-raising in a whole other way.
Note to self, don’t marry.There are examples of women’s contributions to science, philosophy, government, and arts throughout history (Hypatia, Boudicca, Cleopatra, Hildegard von Bingen, Iaia, Queen of Sheba Makeda, Wu Zeitan, Queen Victoria, etc.). Most of those women were either religiously celibate or widowed young, which allowed them to “respectably” act as individuals. Had they been married to men who lived longer, I think we probably wouldn’t know their stories. My suspicion is that (the mostly male) historians simply overlooked women at best, and actively suppressed their roles in history or attributed their work to their husbands at worst.
The major world religions have played a huge role in our understanding of the world, given that most scholars whose work we still have access to were in some way affiliated with Christianity, Buddhism, Confucianism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Platonism or Zoroastrianism. Every single one of those religions was, at least at one point, dominated by a patriarchal cultural mindset (though interestingly, most of them started out relatively egalitarian).
I mean, you’re not wrong, but that carries a different risk. (sorry about the source, but it’s relatively comprehensive)
“History disciple” 🤣 Friend, you’re too much.
What’s wrong with that?