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By your approach to methodology, it would be impossible to meaningfully investigate the question of whether the European discovery of the Americas changed the w
by mannykannot 8y ago
By your approach to methodology, it would be impossible to meaningfully investigate the question of whether the European discovery of the Americas changed the world in any way.
- tlb 8y agoYes, because I think that is impossible to meaningfully investigate. You'd have to go through some mental gymnastics to explain how, in the counterfactual situation, it remains undiscovered through the age of jet airplanes and satellites.
- mannykannot 8y agoSo, to be clear, your position is that no argument can be made that anything changed as a consequence of the European discovery of the Americas, because there is no plausible scenario in which Europe never learns of the existence of America? This seems to insist on an an unnecessarily broad counterfactual, if we cannot say, for example, that the cultivation of potatoes in Europe began as a consequence of the European discovery of America.