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This is the sort of craziness that led to the Dark Ages after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. We humans are pretty much our own worst enemies.

goldenchrome 6y ago
Of course we’re our own worst enemies. At least now that our technology allows us to overcome all our non-human enemies.
- ARandomerDude 6y ago
  > technology allows us to overcome all our non-human enemies Like hurricanes and COVID.
boomboomsubban 6y ago
I can't see the parallel between the willful ignorance displayed and the "Dark Ages." Do you think the migrating tribes just refused to believe those aqueducts existed?
- coliveira 6y ago
  The rise of the Church made most of the ancient culture to be believed false of demonic. Philosophers were the first put to the fire. Temples were destroyed, along with the books inside them. With the end of the Roman state, there was nobody left in Europe to maintain the engineering knowledge acquired by the ancient.
  - steamedhams 6y ago
    That doesn’t really sound like a good summary of centuries of Roman and post-Roman history. History is complicated, but I would say that the Western European dark ages of 500-1000AD were caused neither by moon landing skepticism (or the 6th century equivalent thereof) nor its opposite.
  - boomboomsubban 6y ago
    While there was some persecution of the pagans, they mostly just gradually became Christian. The West lost it's Greek tradition, and with it much of the millennia of knowledge it contained.
- hodgesrm 6y ago
  I'm thinking of things like the destruction of the library of Alexander, the religious fanaticism of the late Empire, and the destructive effects of continuous wars from the mid-200s AD. It's pretty easy to wipe out scientific progress if you put your mind to it. It was not just invading Germans, though that certainly did not help.
  - boomboomsubban 6y ago
    The first two really didn't happen, and though the Crisis of the Third Century hampered Rome, it wouldn't wipe out knowledge. Plus, who wanted to wipe out progress? The West lost their connection to Greek, and the knowledge was largely Greek.
    - hodgesrm 6y ago
      I would look up the Arian Controversy before asserting there was no religious fanaticism. There were many such disputes in the late empire, some attended by considerable bloodshed.
      - boomboomsubban 6y ago
        Early Christianity had some splits, but they primarily happened in the Eastern Mediterranean. Some Germanics were still Arian, they were usually tolerant though. Religious fanatics were around, but there wasn't a strong wave of fanaticism in that period. Losing access to Greek did far more damage than losing Arian theology.
sm4rk0 6y ago
I get your point, but actually this (volcanic eruption) led to the Dark Ages: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23565762 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23565762 (another HN front page story)
- hodgesrm 6y ago
  No single event led to the Dark Ages. It was the result of centuries of economic and intellectual decay, combined with catastrophic invasions and wars. By 536 the Western Roman Empire was already some 60 years in its grave. (Though some argue about the actual end date.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romulus_Augustulus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romulus_Augustulus
  - api 6y ago
    If the Roman Empire had collapsed without the volcanic eruption, would it have led to anything as deep as the "dark ages" or just a political reshuffle? France has been through like four governments in the past 200 years. The US is only 200 years old and has endured one civil war.
    - hodgesrm 6y ago
      You never know with history because it's not possible to conduct experiments. However, I'm very sceptical of arguments about the lasting effect of volcanic eruptions on world history during the last 2000 years. Known eruptions last 2-3 years, which is bad but of limited duration. [1] Pandemics and disease in general have had far greater impact on humans. The Bubonic Plague epidemic of 1348-1350 wiped out at least 1/3 of the population of Europe according to reputable sources. [2] It affected medieval societies for decades by changing the cost and availability of labor. Destructive wars like the 30 Years War had effects of similar magnitude. (This relevant for the Roman Empire, which suffered continuous invasions starting from 406AD onwards in the West.) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death
finolex1 6y ago
I would think that the craziness that led to the Dark ages would be the polar opposite - an unquestioning acceptance of all dogma, or at the very least, being scared to question

goldenchrome 6y ago

Of course we’re our own worst enemies. At least now that our technology allows us to overcome all our non-human enemies.

ARandomerDude 6y ago
> technology allows us to overcome all our non-human enemies Like hurricanes and COVID.

boomboomsubban 6y ago

I can't see the parallel between the willful ignorance displayed and the "Dark Ages." Do you think the migrating tribes just refused to believe those aqueducts existed?

coliveira 6y ago
The rise of the Church made most of the ancient culture to be believed false of demonic. Philosophers were the first put to the fire. Temples were destroyed, along with the books inside them. With the end of the Roman state, there was nobody left in Europe to maintain the engineering knowledge acquired by the ancient.
- steamedhams 6y ago
  That doesn’t really sound like a good summary of centuries of Roman and post-Roman history. History is complicated, but I would say that the Western European dark ages of 500-1000AD were caused neither by moon landing skepticism (or the 6th century equivalent thereof) nor its opposite.
- boomboomsubban 6y ago
  While there was some persecution of the pagans, they mostly just gradually became Christian. The West lost it's Greek tradition, and with it much of the millennia of knowledge it contained.
hodgesrm 6y ago
I'm thinking of things like the destruction of the library of Alexander, the religious fanaticism of the late Empire, and the destructive effects of continuous wars from the mid-200s AD. It's pretty easy to wipe out scientific progress if you put your mind to it. It was not just invading Germans, though that certainly did not help.
- boomboomsubban 6y ago
  The first two really didn't happen, and though the Crisis of the Third Century hampered Rome, it wouldn't wipe out knowledge. Plus, who wanted to wipe out progress? The West lost their connection to Greek, and the knowledge was largely Greek.
  - hodgesrm 6y ago
    I would look up the Arian Controversy before asserting there was no religious fanaticism. There were many such disputes in the late empire, some attended by considerable bloodshed.
    - boomboomsubban 6y ago
      Early Christianity had some splits, but they primarily happened in the Eastern Mediterranean. Some Germanics were still Arian, they were usually tolerant though. Religious fanatics were around, but there wasn't a strong wave of fanaticism in that period. Losing access to Greek did far more damage than losing Arian theology.

sm4rk0 6y ago

I get your point, but actually this (volcanic eruption) led to the Dark Ages: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23565762 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23565762 (another HN front page story)

hodgesrm 6y ago
No single event led to the Dark Ages. It was the result of centuries of economic and intellectual decay, combined with catastrophic invasions and wars. By 536 the Western Roman Empire was already some 60 years in its grave. (Though some argue about the actual end date.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romulus_Augustulus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romulus_Augustulus
- api 6y ago
  If the Roman Empire had collapsed without the volcanic eruption, would it have led to anything as deep as the "dark ages" or just a political reshuffle? France has been through like four governments in the past 200 years. The US is only 200 years old and has endured one civil war.
  - hodgesrm 6y ago
    You never know with history because it's not possible to conduct experiments. However, I'm very sceptical of arguments about the lasting effect of volcanic eruptions on world history during the last 2000 years. Known eruptions last 2-3 years, which is bad but of limited duration. [1] Pandemics and disease in general have had far greater impact on humans. The Bubonic Plague epidemic of 1348-1350 wiped out at least 1/3 of the population of Europe according to reputable sources. [2] It affected medieval societies for decades by changing the cost and availability of labor. Destructive wars like the 30 Years War had effects of similar magnitude. (This relevant for the Roman Empire, which suffered continuous invasions starting from 406AD onwards in the West.) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death

finolex1 6y ago

I would think that the craziness that led to the Dark ages would be the polar opposite - an unquestioning acceptance of all dogma, or at the very least, being scared to question