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So I appreciate what you're saying but the "people are people" argument... has limits. One of the most interesting things I find about ancient history is just

by cletus 6y ago

So I appreciate what you're saying but the "people are people" argument... has limits. One of the most interesting things I find about ancient history is just how _alien_ the culture must've been. The problem with a lot of historical texts is no one thinks to write down what to them is mundane or ordinary and it doesn't take long until the mundane becomes almost incomprehensible. Thing is, you don't need to go back thousands of years to see this. Even 100 years ago you find totally different attitudes (eg the willingness to be conscripted and to volunteer to go to war). Go back a little further and you find the culture shock to Victorian England with Pacific cultures. My point is it can be a bit of a trap to take too much for granted in terms of a human baseline.

nexthash 6y ago
Willingness to be conscripted? Different styles of dress? Different approaches to life? Sure it would be a culture shock and strange, but the culture as a whole would not be alien. If we had a day just to shadow/hang around in the company of these people (you can still travel to areas where people practice indigenous lifestyles, for example) we would find them to be not much different than us. Despite their strange practices, this is what is normal to them, and they aren't any less human whether in the form of perfection or fallibility. They worry about the future, love their families, have wants and ambitions, get angry sometimes, and have their biases. We would find them to be comically relatable to your life, just in a different form.
- andykx 6y ago
  Sure, but I think that’s the point being made here. They are humans, but they are different in very appreciable ways. Though we would ultimately share many similarities, as all of humanity has throughout history, there would undoubtedly be major cultural differences.
imbnwa 6y ago
Ancient Sparta is exemplary on this point

by cletus 6y ago

nexthash 6y ago

Willingness to be conscripted? Different styles of dress? Different approaches to life? Sure it would be a culture shock and strange, but the culture as a whole would not be alien. If we had a day just to shadow/hang around in the company of these people (you can still travel to areas where people practice indigenous lifestyles, for example) we would find them to be not much different than us. Despite their strange practices, this is what is normal to them, and they aren't any less human whether in the form of perfection or fallibility. They worry about the future, love their families, have wants and ambitions, get angry sometimes, and have their biases. We would find them to be comically relatable to your life, just in a different form.

andykx 6y ago
Sure, but I think that’s the point being made here. They are humans, but they are different in very appreciable ways. Though we would ultimately share many similarities, as all of humanity has throughout history, there would undoubtedly be major cultural differences.

imbnwa 6y ago

Ancient Sparta is exemplary on this point