5 ms·

>When it was more difficult to access and publish information, that imposed a much higher bar on what was being consumed. And yet fringe theories, from quack m

by trasz 4y ago

>When it was more difficult to access and publish information, that imposed a much higher bar on what was being consumed. And yet fringe theories, from quack medicine to religions, weren’t any less widespread than now. They were just fewer of them. EDIT: Now I think about it, they were more prevalent than now. Look at homophobia - it got global, affected everyone, even non-Christian cultures like China, for centuries.

tgv 4y ago
> religion ... homophobia Do you really consider that knowledge? > homophobia - it got global, affected everyone, even non-Christian cultures like China Do you think that aversion of homosexuality starts and ends with Christianity?
- trasz 4y ago
  Homophobia generally spread throughout the world with Christianity, carried by colonialism. Again, China is a good example. And fixing homophobia in western societies strongly corresponds to decreasing importance of religion. It’s not limited to homophobia of course - pretty much every single Catholic claim about human sexuality is antiscientific bull - but I think homophobia is a good enough example of a harmful, false belief that got more popular than anything post-internet.
  - tgv 4y ago
    For one thing, you may be underselling the homophobia in Islam a bit. And there's Tacitus, who says that the Germans punished homosexuals. That's a bit before the Christians, and it comes from someone from a culture not opposed to the practice. Second, I find it hard to believe that the Chinese were turned homophobic, and remained so, by a few Christians despite millenia of tolerance, when the vast majority of the country isn't even Christian. It smells like bad historicism.
    - rightbyte 4y ago
      I guess his take on germanic tribes might have been accurate. The first recorded "law" in the Nordics is monetarily punnishment for accusing someone of being homosexual. (Quoted from distant memory, don't take my word for it).

by trasz 4y ago

tgv 4y ago

> religion ... homophobia Do you really consider that knowledge? > homophobia - it got global, affected everyone, even non-Christian cultures like China Do you think that aversion of homosexuality starts and ends with Christianity?

trasz 4y ago
Homophobia generally spread throughout the world with Christianity, carried by colonialism. Again, China is a good example. And fixing homophobia in western societies strongly corresponds to decreasing importance of religion. It’s not limited to homophobia of course - pretty much every single Catholic claim about human sexuality is antiscientific bull - but I think homophobia is a good enough example of a harmful, false belief that got more popular than anything post-internet.
- tgv 4y ago
  For one thing, you may be underselling the homophobia in Islam a bit. And there's Tacitus, who says that the Germans punished homosexuals. That's a bit before the Christians, and it comes from someone from a culture not opposed to the practice. Second, I find it hard to believe that the Chinese were turned homophobic, and remained so, by a few Christians despite millenia of tolerance, when the vast majority of the country isn't even Christian. It smells like bad historicism.
  - rightbyte 4y ago
    I guess his take on germanic tribes might have been accurate. The first recorded "law" in the Nordics is monetarily punnishment for accusing someone of being homosexual. (Quoted from distant memory, don't take my word for it).