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> Atomic bomb Mostly foreign Jewish scientists who were neither taught nor started their research in the USA and came because of the situation in Europe. Even

by brmgb 3y ago

> Atomic bomb Mostly foreign Jewish scientists who were neither taught nor started their research in the USA and came because of the situation in Europe. Even Oppenheimer had to go do his PhD in Germany. > Hollywood Both the camera, the first films and the foundation of filming come from the Lumieres and their company based in France and the films they made around the world. > internet Packet switching is from Batman in the UK. HTML was from a British engineer in Switzerland. Even the rocket you sent to the moon was built by a German.

defrost 3y ago
re Hollywood: The Limelight Department was one of the world's first film studios, beginning in 1898, operated by The Salvation Army in Melbourne, Australia. The Limelight Department produced evangelistic material for use by the Salvation Army, including lantern slides as early as 1891, as well as private and government contracts. In its 19 years of operation, the Limelight Department produced about 300 films of various lengths, making it one of largest film producers of its time. Limelight spawned offshoot production efforts from former employees using end of life Limehouse equipment, eg: the 1906 feature length classic The Story of the Kelly Gang The original cut of this silent film ran for more than an hour with a reel length of about 1,200 metres (4,000 ft), making it the longest narrative film yet seen in the world. The first proper 'Hollywood' feature length was the 1915 KKK film The Birth of a Nation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limelight_Department https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limelight_Department https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_the_Kelly_Gang https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_the_Kelly_Gang https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_a_Nation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_a_Nation
roenxi 3y ago
Doesn't that reinforce the point though? Europe had all these brilliant, well educated people and didn't manage to rise above shooting each other until the civilisation on the continent was more or less reduced to rubble. That isn't a result that makes Europe look clever. The major intellectual innovation out of that era was communism. The US approach outperformed Europe's by such a margin that it isn't worth comparing them.
- zpeti 3y ago
  Wow, can’t believe you’re getting downvoted. This is exactly the point of my original post.
- brmgb 3y ago
  Because you think the US managed to get above shooting each other? Ah, my sweet summer child. Enjoy your mostly empty continent surrounded by oceans and the quirk of history who briefly put you were you are. It’s unlikely to last long.
- eesmith 3y ago
  You don't think capitalism was a major intellectual innovation? That came out of Europe, and well after the steam engine. And, I think you mean "Marxism", not "communism"? Communism in the West predates capitalism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_communism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_communism lists examples like Tommaso Campanella's 1601 work "The City of the Sun" and Morelly's 1755 work "The Code of Nature" as some of the works which predate Smith's 1776 work "The Wealth of Nations".
caleb-allen 3y ago
If film was invented in France, why didn't France become the film hub of the world, then, instead of Los Angeles? If packet switching is from the UK, why didn't the UK build a world wide network instead of DARPA? If HTML was invented by a Brit in Switzerland, why didn't the UK or Switzerland become a hub for the world wide web instead of silicon valley? You say that the rocket sent to the moon was built by a German, as if that's points against the United States. To many Americans that isn't a bad thing. It is a foundational American value to adopt culture, skill, and ambition from abroad.
- atq2119 3y ago
  > If film was invented in France, why didn't France become the film hub of the world, then, instead of Los Angeles? The US wasn't disrupted by WWII nearly as much as France. The US also has a larger domestic monolingual market, so there's more potential for network effects. By the way, this is true even today. The EU is a larger unified market than the US, but linguistic divisions are still a significant barrier.
- tharkun__ 3y ago
  This viewpoint is funny given the full on American individualism thing. "one superhero invented the Atomic bomb. And he was American!" When pointed out that it wasn't one American but many imported people from around the world then suddenly things shift to "well of course, that's because only the US allows lots of individuals from around the world to work together as a team to do great things". Which one is it?
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - xeromal 3y ago
    It's not really incongruous because Americans don't really have an origin besides the original natives. What makes us great is our immigrants. We're all immigrants.
    - 3y ago
vic-traill 3y ago
> ... the rocket you sent to the moon was built by a German Even an oblique reference deserves the Tom Lehrer reference [0] :-) [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjDEsGZLbio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjDEsGZLbio

by brmgb 3y ago

defrost 3y ago

re Hollywood: The Limelight Department was one of the world's first film studios, beginning in 1898, operated by The Salvation Army in Melbourne, Australia. The Limelight Department produced evangelistic material for use by the Salvation Army, including lantern slides as early as 1891, as well as private and government contracts. In its 19 years of operation, the Limelight Department produced about 300 films of various lengths, making it one of largest film producers of its time. Limelight spawned offshoot production efforts from former employees using end of life Limehouse equipment, eg: the 1906 feature length classic The Story of the Kelly Gang The original cut of this silent film ran for more than an hour with a reel length of about 1,200 metres (4,000 ft), making it the longest narrative film yet seen in the world. The first proper 'Hollywood' feature length was the 1915 KKK film The Birth of a Nation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limelight_Department https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limelight_Department https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_the_Kelly_Gang https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_the_Kelly_Gang https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_a_Nation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_a_Nation

roenxi 3y ago

Doesn't that reinforce the point though? Europe had all these brilliant, well educated people and didn't manage to rise above shooting each other until the civilisation on the continent was more or less reduced to rubble. That isn't a result that makes Europe look clever. The major intellectual innovation out of that era was communism. The US approach outperformed Europe's by such a margin that it isn't worth comparing them.

zpeti 3y ago
Wow, can’t believe you’re getting downvoted. This is exactly the point of my original post.
brmgb 3y ago
Because you think the US managed to get above shooting each other? Ah, my sweet summer child. Enjoy your mostly empty continent surrounded by oceans and the quirk of history who briefly put you were you are. It’s unlikely to last long.
eesmith 3y ago
You don't think capitalism was a major intellectual innovation? That came out of Europe, and well after the steam engine. And, I think you mean "Marxism", not "communism"? Communism in the West predates capitalism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_communism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_communism lists examples like Tommaso Campanella's 1601 work "The City of the Sun" and Morelly's 1755 work "The Code of Nature" as some of the works which predate Smith's 1776 work "The Wealth of Nations".

caleb-allen 3y ago

If film was invented in France, why didn't France become the film hub of the world, then, instead of Los Angeles? If packet switching is from the UK, why didn't the UK build a world wide network instead of DARPA? If HTML was invented by a Brit in Switzerland, why didn't the UK or Switzerland become a hub for the world wide web instead of silicon valley? You say that the rocket sent to the moon was built by a German, as if that's points against the United States. To many Americans that isn't a bad thing. It is a foundational American value to adopt culture, skill, and ambition from abroad.

atq2119 3y ago
> If film was invented in France, why didn't France become the film hub of the world, then, instead of Los Angeles? The US wasn't disrupted by WWII nearly as much as France. The US also has a larger domestic monolingual market, so there's more potential for network effects. By the way, this is true even today. The EU is a larger unified market than the US, but linguistic divisions are still a significant barrier.
tharkun__ 3y ago
This viewpoint is funny given the full on American individualism thing. "one superhero invented the Atomic bomb. And he was American!" When pointed out that it wasn't one American but many imported people from around the world then suddenly things shift to "well of course, that's because only the US allows lots of individuals from around the world to work together as a team to do great things". Which one is it?
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- xeromal 3y ago
  It's not really incongruous because Americans don't really have an origin besides the original natives. What makes us great is our immigrants. We're all immigrants.
  - 3y ago

vic-traill 3y ago

> ... the rocket you sent to the moon was built by a German Even an oblique reference deserves the Tom Lehrer reference [0] :-) [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjDEsGZLbio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjDEsGZLbio