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I think the point of the article was to show how much more lethal the average human has become over the years. The initial question, was clickbait. >> Rather t

I think the point of the article was to show how much more lethal the average human has become over the years. The initial question, was clickbait. >> Rather than being technically superior weapons, firearms took the skills and muscular effort out of killing someone from a distance. The main reason most European armies switched from bows to crossbows and then firearms was the short learning curves of these weapons. Crossbowmen and musketeers required little or no training, while it took many years of practice to build an archer skillful and strong enough to be of use in warfare. The crossbow and the firearm thus expanded the number of people in a given population that could become soldiers. That was great news for those in power because they could now build large armies quickly.

User23 3y ago
> the point of the article was to show how much more lethal the average human has become over the years. The initial question, was clickbait That’s unfortunate then, since that point is verifiably false. Historically speaking people do considerably less killing today than they did in the past, despite having inferior weapons[1]. There is in fact a solid argument that readily available superior weaponry has a net zero effect on violence. For example controlling for demographics the USA’s murder rate is roughly on par with the Western European countries. And indeed, rural home invasions are virtually unheard of in the USA while they do occur in Europe. [1] https://www.vrc.crim.cam.ac.uk/vrcresearch/london-medieval-murder-map/historical-background https://www.vrc.crim.cam.ac.uk/vrcresearch/london-medieval-m...
- red-iron-pine 3y ago
  > For example controlling for demographics bro just come out and say it
  - User23 3y ago
    I did. Is there something you wish to add?
- adamredwoods 3y ago
  >> That’s unfortunate then, since that point is verifiably false. You're thinking rate of violence day-to-day. I feel the author was thinking of how humans have increased their potential lethality, by analyzing the range, rate of fire, supply, required skill, accuracy of humans and their relationship with weaponry. >> And indeed, rural home invasions are virtually unheard of in the USA Wow, I need to live where you live! Home invasions are quite common in metro areas in the USA (edit: I see you said "rural" now). As a note the US has vast rural areas that see very little crime, so nationally speaking the US statistics versus Europe is horribly skewed. True comparison would be by cities, but every country and city reports crime differently! Data for burglaries: Europe: https://www.eupedia.com/europe/crime_maps_of_europe.shtml#burglaries https://www.eupedia.com/europe/crime_maps_of_europe.shtml#bu... USA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_crime_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_b...

User23 3y ago

> the point of the article was to show how much more lethal the average human has become over the years. The initial question, was clickbait That’s unfortunate then, since that point is verifiably false. Historically speaking people do considerably less killing today than they did in the past, despite having inferior weapons[1]. There is in fact a solid argument that readily available superior weaponry has a net zero effect on violence. For example controlling for demographics the USA’s murder rate is roughly on par with the Western European countries. And indeed, rural home invasions are virtually unheard of in the USA while they do occur in Europe. [1] https://www.vrc.crim.cam.ac.uk/vrcresearch/london-medieval-murder-map/historical-background https://www.vrc.crim.cam.ac.uk/vrcresearch/london-medieval-m...

red-iron-pine 3y ago
> For example controlling for demographics bro just come out and say it
- User23 3y ago
  I did. Is there something you wish to add?
adamredwoods 3y ago
>> That’s unfortunate then, since that point is verifiably false. You're thinking rate of violence day-to-day. I feel the author was thinking of how humans have increased their potential lethality, by analyzing the range, rate of fire, supply, required skill, accuracy of humans and their relationship with weaponry. >> And indeed, rural home invasions are virtually unheard of in the USA Wow, I need to live where you live! Home invasions are quite common in metro areas in the USA (edit: I see you said "rural" now). As a note the US has vast rural areas that see very little crime, so nationally speaking the US statistics versus Europe is horribly skewed. True comparison would be by cities, but every country and city reports crime differently! Data for burglaries: Europe: https://www.eupedia.com/europe/crime_maps_of_europe.shtml#burglaries https://www.eupedia.com/europe/crime_maps_of_europe.shtml#bu... USA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_crime_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_b...