4 ms·
>being able to communicate near-instantly across large distances was possibly the single biggest limiting factor for the size of empires in agrarian societies
by readyman 3y ago
>being able to communicate near-instantly across large distances was possibly the single biggest limiting factor for the size of empires in agrarian societies
Seemingly, yes, but this hasn't been proven quite yet. The American empire appears to be losing dominance since the proliferation of the internet, for example. However, the American empire certainly gained tremendous power from broadcasted electronic mediums.
- cal85 3y agoThis would only be relevant if the American empire were losing dominance to rivals that didn’t also have computing and networking etc.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- londons_explore 3y agoI would argue that convincingly unfaked communication is more important than fast communication. America gained cultural power over the world by making most of the worlds films. But if those films took a year to arrive in Turkmenistan, it wouldn't diminish the power of that culture over the people. However, if rather than a film arriving, it was a guy on horseback who had heard legend of someone who had once seen an American film, then it would probably have little impact.