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Interesting literacy regression: this newly discovered Babylonian hymn was routinely copied by schoolchildren 3,000 years ago, while yesterday's article about w
by yayitswei 1y ago
Interesting literacy regression: this newly discovered Babylonian hymn was routinely copied by schoolchildren 3,000 years ago, while yesterday's article about why English doesn't use accents showed that by 1100 AD European literacy had contracted so much that monks were essentially writing only for other monks.
If I'm interpreting this correctly, ancient Babylon had institutionalized childhood education for complex literary works. Medieval Europe treated literacy as a specialized craft. So much for exponential growth.
- johnnyApplePRNG 1y agoYou're skipping a lot of context here. Ancient Babylonian scribal schools were for a small elite—hardly universal childhood education. Medieval Europe's "regression" had a bit to do with the collapse of the Roman state, plagues, and centuries of instability, not just a lack of ambition. Comparing literacy rates across millennia without mentioning population size, language complexity, or what “schoolchildren” even means is a stretch. History isn't exponential—it's bumpy.
- burnt-resistor 1y ago"Progress" and "enlightenment" are neither uniform, linear, upwards, or continuous. All it takes is one absurdly corrupt regime to burn down the "Library of Alexandria", and with it, thousands of years of history and accomplishment.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- FridayoLeary 1y agoIt's known as the Dark Ages for a reason. Society regressed in most ways. Maybe because of the collapse of the Roman Empire? Europe only started finding their feet during the Reneissance.
- defrost 1y agoWhy are the European "Dark Ages" considered a misnomer? https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/235w3l/why_are_the_european_dark_ages_considered_a/ https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/235w3l/why_a...
- relevant_stats 1y agoI wouldn't pay too much attention to answers from this respectable subreddit when they express more what is a historiographic opinion than a fact. And when at the same time they are fighting strawmen. The European Dark Ages narrative was indeed overblown and needed correction. But this correction went too far. It seems to be now at the stage of explicit and vigorous denial of any downfall of fortune in the Western ex-Roman provinces. I'd posit that such a denial is even more overblown than the initial myth it aimed to correct. I can offer you a link to an author arguing for this position: https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/10/15/were-there-dark-ages/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/10/15/were-there-dark-ages/
- defrost 1y agoI understand the point and personally regard "the dark ages" (500 - 1,000 CE) as a period lacking in scrolls, commentary, and stonework compared to the Roman Empire .. but largely life as it was for those that were never an integral part of the Roman Empire workings .. eg: those that delivered food to the Romans in the UK never wrote or built much in stone themselves and once the empire faded in half to the east they carried on without record. Regardless, your link is an interesting argument that doesn't provide anything especially compelling to the contrary .. a void, here a void in the record, is easily filled with speculation.
- alecco 1y agoBeware Hollywood and English literature propaganda: Catholics were morons; pirates are cool; French and Spaniards are dumb, evil, and cowards.
- FridayoLeary 1y agoYes, pirates were not cool. The rest of the list though...
- alecco 1y ago> The rest of the list though... Please read some unbiased history books. Catholics: Copernicus, Mendel, Pascal, Ampere, Fermat, ... And The Renaissance is always skipped by them for some reason. Figures like Napoleon or The Catholic Monarchs were cowards and stupid? But I think I'm wasting my time answering you. You seem quite closed minded, blue team, read team.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- FridayoLeary 1y agoI was being facetious. But the crusades and the inquisition are actually really dark stains on the history of spain and the church. As for the French i meant it in jest, but really their abysmal military record speaks for itself. Also the actions of Vichy France shouldn't be glossed over, even though the overwhelming majority of France were against the Nazis and the Free French fought with distinction and bravery. As to your last point, i view myself largely as an unaffected observer, who likes to poke holes in certain liberal narratives.