4 ms·

Here's the thing. History flatters who's in charge. In the age of emperors, kings, and noblemen, history was all about them. In the age of universal suffrage, h

Here's the thing. History flatters who's in charge. In the age of emperors, kings, and noblemen, history was all about them. In the age of universal suffrage, history is about the common man. Recently, with the push of political correctness, there has been a push to focus historical research and teaching on women and minorities. When will it be the turn of engineers and entrepreneurs -- the individuals who have in actuality moved mankind out of the caves and into skyscrapers? To our great shame, I can't say when that day will come. And I'm not holding my breath for it.

PhasmaFelis 12y ago
It's odd that you admit that history is generally biased towards the people who run things (mainly white males for pretty much all of European history), and then in the same breath decry attempts to move towards a more balanced portrayal. Do you think that women and minorities are now "in charge"?
- mariodiana 12y ago
  I think that we should forget about "balanced portrayals" and instead laud the achievements of the human race: meaning, the inventions, innovations, and organizations that have moved mankind forward. And if some demographics are largely absent from this past, that's worth mentioning -- but not focusing on. Time is too valuable for that.
  - walterbell 12y ago
    > if some demographics are largely absent from this past Are they absent from the engineering past or only the recorded history? For example, much of modern technology involves mobility. Would it be useful to study the technology of mobile nomadic tribes? What was the historical equivalent of http://bulletjournal.com http://bulletjournal.com? Or, Mayan civilization where Europeans destroyed all books, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8113410 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8113410 "Unfortunately only 3 of these Mayan codices have survived (imagine inferring 1,000 years of Western civilization from a comic book, an almanac and a prayer book). Here are some of the codices which contain very accurate astronomical forecasts on Venus, Mars, eclipses and the sun" In this map of 1492, http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/haywood/s4_9519.pdf http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/haywood/s4_9519.pdf, we see that http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenochtitlan http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenochtitlan was the largest city-state in pre-Columbian Americas and the fifth-largest city in the world. Look at the size of the Aztec, Inca and Mayan civilizations. What could we learn from their science and engineering accomplishments? We need more projects like Joseph Needham's Science and Technology in China, started in the 1950s and still ongoing, http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_and_Civilisation_in_China http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_and_Civilisation_in_C....

PhasmaFelis 12y ago

It's odd that you admit that history is generally biased towards the people who run things (mainly white males for pretty much all of European history), and then in the same breath decry attempts to move towards a more balanced portrayal. Do you think that women and minorities are now "in charge"?

mariodiana 12y ago
I think that we should forget about "balanced portrayals" and instead laud the achievements of the human race: meaning, the inventions, innovations, and organizations that have moved mankind forward. And if some demographics are largely absent from this past, that's worth mentioning -- but not focusing on. Time is too valuable for that.
- walterbell 12y ago
  > if some demographics are largely absent from this past Are they absent from the engineering past or only the recorded history? For example, much of modern technology involves mobility. Would it be useful to study the technology of mobile nomadic tribes? What was the historical equivalent of http://bulletjournal.com http://bulletjournal.com? Or, Mayan civilization where Europeans destroyed all books, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8113410 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8113410 "Unfortunately only 3 of these Mayan codices have survived (imagine inferring 1,000 years of Western civilization from a comic book, an almanac and a prayer book). Here are some of the codices which contain very accurate astronomical forecasts on Venus, Mars, eclipses and the sun" In this map of 1492, http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/haywood/s4_9519.pdf http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/haywood/s4_9519.pdf, we see that http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenochtitlan http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenochtitlan was the largest city-state in pre-Columbian Americas and the fifth-largest city in the world. Look at the size of the Aztec, Inca and Mayan civilizations. What could we learn from their science and engineering accomplishments? We need more projects like Joseph Needham's Science and Technology in China, started in the 1950s and still ongoing, http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_and_Civilisation_in_China http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_and_Civilisation_in_C....