6 ms·

> It's jarring to think that if intelligent life were on Kepler 452-b and observing Earth, we're so far away that they would be seeing our "civilizations" in 61

> It's jarring to think that if intelligent life were on Kepler 452-b and observing Earth, we're so far away that they would be seeing our "civilizations" in 615 AD: shrinking global population as the old Roman and Byzantine empires are overrun by barbarian hordes and Arab conquest, with some pockets of human progress in China. Is there something uncivilized about the Arab conquest of Byzantine lands? Had the Kepler 452-b-ians been observing Earthians but a few hundred years prior, they'd have seen the Romans doing much the same to expand their own empire. And the Arabs did quite a good job to not only preserve the Roman intellectual and scientific state of the art, but to contribute their own advancements of those fields.

eastbayjake 11y ago
Not a dig at anyone, especially not the Arabs who basically preserved philosophy and mathematics while Europe entered the Dark Ages. My point was simply that Kepler 452b-ians observing Earth would be seeing lots of war and destruction even though we're currently peacefully collaborating among mankind to discover and explore planets.
- balls187 11y ago
  > observing Earth would be seeing lots of war and destruction even though we're currently peacefully collaborating among mankind to discover and explore planets. If they were observing us today, they'd still see plenty of war and destruction. It just so happens that a fraction of the worlds population lives under "peaceful" conditions. That's not universally true.
  - khuey 11y ago
    Most of the worlds population lives under peaceful conditions these days.
- dragonwriter 11y ago
  > My point was simply that Kepler 452b-ians observing Earth would be seeing lots of war and destruction even though we're currently peacefully collaborating among mankind to discover and explore planets. There's a quite a bit more human energy going into war and destruction right now than into "peacefully collaborating among mankind to discover and explore planets."
Cyph0n 11y ago
It is more proper to refer to them as Muslims, not Arabs. The whole point of Islam was to unite everyone under the same ideology. That's why it's called the Islamic civilization. Source: I'm both an Arab and a Muslim.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- omonra 11y ago
  Was anybody but Arabs involved in the conquest of the early 7th century? Ie I'm sure other people took on Islam afterwards but he was talking about a specific point in history. We don't call the Spanish conquest of the Americas a Christian one even though they were Christians who ultimately converted everybody to Christianity.
  - Cyph0n 11y ago
    Quite a few of the Prophet's companions were not Arabs, but yes the majority were. Nonetheless, it is more correct to identify as a Muslim before an Arab. What irritates me greatly is when historians refer to the Muslim scientists of the Islamic Golden Age as "Arabs", when most of them were not Arabs at all. It's such a simpleminded and sweeping generalisation that clearly shows the thoroughness of the so-called orientalists.
    - morsch 11y ago
      That seems like a silly thing to get greatly irritated about.
      - omonra 11y ago
        Imagine if all the great Scottish scientists were referred to as 'the English'. That might piss some people off.
        morsch 11y ago
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

eastbayjake 11y ago

Not a dig at anyone, especially not the Arabs who basically preserved philosophy and mathematics while Europe entered the Dark Ages. My point was simply that Kepler 452b-ians observing Earth would be seeing lots of war and destruction even though we're currently peacefully collaborating among mankind to discover and explore planets.

balls187 11y ago
> observing Earth would be seeing lots of war and destruction even though we're currently peacefully collaborating among mankind to discover and explore planets. If they were observing us today, they'd still see plenty of war and destruction. It just so happens that a fraction of the worlds population lives under "peaceful" conditions. That's not universally true.
- khuey 11y ago
  Most of the worlds population lives under peaceful conditions these days.
dragonwriter 11y ago
> My point was simply that Kepler 452b-ians observing Earth would be seeing lots of war and destruction even though we're currently peacefully collaborating among mankind to discover and explore planets. There's a quite a bit more human energy going into war and destruction right now than into "peacefully collaborating among mankind to discover and explore planets."

Cyph0n 11y ago

It is more proper to refer to them as Muslims, not Arabs. The whole point of Islam was to unite everyone under the same ideology. That's why it's called the Islamic civilization. Source: I'm both an Arab and a Muslim.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
omonra 11y ago
Was anybody but Arabs involved in the conquest of the early 7th century? Ie I'm sure other people took on Islam afterwards but he was talking about a specific point in history. We don't call the Spanish conquest of the Americas a Christian one even though they were Christians who ultimately converted everybody to Christianity.
- Cyph0n 11y ago
  Quite a few of the Prophet's companions were not Arabs, but yes the majority were. Nonetheless, it is more correct to identify as a Muslim before an Arab. What irritates me greatly is when historians refer to the Muslim scientists of the Islamic Golden Age as "Arabs", when most of them were not Arabs at all. It's such a simpleminded and sweeping generalisation that clearly shows the thoroughness of the so-called orientalists.
  - morsch 11y ago
    That seems like a silly thing to get greatly irritated about.
    - omonra 11y ago
      Imagine if all the great Scottish scientists were referred to as 'the English'. That might piss some people off.
      - morsch 11y ago

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]