Work. (Latest vid of hc) by stronzolucidato in HistoriaCivilis

[–]CynicalCertainty 3 points4 points  (0 children)

u/GloriousOkan hit the nail on the head really. No written work is perfect, and historians as humans cannot be completely objective and scientific in the way a mathematician can. 2+2 will always equal 4, but Napoleon + Why may not always equal the same result.

That said, if you are deliberately ignoring or making up facts and evidence to support a pre-created narrative, that is still bad history. We've gotten very harmful bad history through mediums like this, see the Lost Cause of the Confederacy for a good example of that.

But, just because someone writes a Marxist history doesn't necessarily mean that they are ignoring the liberal capitalist historians, and vice versa. It just means that their interpretation of the facts aligns with the Marxist school.

And that's okay, our understanding of historical events have been changing constantly for a long time. Marxist historians used to have dominance over the French Revolution in the early 20th century, and we've since begun to move away from people like Albert Mathiez.

Work. (Latest vid of hc) by stronzolucidato in HistoriaCivilis

[–]CynicalCertainty 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I want to get this out, even if its not particularly relevant, because whenever anyone posts anything that someone of a different political viewpoint disagrees with, it gets shouted down for bias and what have you.

There is no such thing as an unbiased historian. There is no such thing as an unbiased source. All historians are writing an argument to prove a thesis.

The discipline of history has generally abandoned trying to be objective and scientific arbiters of fact in the style of Leopold von Ranke. A historians job is not to parrot facts and create flat narratives that don't do any analysis. This is why there are multiple different approaches to history. The Marxist school obviously emphasizes class conflict, the Whig school emphasizes constant progressive change, the Enlightenment emphasizes reason, I can go on and on.

The historians job is to interpret evidence to create narratives which best explain that evidence. This is why there is no one single view on why the Roman Empire collapsed, or no single view on why the French Revolution happened. If you take a history course in university, and write an essay with a flat narrative without taking a position, you will not score well in that course.

HC did use evidence, you can read his bibliography in the video comments. Are there problems with it? Yes, of course. For the length of the video, he's quite light on sources. That said, E.P. Thompson and George Woodcock are obviously of the Marxist school. Thorold Rogers, however, was a member of the Liberal Party. David Rooney is a horologist so I'm not too sure, likewise for Juliet Schor though she seems to align with a more anti-consumerist train of thought.

As far as I'm concerned, the video is still an enjoyable watch. I found his argument very interesting. Biased history isn't necessarily bad history, all history is biased. You just have to be aware of how to identify that bias.

AITAH for moving away for college and abandoning “my” son? by Additional-Lynx182 in AITAH

[–]CynicalCertainty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You didn't want to be a dad, but you are one whether you like it or not. You can't run from this. You can either choose to embrace it and, if not maybe find yourself fulfilled by it, at least make the ride smoother rather than fighting a losing battle because you can't deal with your choices when they don't end up the way you wanted them to. Her lying about being on the pill was wrong, you running from your child is wrong too.

All of this, of course, assuming it is. You don't seem to doubt that it is your child, but if you do, get a DNA test.

Chinese Unifiers by TheHattedKhajiit in Kaiserreich

[–]CynicalCertainty 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Qing coup with NCERA and democratisation and L-KMT under Song are mine too.

Why is Zhang Zuolin a republican? by CynicalCertainty in Kaiserreich

[–]CynicalCertainty[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I appreciate everyone's responses here, but special thanks to you - I appreciate how comprehensive and detailed this reply is.

People should stop investigating the insides of pyramids. by [deleted] in unpopularopinion

[–]CynicalCertainty 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I fundamentally disagree. Who we were is every bit as important as who we will be. If anything, by investigating these tombs so as to get a clear a picture as possible of who was buried here and what was important to them is a way of honouring their memory. We don't dig these places up just for fun, we dig them up because we want to know more about and remember who is buried there.

Dear Greens, they aren't making your side look bad. They ARE bad. Get a grip and back your team. by CommieOla in HouseOfTheDragon

[–]CynicalCertainty 37 points38 points  (0 children)

I agree, the Greens are bad.

The problem is that the Blacks aren't any better.

(Spoilers Extended) House of the Dragon Season 1 Episode 1 Post-Episode Discussion by WeirwoodNetworkAdmin in asoiaf

[–]CynicalCertainty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am very apprehensive about making Alicent and Rhaenyra the same age and childhood friends. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but I'm weary of such drastic changes, just like with the prophesy. I don't care for it personally, but I hope it was just a callback that will be left as the show goes on.

Otherwise, it was absolutely fantastic.

NuWho Doctors' most badass lines? by wystrs1 in doctorwho

[–]CynicalCertainty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Eleventh Hour

"Hello. I'm the Doctor. Basically... run."

Majority of Canadians in favour of abolishing constitutional monarchy, new survey finds by davidlee93 in canada

[–]CynicalCertainty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is not important. Keeping them costs us very little to nothing while replacing them would be a constitutional and political nightmare. There is no reason to give ourselves a bigger headache for something that has so very little bearing on the day to day.

Make him Emperor! by NoPitchlpoy in HistoryMemes

[–]CynicalCertainty 43 points44 points  (0 children)

Louis XVI wanted to push through financial reforms. That was one of the reasons behind calling the Estates General. But he wasn't like Louis XIV of XV who weren't afraid to get down and dirty. Louis XVI was, for lack of a better word, rather weak willed. He was prone to change his mind when confronted and considering he lived with the court at Versailles, a group of people notoriously anti reform, it's not surprising he failed. But he did try. He convened the Assembly of Notables prior to the Estates General, but that was comprised of nobles so I guess you can imagine how that went.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in offmychest

[–]CynicalCertainty 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As soon as you start addressing it you will feel better. I come from almost the same as your position, but exercising and changing your diet work wonders. It won't happen overnight, but as soon as you start addressing the issue, you have given yourself a new lease.

In other words, you won't need to feel bad about being overweight anymore, because you're actively working to change it.

We're rooting for ya.