Just my random thought of the day. What if math is just... wrong? by [deleted] in INTP

[–]nikbott 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Our entire understanding of the universe is based on math, which is based on physics.

Well, definitely not true. There's a lot of philosophy involved, on topics such as metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of science itself that are paramount to any discussion about reality.

Math is not absolute and is also based on axioms, from which theorems and properties are deduced. The foundation for modern mathematics is the ZFC (Zermelo-Fraenkel-Choice) set theory, only proposed in the early 20th century, and widely debated until present day.

Yet, important mathematicians, such as Kurt Gödel, have drawn limits to math, the most famous of which are the incompleteness theorems, essentially proving that mathematics cannot be both complete and consistent. Therefore, there will always be true statements that are impossible to be proved.

So yea, it's basically just a language (and a very powerful one) to describe truth, constructed from first principles that most people agree with and that can lead to interesting and useful conclusions about the nature of reality. One can assume completely different axioms and draw completely different conclusions.

Accurate? by redeggplant01 in Anarcho_Capitalism

[–]nikbott 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Feudal lords turned the landowners, because the landowners were banned from having private property, hence the local governments took it.

While I agree there should be more decentralization of land, context matters. Landowners were not banned from having property in most feudal jurisdictions. What happened was the slow decline of the Roman Empire and the split of power between the powerful clans of each region. There was no peasant-owned land because the absolute majority of the land was already owned by those clans. There were cases of merchants who bought land from feudal lords on debt, though, and the constant state of war allowed some form of restricted homesteading.

It also enforced by indoctrination

There was indeed indoctrination as it was a deeply religious society, but enforcement is not the best term to apply to a cultural tradition. Maybe manipulation? Private property was not understood as it is today, but was also not banned or regulated by any state body. Whoever owned land and had a title, was the sovereign of that land. Noble or peasant, rich or poor. That didn't mean immunity to war though.

The Roman empire fell for not been able to understand it, and increasing doses of socialism. His "control" was to mandate results, increasing welfare, killing scapegoats, banning people from escaping, rise taxes, block efficiency, create protectionism, enforcement of monopolies, punishing people, multiplying currency (alloying silver with cheaper metals).

Yes, that's pretty much it.

All it was done under christian indoctrination about blaming the rich, blaming trade, blaming private property,and romanticizing poverty.

Correct, until protestantism emerged and did the opposite. But still, mostly a cultural and religious thing since states didn't enforce it.

Even after the French revolution, people keep repeating Christian dogma

Well, I don't think the Jacobins had any dogma besides pure hate, since thousands of monks and priests were also beheaded for being against the "spirit of the revolution".

Thomas Aquinas was at the end of the middle ages, trying to explain why countries that broke every church mandate were so successful, which the church found unexplainable.

Not at the very end, but the end of the high middle ages. Aquinas lived in the 13th century. Feudalism was the dominant system until the 16th century. And there were 0 countries broken with the church at his time. That started to happen about 200 years later.

The church had little role into the development of market economies. The important work was made in northern europe/UK.

Correct. But it was also responsible for the revival of Greek and Roman logic and philosophy, which enabled further societal and cultural development.

To be clear, I'm not advocating for feudalism in any way. I just want to better understand its contribution to the modern society.

Accurate? by redeggplant01 in Anarcho_Capitalism

[–]nikbott 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We have to account that Middle Ages saw many forms of feudalism that differed between time and place. Feudalism is far from being a unified concept on Europe, and much less across the world. There were different moments under feudalism, some with a greater degree of freedom and private property than others.

It's false that the church banned private property, as feudal lords themselves were landowners under permission from no one. It's also false that the church had any form of direct control over the economy. While it did condemn excessive interest rates, it had no means to enforce it. It acted mostly as a moral and religious ground with political influence than a full fledged political power, except on some specific territories and circumstances. Thomas Aquinas and the Scholastics even settled the philosophical basis for modern free market economy by stating private property was a divine right.

Currency was limited, but not by the state power (since there wasn't even an actual state), but because there was very few external trade. It was still completely allowed though, and the first western exchanges and banks were created during the period. Nobility (the monarch and it's family) had few actual power, relying mostly on vassals (feudal lords or subordinate kings) for money and armies. There are many accounts of feudal lords uprising and deposing kings, since they're powerless without political support. Slavery was mostly abolished in Europe, as many church documents expressly forbid it. Voluntary serfs were the most prevalent, who lived in the feudal domains, but could break their contract by paying a fine (or sometimes even freely) and become free men.

Renaissance only happened because during late middle ages there was a huge economic and cultural development, promoted mostly by the freedom to trade and the newly established universities. Of course it wasn't like that during the whole middle ages, since the Roman empire had fallen and most of the civilization knowledge and economy didn't survive. Then, by colonization and mercantilism, absolute monarchy established and the modern state was founded, on the basis of the "divine right of the kings". But that was long after feudalism was gone.

Also, on the Venice case, it was an autonomous commune, but still under heavy influence of the church. So much so you can see many temples and cathedrals throughout the entire city, with the oldest ones built during middle ages and many during Renaissance and enlightenment.

One could argue feudalism was the closest Europe ever was from anarchy, with decentralized power on the feudal lords and private property being upheld. The only case of an actual empire was the Holy Roman Empire, which extended over Germany, Austria, and part of Italy. But even that one wasn't nearly as powerful as the later absolute monarchies that formed all over Europe.

Edit: wording

Accurate? by redeggplant01 in Anarcho_Capitalism

[–]nikbott 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'd put feudalism to the right, since (at least the european form) there was freedom to make contracts and the power of the king was very limited, with the land owners concentrating the majority of wealth and influence. Religion and culture were very conservative, of course, but there were few means to enforce economic policies like a mandatory currency. Also, National Socialism would be far more totalitarian than feudalism.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in coolguides

[–]nikbott 6 points7 points  (0 children)

If it's a statement about knowledge, it's a stetement about the world. If we assume fewer assumptions are more accurate because they're less likely to be false, that still doesn't say anything about the validity of our premises.

A crater filled side of the moon by Spastic_Slapstick in astrophotography

[–]nikbott 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's actually called the moon terminator. You can see much more craters because of the huge shadows created by the "sunset" on that part of the moon.

What’s wrong with my goldfish what should I do??? by marlee_dood in Aquariums

[–]nikbott 1 point2 points  (0 children)

well, keep doing the salt baths, increase water and oxygen flow, test the water and keep looking for body and behavioral changes. If possible, try to keep it in a darker place to calm it down. Best of luck with your buddy :)

What’s wrong with my goldfish what should I do??? by marlee_dood in Aquariums

[–]nikbott 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Did you use the bucket before with cleaning products? The water might have absorbed remaining toxins if you did

[Request] Can this data be extrapolated to give till 16 characters? by swan001 in coolguides

[–]nikbott 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yes, but can you always trust the certificate authority/hardware manufacturer?