[Godless myths] Religion poisons reason and critical thinking

ahora · 2012-05-24T10:16:16.185363+00:00

It was hardly an exception, battles were fought in that manner for centuries both before and after the Roman empire. No commander with even the tiniest slither of strategic knowledge sends in a lone Knight when an entire army has a better chance of success, this is true even of the Japanese samurai, who though bound by world-renowned honour still participated in battles as part of much larger armies.

Even just 2 centuries after the collapse of the Roman empire, Islam was leading sieges and conquests across Hispania, and that is following the Byzantine empire from which the modern Vatican claims its lineage, the formation of which began even before the Roman empire had fully collapsed.

Things were as bad as you claim for maybe two hundred years, and then everyone pretty much figured out how to re-organise themselves. But the information kept privvy only to the priests and clergy, and not the uneducated masses, could have saved lives, even with the legendary inaccuracies of Galen's work and the four humours.

I presume you are American, or are otherwise unfamiliar with England and Europe. Because this kind of information is typical of even a secondary-school education, and whilst I'm unfamiliar with the Advanced Placement institution, I'm not sure enrollment in it has benefited you particularly well if this is the extent of your information.

ahora · 1 day

I just told you that the 100 Years War did not change the structure of war, the Battle of Hastings almost a century before it was almost exactly the same as warfare after it. You are speaking clear falsehoods.

Whilst the middle ages certainly were a lot harder to survive in than our modern civilisation, they were not nearly as bad as you are making them out to be.

And even then, this is pretty far from disputing the involvement of the clergy in warfare and their willful hoarding of information.

Lyinginbedmon · 1 day

It's a little time-expensive to reload the mechanism, due to the lava turning into obsidian as part of its vital function, it was a lot easier to just show the wiring and then show the function. The function should also be fairly obvious from the title.

ahora · 1 day

...the 100 years war involved foot soldiers and archers too...

1066 (11th century) with the battle of Hastings famously included Harold II being struck in the eye by archer fire. The 100 Years War period started in the 12th century, and post-1066 is referred to as the "high medieval ages", following on from pre-1066 which is referred to as the "early medieval ages".

The period you are describing, with knights alone fighting on the battlefield, never existed. Roman battlefield tactics would always have been useful, heck if you happen to have a dozen or so guys with bulletproof shields they'd be relevant even today.

ahora · 1 day

Okay you are seriously talking absolute bullshit.

Knights were officers in military campaigns, yes, but to say they were the only ones allowed to fight is utterly ridiculous. There were archers, swordsmen, pikemen, engineers, and conscripts and mercenaries all, armies in the thousands routinely saw action on the battlefield.

ahora · 1 day

Chivalrous warfare? Considering this is the same period of history where diseased cattle and corpses were hurled into strongholds and fortresses, I'm not sure to what you are referring.

ahora · 1 day

Neutral? Seriously?

From 1100, for 500 years, Christianity was directly involved with and largely the perpetrator of every single Crusade as well as numerous smaller conflicts.

The church was hardly neutral, nor was that knowledge purely useful for military investments, the public good should have been good enough reason, let alone the potential economic benefits of, say, treating disease in farmers.

You have a very strange view of history, accurate in smallest percentage.

Lyinginbedmon · 1 day

Indeed, but this method is a lot more ostentatious, and of course any option is subject to the thematic of the map in question.

ahora · 1 day

On the contrary, I'm well aware. Medieval history is one of my favourite subjects.

But if you want to pin the options down to just "learn more" and "keep your citizens alive", have you considered the high number of military campaigns in the period which could have greatly benefited from the medical knowledge kept stowed away by the pious of the time? Surely it would have been obvious to anyone that better medicine to keep troops alive would have improved chances of success in a campaign.

Lyinginbedmon · 1 day

Because it creates the possibility of using redstone to control a player's access to the Nether.

If they get a water bucket, they can't open the portal. If they get flint & steel, they can't open the portal. If they get both, they can't open the portal.

Access to the Nether is controlled pretty perfectly through this mechanism, so a map creator can create specific conditions for the player to be allowed through.

Lyinginbedmon · 1 day

Besides coolness? Read the video description, it's a pretty useful mechanism for adventure maps.

ohminelle · 1 day

I can't help but read the first two lines and think "We can totally take him!"

Cubehamster · 1 day

An interesting take on an old puzzle, nicely done!

Killmehardkissmelong · 1 day

Concept "egg" existed long before recognisable species "chicken", beginning before the dinosaurs as both a defensive measure for young and to contain vital moisture outside of water whilst in the sun.

Over time, what came out of a given species' egg gradually approached what would today be called a "chicken" until such time that the egg laid was identifiably a chicken's egg and produced a chicken.

I have probably spent a bit too much time thinking about that damn question.

Lyinginbedmon · 1 day

Yes, gravel, sand, and collapsed wood all fall appropriately, though there's a minor bug at the moment that stops collapsed wood and gravel that has fallen from decaying further (which is to do with how the falling entity handles re-instantiation of the blocks)

ErikkuTheFox · 1 day

I'm pretty done with the whole "villagers look like Squidward" thing. Didn't like the show, don't like the comparison, very much don't like it getting plastered across r/minecraft all the time.

lamer5799 · 1 day

That's pretty sweet, very nicely done.

I had the unfortunate pleasure of hearing the "spooky cave noise" while I was reading it, shouldn't have left my client running...

ahora · 1 day

It wasn't an A or B situation, both options could have been selected.

Lyinginbedmon · 2 days

Because I didn't build them, the process only affects blocks that have been placed by a player. This prevents the entire world from decaying and causing tremendous lag.

Lyinginbedmon · 2 days

Yes, decay is halted based on the presence of players and villagers in the vicinity.

The decay rates used for the video are greatly reduced for the purposes of demonstration, it will typically take in-game years for stone-type blocks to decay in the full release.

Lyinginbedmon · 2 days

It works for quite a few blocks, and I'm going to add a fair few more before the release. Stone brick was used in the video because it decays to cracked stone brick, then to cobble, then to gravel, allowing a pretty effective demonstration of the decay process itself.

Currently decay works on stone, cobblestone, stone brick, wooden planks, glass/panes, bookshelves, torches, sandstone, half slabs, and mossy cobblestone. There's a secondary process that decays the gravel into saplings, grass, flowers, and mushrooms, as well as one that adds the vines.

Not featured in this demonstration is that moss will spread across blocks over time, including across stone brick from mossy cobblestone and vice versa.

Lyinginbedmon · 2 days

There's a link in the video description

nivikus · 2 days

I'm really hoping mhockey's inquiry was responded to with a hearty "NOTHING" from every other player on the server.

Lyinginbedmon

TROPHY CASE

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