The Fall of Rome

May 13, 2012 19:58

I recently saw, not for the first time, a graph showing how much more advanced we would be if the Roman Empire hadn't collapsed. The graph blamed Christianity ( Read more... )

rome, thoughts, thought of the day, christianity, history, politics

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kengr May 14 2012, 07:03:07 UTC
Actually, switching from really hot to really cold water is *still* done. Finnish type saunas, for example. The heat opens pores and gets you to sweat out a lot of stuff. The cold closes the pores again and helps keep you from having an overly elevated core temp for too long.

And it doesn't affect fertility. Lowering fertility visa heating the testicles requires a *much* longer exposures.

The monotheistic parts of Christianity helped in some ways (they may have helped with a mindset that led to tech advances), but they hurt in others (much more intolerance).

Also, Christianity was a good religion for the slaves, because it emphasized "endure things now, you'll get your reward in the afterlife".

Heck, for a typical Roman, suicide was an acceptable "way out" when life was bad. Which is not something a slave owner wants.

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drjon May 14 2012, 07:45:45 UTC
Could have been worse. If it hadn't been Christianity, it would probably have been martial-testosterone-engorged Mithraism.

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