tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3375512083268389933.post4265989480845737420..comments2023-09-30T10:36:23.154-05:00Comments on Accidental Historian: AtF: Taking a Step BackGedshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15047239425466517786noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3375512083268389933.post-45263008967566969992010-01-07T03:12:41.566-06:002010-01-07T03:12:41.566-06:00Good post as usual.
Also, safe journey and may Te...Good post as usual.<br /><br />Also, safe journey and may Texas be delightful for you. Our weather, I've read, is already down there so you'll still feel at home!<br /><br />Religion as i see it, in the broadest sense, is "the set of beliefs on which a person bases their identity." If one's religion happens to include <i>a priori</i> assumptions about the nature of external reality, then external reality *must* be stretched to fit the terms of one's belief. Otherwise one's identity is threatened, or in the worst case damaged--in the kinds of ways that sometimes lead to nervous breakdowns or clock tower shooting sprees.<br /><br />Which is one reason fanatical literalists and fanatics of all stripes have such a hair trigger about their pet issues. Threaten the legitimacy of their beliefs, and you are threatening the very core of their being. <br /><br />Cause apparently, y'know, to run your personality on that type of belief requires suspending your whole self from the weave of assumptions, like choosing to live in a hand-knit hammock that's swinging over the edge of a cliff. And ever smartass disbelieving pundit who comes along with their different points of view keep reaching for that one dangling thread, like they don't see what a terrible thing they're about to do.<br /><br />XD That was today's unnecessarily convoluted metaphor. Hope it made sense!Fiat Lexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10441862977921307080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3375512083268389933.post-33763164409887039282010-01-04T17:19:08.462-06:002010-01-04T17:19:08.462-06:00Ah. Thanks. I remember _After Tamerlane_, but no...Ah. Thanks. I remember _After Tamerlane_, but not the author. I looked him up: John Darwin, Beit University Lecturer in the History of the British Commonwealth, and a Fellow of Neuffield College, Oxford. He sounds like someone I need to read.bluefrognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3375512083268389933.post-39098280447927501142010-01-04T09:52:30.971-06:002010-01-04T09:52:30.971-06:00Sorry, no. John Darwin is an Oxford historian and...Sorry, no. John Darwin is an Oxford historian and holds some sort of chair or another. He's the author of <i>After Tamerlane</i>, which I've mentioned several times on the blog. He was also the first real historian that came to mind when I was writing the post.Gedshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15047239425466517786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3375512083268389933.post-38014028757983430832010-01-03T08:46:34.019-06:002010-01-03T08:46:34.019-06:00Yes. This. I'm still at a loss as to how to ...Yes. This. I'm still at a loss as to how to engage someone with the mindset of a 12th century monk in a conversation about present reality, but I can see that that's the only approach that wouldn't leave me beating my head against the wall.<br /><br />John Darwin = Charles Darwin's smarter brother?bluefrognoreply@blogger.com