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My apologies. If this line of discussion does continue, I propose we'll carry it over to the other thread.

Hey @Marduk, I wanted to open this (again lengthy) post by mentioning that since this is one of my favourite topics, I'm aware I can ramble about it at considerable length. If this is getting tiresome, please do mention it, and I'll stop replying to this line of debate. I really enjoy the...

Sometimes, everything is different. Repeat an experiment long enough, and you'll see every possible outcome. But what is likely? I can only go by what has happened before, which (for reasons I'll elaborate upon a little further down) I certainly don't consider to be "fitting the observations to...

Oh, on that, I agree. Everything has an afterlife. Some things ever get resurrections. But what is at the fore-front now will be a fringe phenomenon in later ages. It is a mistake to think that the peculiarities (whether virtuous or lamentable) of our age are somehow unique. In fact: that kind...

I would not say that I under-estimate the more recent historical developments. I merely attempt to place them in their context. The comparison to Japan strikes me as out of place, since Japan is not the West. The situations cannot be easily equated. My point is that, drastic as things seem from...

It didn't. When we witness the excesses of the current era (total war; totalitarian and/or all-suffusing government; industrialised genocide, etc.) we may say that we are in a time of considerable issues. Sure. But that's a feature, not a bug. Modernity is not a disease upon the culture; no...