03-21-2022, 01:47 AM
(03-19-2022, 09:32 PM)JasonBlack Wrote:(12-14-2021, 02:37 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: It is essential to understand cycles, if we want to understand history. Not all cycles are completely valid (probably none of them are), but if we put them together we know more than just an assemblage of facts can tell us. Academics in their short-sighted view today don't realize this. But we need more than reams of facts; we need narratives and an understanding of how a living world works. It runs in cycles! (and spirals)
Agreed. Facts are important, but if you don't actually possess a gut level, intuitive understanding of how they work or what models are driving current outcomes, they are meaningless justifications used to shield oneself from critical thinking at best, and tools to cherry pick and deceive at worst. Previous societies placed too little weight on facts, but imo, we put too great a weight on them and end up staring myopically at the trees at the expense of the forest.
With that said, when facts and theories do manage to make friends, both are easier to remember.
Well, we certainly agree on THOSE points