| Again, culture isn’t an immutable characteristic, so the moral framework you’re using doesn’t apply. You should treat culture the same way Silicon Valley startups do. You emulate the successful ones and learn lessons from the unsuccessful ones. European culture is itself a product of that process. When the Germanic tribes conquered Rome, they didn’t impose their own culture on the Romans. Instead they adopted Romans’ self-evidently more successful culture, law, and institutions. |
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| ▲ | rayiner 17 hours ago | parent [-] | | > Please elaborate on what defines 'successful' and 'unsuccessful' cultures Building steam engines, rockets, the Internet, etc. > and while you're at it let me know what the heck 'European culture' is? European culture is one of the most well studied subjects in the world. It’s the culture that resulted from Roman colonization, followed by German conquest of Rome and the spread of Roman customs, language, law throughout Europe alongside Christianity. It’s why Slovenia and Spain both have a legal tradition built on Roman civil law. It’s why British law is full of Latin terms. | | |
| ▲ | mullingitover 17 hours ago | parent [-] | | Ok so the yardstick for sorting cultures is purely inventions. Got it. Also: European culture is a discrete thing you can either be in or out of, and it's a combination of legal system and language. In addition, the Romans were a homogenous group of people with the same language and customs, and they were Christian. I've made note of this, thank you for clarifying. | | |
| ▲ | rayiner 16 hours ago | parent [-] | | It’s not just inventions, but the social structures and civic institutions that enable a society to build something like the Apollo program. Culture doesn’t need to be “discrete” or “homogenous” in order to exist. “Arab culture” also exists, despite regional variations. Law and language are critical aspects of society that indicate a shared culture despite local variations. Yes, during the relevant period, Romans were Christian. It became the majority religion in the roman empire by 400 AD. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historiography_of_the_Christia... European culture is one of the most well studied things in the world. You should read about it. | | |
| ▲ | mullingitover 10 hours ago | parent [-] | | > It’s not just inventions, but the social structures and civic institutions that enable a society to build something like the Apollo program. But you’re saying that it’s the inventions that make certain cultures superior, the other stuff is just there to enable the inventions. So for example China is building far more advanced infrastructure and high tech equipment right now, thus their culture is superior to European culture. What’s your proposal to help European culture the level of advancement that Chinese culture has achieved ? |
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