(February 14, 2016 at 7:25 am)abaris Wrote:(February 14, 2016 at 6:26 am)paulpablo Wrote: Is your argument that the Mongolian empire didn't kill people and take their stuff?
No, my argument, as always, is to not be simplistic. Everyone conquered their weaker neighbours at that time, which, by the way, covers a span of about a 1000 years between the rise of Islam, the Mongolian expansion and the peak of the Osmanic empire. The only distinctive element between certain empires are their administration, their social structure and their willingness to embrace science. And that's where the Islamic realms as well as the Mongolians beat the Western realms by a lightyear. At least up to the 16th century.
But the section you took a copy and paste from was nothing to do with Mongolians not embracing science, it was to do with Mongolians killing people taking their stuff and telling people they were going to do it. Science wasn't mentioned in there.
What Captain Awesome was saying is that they didn't lie and say they were peaceful. From what I've heard in the history podcasts I've heard I'd disagree with that. Sometimes Genghis Khan would tell them he was there to punish them like a flail of God, other times he would give fake promises of safety and use diplomatic tricks and dishonesty.
I don't know if there's much difference between the Mongols, The Nazis, or Islam when it comes to violence or embracing science.
Are you ready for the fire? We are firemen. WE ARE FIREMEN! The heat doesn’t bother us. We live in the heat. We train in the heat. It tells us that we’re ready, we’re at home, we’re where we’re supposed to be. Flames don’t intimidate us. What do we do? We control the flame. We control them. We move the flames where we want to. And then we extinguish them.
Impersonation is treason.
