> History is written by the victors Not necessarily; history is written by those...

verisimi · on Sept 3, 2023

But do you realise that the research you present here is not actually evidence? It is a link to a historian's opinion. It would be like reading a quote from the guardian about how Bulstrode is presenting remarkable research.

Meta analysis such as this, based on hearsay rather than personal verification and assessment of the actual evidence, is assuredly not the way to get to the truth of the matter.

jncfhnb · on Sept 4, 2023

Seems like a fairly intuitive claim though.

verisimi · on Sept 4, 2023

The idea of a flat earth is also a fairly intuitive claim too, as none of us experience any of the sphere earth attributes - we don't see a curve, experience the spin, etc. Intuition without evidence is really just a story.

jncfhnb · on Sept 4, 2023

Can’t say I agree that the earth being flat seems nearly as intuitive as monks, being the only literate faction at the time and place, were the only ones to record the written history of their time and place.

verisimi · on Sept 4, 2023

Personal verification of whatever-it-is is the only way to gain knowledge. The rest is belief, hearsay, gossip, hypothesis, stories.

jncfhnb · on Sept 4, 2023

If you cannot use reason to evaluate claims, how do you evaluate the relevance, truthfulness, and implications of evidence?

paganel · on Sept 4, 2023

I'd say the monks and the society they represented were the winners in the middle to long term, after all the vikings that had gotten to the Loire and those whereabouts ended up speaking French and "becoming" French themselves, and not the other way round.