Maher - New Rules - "Civ Vicious"
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I think the current habit of portraying Western culture as bad is a reaction against centuries of pretty much ignoring all the other cultures completely.
It's like people complaining about the recent move towards multi-ethnicity in movies. Prior to the recent changes there were decades of all the best characters being played by white actors, with blacks at best getting to play either villains or comic relief, with a very few exceptions.
As far as jazz and blues goes, there's an interesting debate to be had about how the vast majority of all the money got earned by white rock and roll people, again with a few exceptions.
Also, the fact that nobody listens to classical Indian music, or knows anything at all about Eastern poetry or literature is possibly more a reflection of us than it is of their worth.
@Doctor-Phibes said in Maher - New Rules - "Civ Vicious":
or knows anything at all about Eastern poetry or literature is possibly more a reflection of us than it is of their worth.
They teach The Arabian Nights in public school. Everyone knows what a haiku is. Seven Samurai is one of the most important movies in the history of film, specifically because of its continued influence. Mulan was a major motion picture, as was Crouching Tiger. And every sociopath-in-training still masturbates to The Art of War.
We couldn't ignore Eastern influences if we tried.
Please love yourself.
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Other than the arts there’s also everyone’s favourite:
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All right, but apart from the algebra, the poetry, literature, music, cuisine, strategy, what have the Chinese ever done for us?
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Tough crowd here.
Probably a hell of a lot more and better than Leopold II did for the Congo.
@Renauda said in Maher - New Rules - "Civ Vicious":
Tough crowd here.
No kidding...
IMO, there's no doubt about the value of cultural influences from "non-Western" civilizations.
But, I repeat my question: What have you done for me lately?
Electricity
Printing press
Internal combustion (yeah, I know)
The list goes on and on.These are non-cultural advances. They have transformed humanity.
For the better.
Though culinary achievements, musical and literary achievements are not to be dismissed, they are not transformative. They are evolutionary, not revolutionary.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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Technology will end up destroying all civilization, but other than that, some of the stops along the way like TV and iPhones have been great.
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@Doctor-Phibes said in Maher - New Rules - "Civ Vicious":
or knows anything at all about Eastern poetry or literature is possibly more a reflection of us than it is of their worth.
They teach The Arabian Nights in public school. Everyone knows what a haiku is. Seven Samurai is one of the most important movies in the history of film, specifically because of its continued influence. Mulan was a major motion picture, as was Crouching Tiger. And every sociopath-in-training still masturbates to The Art of War.
We couldn't ignore Eastern influences if we tried.
@Aqua-Letifer said in Maher - New Rules - "Civ Vicious":
@Doctor-Phibes said in Maher - New Rules - "Civ Vicious":
or knows anything at all about Eastern poetry or literature is possibly more a reflection of us than it is of their worth.
They teach The Arabian Nights in public school. Everyone knows what a haiku is. Seven Samurai is one of the most important movies in the history of film, specifically because of its continued influence. Mulan was a major motion picture, as was Crouching Tiger. And every sociopath-in-training still masturbates to The Art of War.
We couldn't ignore Eastern influences if we tried.
Much of our French furniture and pretty much all classic wallpaper designs were stolen from China, Japan and Thailand.
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@Renauda said in Maher - New Rules - "Civ Vicious":
Tough crowd here.
No kidding...
IMO, there's no doubt about the value of cultural influences from "non-Western" civilizations.
But, I repeat my question: What have you done for me lately?
Electricity
Printing press
Internal combustion (yeah, I know)
The list goes on and on.These are non-cultural advances. They have transformed humanity.
For the better.
Though culinary achievements, musical and literary achievements are not to be dismissed, they are not transformative. They are evolutionary, not revolutionary.
@George-K said in Maher - New Rules - "Civ Vicious":
Electricity
Printing press
Internal combustion (yeah, I know)
The list goes on and on.These are non-cultural advances. They have transformed humanity.
For the better.
Though culinary achievements, musical and literary achievements are not to be dismissed, they are not transformative. They are evolutionary, not revolutionary.
It's not all been good:
Machine guns
Atomic bombs
Mustard gas
Tanks
Reality TV
Those little milk carton things -
@George-K said in Maher - New Rules - "Civ Vicious":
Electricity
Printing press
Internal combustion (yeah, I know)
The list goes on and on.These are non-cultural advances. They have transformed humanity.
For the better.
Though culinary achievements, musical and literary achievements are not to be dismissed, they are not transformative. They are evolutionary, not revolutionary.
It's not all been good:
Machine guns
Atomic bombs
Mustard gas
Tanks
Reality TV
Those little milk carton things@Doctor-Phibes said in Maher - New Rules - "Civ Vicious":
It's not all been good:
Didn't say they were "good," did I?
I said "transformative."
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@Doctor-Phibes said in Maher - New Rules - "Civ Vicious":
It's not all been good:
Didn't say they were "good," did I?
I said "transformative."
@George-K said in Maher - New Rules - "Civ Vicious":
@Doctor-Phibes said in Maher - New Rules - "Civ Vicious":
It's not all been good:
Didn't say they were "good," did I?
I said "transformative."
You said transformed for the better. Those milk carton things have not done that.
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@George-K said in Maher - New Rules - "Civ Vicious":
@Doctor-Phibes said in Maher - New Rules - "Civ Vicious":
It's not all been good:
Didn't say they were "good," did I?
I said "transformative."
You said transformed for the better. Those milk carton things have not done that.
@Doctor-Phibes said in Maher - New Rules - "Civ Vicious":
You said transformed for the better. Those milk carton things have not done that.
Fair enough.
Neither have plaid suits, if you want to go there.
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@Renauda said in Maher - New Rules - "Civ Vicious":
Tough crowd here.
No kidding...
IMO, there's no doubt about the value of cultural influences from "non-Western" civilizations.
But, I repeat my question: What have you done for me lately?
Electricity
Printing press
Internal combustion (yeah, I know)
The list goes on and on.These are non-cultural advances. They have transformed humanity.
For the better.
Though culinary achievements, musical and literary achievements are not to be dismissed, they are not transformative. They are evolutionary, not revolutionary.
@George-K said in Maher - New Rules - "Civ Vicious":
Electricity
Printing press
Internal combustion (yeah, I know)
The list goes on and on.These are non-cultural advances. They have transformed humanity.
I think that climate was factor in this. Cold weather people are forced to innovate more than hot weather people.
(Yes, yes, I know that is a "generalization")
