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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   2557 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for November 10, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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How do people determine which past accounts are to be counted as valid historical records, and which are to be dismissed as past propaganda? For example, there's the whole Carthaginian infant sacrifice issue — real history, or anti-Carthaginian libel? Or Aztec skull towers — actually existed, or just lying conquistadors demonizing their Indigenous victims? In those cases, we at least have recent archeological finds giving solid support to one side (but even then, some still dispute them). But when such physical evidence isn't obtainable, what then?

I pick a side and agree with their claims.

Historians have flowerier justifications.

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