On Mon, Aug 5, 2024 at 4:21 PM Keith Henson <[email protected]> wrote:
* >> That's what I'm talking about, your theory can make "predictions" >> about history, that is to say you can make predictions about things AFTER >> they happened but not before, and therefore those predictions are of no use >> whatsoever and it's not a scientific theory.* > > > > * > Hmm. Major rain is followed by floods, we know that from history. > So when we have a majoir rain, what do you expect?* Anybody can see the obvious connection between rain and a flood, but nobody can see an obvious connection between lack of food and a war. History tells us there have always been periods of starvation and there have always been wars, but if there is a connection between the two it is a very weak one with lots and lots of exceptions. > * >> Sometimes shortages occur, and after that wars sometimes happen, and >> sometimes they do not. In the mid 1970s the US had a severe oil shortage, >> far far more severe than any shortage we've had since, but it didn't lead >> to a war or to a Trump-like demagogue gaining power.* > > > > > > * > The evolution that led to such psychological traits happened before > agriculture when the only shortage of consequence was food. I don't think > the oil crisis of the 70s had that much effect on food or the prospects for > food. * There was no mass starvation in the USA during the 20th century, so according to you the USA should've had no wars during the 20th century, but that is not the case. > *> there was a food shortage in the US prior to the Civil War. It was not > recognized at the time, but the historical records show stunting in the > children of that time.* Compared with the 20th century, in the 19th century there was a food shortage in every country in the world resulting in the stunting of children. And the same thing could be said about the 18th century, and the 17th, and the 16th etc. So no matter what war in history I pick you can always find a food shortage somewhere to "explain" it. Your theory has no predictive power because it is so flexible it can be made to explain ANYTHING and therefore it is impossible to falsify. That means it is not a good theory. Worldwide human height has steadily increased over the past 2 centuries <https://ourworldindata.org/human-height> John K Clark See what's on my new list at Extropolis <https://groups.google.com/g/extropolis> whs -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/CAJPayv3osQnFJRazzbijELMuNDuf0tF83DvigD_L_HGo_isTyQ%40mail.gmail.com.
