RE: Gunpowder and Cannons at the Castle of Silves? LMAC #29
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Hello my dear friend <3
What a wonderfully concise, informative post. I enjoyed reading every little bit of info you shared with us here, as well as your perception of castles which very much coincides with mine.
I was vaguely familiar with the knowledge that gunpowder wasn't initially created for what it turned out to be used :) Also, the introduction of your post reminded me of Jared Diamond's words from his book The rise and fall of the third chimp (p.201):
What makes human xenophobia much more lethal than chimp xenophobia is of course our recent development for mass killing at a distance.
I have a huge fascination for medieval castles & churches. It is a good thing to live in Portugal when that is your thing! Last summer we went to visit a little place called Óbidos, and just like you said, while wandering inside its walls I couldn't help but think of battles, fear and the kind of human conflict that took place back in the day.
Ps: Also impressive is the São Jorge castle in Lisbon, but then again there are lots similar to these dotting the country :D
All right! This is all for the moment.
With infinite love,
From cold Portugal :)
These replies are as impressive as the original post - and informative - how did I miss another Jared Diamond book? What a great quote on our unique ability to kill many from a distance.
I need to keep up better with creators like you, @agmoore, @abigail-dantes, @whatisnew, and (new to me) @kadna. I tend to limit myself to whoever shows up in #freewrite and #dailypetphotography. Hence, I see @owasco more often than your names, but even then, I am not keeping up and reading enough. So much great content! And the comment are so rewarding too!
Rivetingly put!
Diamond is probably my top favorite biologist. I mostly respect his wide views and constant way of drawing from perspectives that range from anthropological to psychological <3 :)
It's nice seeing you around @carolkean.
Have a great weekend.
And, once again, thank you for your always kind words!
All the best to you :)
I also love Diamond - I only own the Guns-Germs-Steel book.
Need to get caught up!
Thank YOU for the kind words and all best to you too!
Oh yes, by all means, follow @kadna. Inspiring, thought-provoking, and amiable. All my friends on Steemit are nice people :)
I love castles and such but there are very few of those here in the US, so my opportunity to develop that awe has been limited. An American revolution fort or two is as close as we get here, besides mansions which just piss me off or McMansions which horrify me. I experience a reverence for history whenever I am in a canoe on a river or lake and I envision the peoples who lived on this soil at around the same time y'all are imagining the goings on in medieval castles. No gunpowder in those canoes, although they may have known how to make saltpeter from their urine. Thanks for that particular link @agmoore.
I have similar thoughts too, with regard to the native peoples who lived in my country of origin (Brazil), from back in the time when here in Europe they were already building monasteries and castles. I remember this one time, we stayed in a little B&B which was in a 600 year-old building! I remember thinking ... 'wow, my country as it's known today is only about 500 years old!'.
Ah! I did not know you were born in Brazil. How is it you came to Portugal (Portugal?)? Family I'm guessing.
I wonder if I would feel the weight of all that has happened in a building like that. I've never been in one. I'll be sure to stay in those if I ever manage to leave the US.
Not only family, but studies, work, better life style ... I lived in Chile before, and before that I lived in England :)
I recently read somewhere (I have no idea how you guys come up with quotes so easily) that some band of humans somewhere south of Europe had a DNA makeup that made them more war-like, less chimp-like, and that their murderousness spread first to Europe and then to the rest of the world as they murdered, raped and procreated their way into power, spreading that murderous DNA everywhere they went. Contrast this with images of quiet nature loving natives in all other parts of the world, and we can see where it all went wrong. Are we sunk?
Oh! I am interested in looking into this info a little further @owasco. Many, many things came to mind as I read your comment. As far as I understand chimps are incredibly violent and war-oriented. Please see J. Diamond & J. Goodall. Goodall for example, has written many accounts of chimps killing off individuals of their neighboring territory to usurp their land (her work mainly results from studies conducted through naturalistic observations).
Also, based on research I've conducted for my work, I have come across studies that challenges the view "images of quiet nature loving natives in all other parts of the world". There are anthropological studies suggesting that the migration of the ancestors of today's American Indians - 11.000 years ago to what is now 'the Americas' - was followed by the extinction of the big mammals (e.g. mastodonts, tapirs, mammoths) of North and South America within only a few centuries. This is accepted to be a cause-consequence phenomenon by some.
This is a compelling notion which contradicts that which suggests that those big mammals went extinct as a consequence of climate change. Many oppose to it. But, evidence supporting it becomes stronger and stronger over the years as they proceed to scrutinize it (e.g. excavation of Clovis's sites). This is not to say, of course, that native peoples don't have greater respect for nature than white European men. Still, the history of humans is one that is deeply intertwined with the history of destruction, especially the destruction of nature. No matter the their socio-demographic origins.
Are we sunk? No at all, we are, as a race, more peaceful and tolerant towards one another, as hard as that might sound (please, see S. Pinker's The better angels of our nature).
Ok @owasco, see how you get me going?? :D My goodness.
I better stop here.
Much love to you from across the ocean :*
Bye for now!!
Well that was my pleasure!!!
Perhaps I romanticize "native" persons. It's easy to discount nature and become inured to its destruction if you have little experience with it, just as it's easy to dehumanize people of a certain creed or persuasion if you have no contact with them.
I'll try to find the article I referred to.
This is true!! :)
All right it's Friday night!!
Off from social-media until Monday now :*
Dear Abigail,
How happy you make me with your thoughtful and informative response. It is heartening that you picked up on the intention of my first paragraph, and my collage. Neither the collage nor first paragraph reflect a fascination with war, but rather a deep regret that we have become increasingly efficient at killing each other.
I'm not familiar with Diamond, but boy do I love that quote. I will become familiar with his writing in the future.
Your pictures are magnificent. I'm not surprised that castles dot the landscape. When I think of the long history of the Iberian peninsula and the many many battles that have been fought over this and that bit of territory...castles are relics of those battles.
One more thought before I end: look at the dialogue that has ensued between different visitors to this one post. If people think Steemit is purely about financial speculation, I challenge them to look at this conversation. Some of my favorite people have commented here. It doesn't feel virtual. It feels real.
Thank you for the gift of your time, your insight, your wisdom and the role you play in stimulating dialogue.
Love, from very, very chilly New York,
Your friend,
AG
I know @agmoore, isn't fascinating? Steemit is definitely a place where one can meet truly incredible, smart people. Where one can learn and have very engaging conversations. In my experience, those who regard Steemit as a failure (or whatever they say) are those who haven't managed to look beyond the the financial side of the platform <3
Keep yourself warm over there! We trying to do the same here :D
Ps: Last Friday night we locked ourselves out of the house. It was raining, windy and extremely cold! :P But luckily we had the car keys and still managed to catch the locksmith open (a grumpy French man who spoke little Portuguese and virtually no English). It was a night to remember! 😅
Much love to you, as always :*
🍀🌼 🍀😇