Im always surprised how many well read people don't bother to have an opinion on what caused the takeoff circa 1500.pic.twitter.com/F0a2bqB616
You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more
I am talking more in terms modern political/social commentary, and having a story for why this happened in 16C & not before.
Oh, OK. There are a couple overlapping factors. 1/1380 was probably the last time Europe (as a whole) was at Malthusian limit
2/In the same century a number of important technologies were nearing fruition; optics, windmills, crop rotation, 123, weapons
3/The weapons aided state centralization, making barbarian invasions a non-issue and allow expansion of internal markets&trade
4/Other techs providing investment opportunities, kept raising the Malthusian ceiling,&brought in new resources, crops, etc
5/So at Malthusian ceiling wasn't an issue, state collapse not constantly destroying production& capital investments=profits
The malthusian factor does seem important ( and maybe under-emphasized)..
The social tech that let England avoid Malthusian trap is central to Alan Macfarlane's explanation 4y industrial rev started.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.