this feels like a rude question but i really do wanna know: past a certain ambient temperature does it get too hot for people to accomplish anything interesting? does the historical dominance of great britain over the rest of the world suggest this?
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this was a popular notion throughout the early half of the 20th c.
e.g., Durant from volume one of his story of civilization series
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Civilizations, like the sun, rise and fall.
"Forever the north produces rulers and warriors, the south produces artists and saints, and the meek inherit heaven."
I.2.2
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i assume the implication was that this fell out of favor later? did it merely come to seem, uh, distasteful or was new evidence actually discovered that it wasn’t accurate?
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there was a semi revival with diamond's guns, germs, and steel (see latitude and longitude arguments), but with most things, I think it's of both - albeit I'm not expert
it has strong links with racism/colonialism and it likely doesn't hold up to severe criticism
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the caliper people like to use this argument so yes there’s a distaste factor here
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It's kind of amusing to me that there's so much importance attached to the "survival work ethic" involved, here.
take a look through the lens of agricultural slavery, too. looks a bit different.
or, take a look through the enlightenment lens!
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