medieval times or modern times?

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Author	Topic: medieval times or modern times?
the horned slayer BANNED Member # 6554	written Thursday, February 23 2006 18:06 Profile #0 which do you think is cooler? medieval times or modern times? Poll Information This poll contains 1 question(s). 26 user(s) have voted. You may not view the results of this poll without voting. function launch_voter () { launch_window("http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=poll;d=vote;pollid=bttzgOALFkTi"); return true; } // end launch_voter function launch_viewer () { launch_window("http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=poll;d=view;pollid=bttzgOALFkTi"); return true; } // end launch_viewer function launch_window (url) { preview = window.open( url, "preview", "width=550,height=300,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status,menubar=no,scrollbars,resizable,copyhistory=no" ); window.preview.focus(); return preview; } // end launch_window -------------------- join me! we shall harness the power of geckos, bunnys, and fluffy pink stuffed animals and rule the world!!! Posts: 193 \| Registered: Wednesday, December 14 2005 08:00
Sturg Master Member # 4614	written Thursday, February 23 2006 18:51 Profile Homepage #1 In the medieval times, there'd be no forums to debate and spam on. -------------------- -ben4808 Posts: 3360 \| Registered: Friday, June 25 2004 07:00
Kelandon Off With Their Heads Member # 4045	written Thursday, February 23 2006 18:53 Profile Homepage #2 Dear god, the Dark Ages. Before I became a classicist, I bought into the historical discourse that has been developing since, well, sometime after the Renaissance, that says that the Middle Ages were unfairly characterized by Renaissance scholars as a time of ignorance and barbarism between classical times and those contemporary with the Renaissance scholars. This discourse claims that the Middle Ages actually produced interesting works of literature and produced worthwhile cultural artifacts, and it claims that the medieval period in Europe was not a black mark on the history of humankind. Now, having studied the Classical Era and (less) the Renaissance, and having learned a bit of what was going on in the Middle East during the Middle Ages, and most of all having read some of the truly awful texts that the Early Middle Ages produced in the way of Latin — only a few weeks into my Medieval Latin course, I am already sick of histories in which Aethelwulf gives his daughter Aelfthryth to his friend Aethelbald for his conquest over Aethelbeard and his son Aethelfyrth, heirs of the great king Aethelfilth — I can say that I find this interpretation less than satisfying. In fact, Anglo-Saxon England seems to be the most abhorrently boring period I have ever heard of, and with a few exceptions (Beowulf, etc.), produced virtually nothing of merit, so that I believe quite strongly that, from about 500 to about 1100 (at the earliest), very little interesting happened west of the Middle East. The High Middle Ages and Late Middle Ages were probably more worthwhile, but right now, the Early Middle Ages in England are making me wretch. Oh, and I bet that Eastern Europe had some fun things going on with the Slavs (speaking Common Slavic) dealing with the Byzantines. -------------------- Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens. Smoo: Get ready to face the walls! Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr. Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever Posts: 7968 \| Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Dikiyoba Councilor Member # 6600	written Thursday, February 23 2006 19:00 Profile Homepage #3 Dikiyoba happens to like Dikiyoba's laptop and warm showers. Neither of those were around during the medieval times. Yay for modern times. Posts: 4346 \| Registered: Friday, December 23 2005 08:00
Bob. Lifecrafter Member # 6700	written Thursday, February 23 2006 19:06 Profile Homepage #4 Kel stole everything that I was gonna say, and then some. The only thing that I like about the Medieval period is the romantacised stereotype that is derived from its outclassed fighting system and failed honor code. And weaponry and armor, but that goes into the fighting system. :D -------------------- The Silent Assassin thinks that he'll stick with kevlar. Chain mail is too noisy. -------------------- -Lenar Labs What's Your Destiny? Ushmushmeifa: Lenar's power is almighty and ineffable. All hail lord Noric, god of... well, something important, I'm sure. Posts: 735 \| Registered: Monday, January 16 2006 08:00
the horned slayer BANNED Member # 6554	written Thursday, February 23 2006 19:23 Profile #5 quote: Dikiyoba happens to like Dikiyoba's laptop and warm showers. Neither of those were around during the medieval times. Yay for modern times. i didn't say live in. i said cooler(like which would you rather read about) -------------------- join me! we shall harness the power of geckos, bunnys, and fluffy pink stuffed animals and rule the world!!! Posts: 193 \| Registered: Wednesday, December 14 2005 08:00
John S Agent Member # 5814	written Thursday, February 23 2006 19:35 Profile #6 quote: Originally written by i on February 22, 2006 07: 35 PM : aaaarrgh -- This is your final warning, any future pointless posts will result in permanent revokation of your membership privledges.* Good day, sir. -------------------- quote: Originally written by Kelandon Well, I'm at least pretty Posts: 1115 \| Registered: Sunday, May 15 2005 07:00
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Thursday, February 23 2006 19:46 Profile Homepage #7 The topic has become somewhat interesting thanks to Kel, so it can live. The creation of the topic was wholly unnecessary. —Alorael, who is pretty sure the Middle Ages weren't worth living through. If they weren't worth living after, they were a complete waste of several hundred years. Or... were they a conspiracy? Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Sir David Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Member # 919	written Thursday, February 23 2006 19:46 Profile #8 Actually, all of his posts in this topic to date have been quite pointed, even if the first was somewhat ambiguous... I'd rather read about medieval times because I'm a bit of an escapist. A few seconds of consideration is enough to disuade me from wanting to live back then, but hey, romanticized ideals are nice to think about once in a while. I think I'd like to have explored the world before it was all discovered. -------------------- And though the musicians would die, the music would live on in the imaginations of all who heard it. -The Last Pendragon Polaris = joy. In case of emergency, break glass. Posts: 3351 \| Registered: Saturday, April 6 2002 08:00
The Stew Boy Infiltrator Member # 2836	written Thursday, February 23 2006 19:54 Profile #9 I prefer modern times, mostly because here we have higher moral standards than in the medieval times. Posts: 587 \| Registered: Tuesday, April 1 2003 08:00
M. Too Sexy for my Title Member # 5654	written Thursday, February 23 2006 20:02 Profile #10 quote: Originally written by Lenar Labs: Kel stole everything that I was gonna say, and then some. Of course he did, Shame on him, shame shame Edit: Btw, after 300 words, Kelandon still didn't say which one he preferred. Some people aren't just taking this poll seriously; It is so disappointing. [ Thursday, February 23, 2006 20:08: Message edited by: Selima ] Posts: 1035 \| Registered: Friday, April 1 2005 08:00
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Thursday, February 23 2006 20:05 Profile Homepage #11 I consider "not dying of easily-preventable diseases" to be pretty cool. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
dareva Infiltrator Member # 3220	written Thursday, February 23 2006 20:48 Profile #12 quote: Originally written by The Stew Boy: I prefer modern times, mostly because here we have higher moral standards than in the medieval times. Pooh. Personally, I'm only in this era for the electronic devices. Posts: 437 \| Registered: Sunday, July 13 2003 07:00
Tyranicus Law Bringer Member # 6489	written Thursday, February 23 2006 20:49 Profile Homepage #13 quote: Originally written by dareva: Personally, I'm only in this era for the electronic devices. Seconded. -------------------- "You're drinking liquor because you're thirsty? How nasty is your freaking water?" —Lazarus Spiderweb Chat Room Avernum RP • Summaries • OoC • Roster Shadow Vale - My site, home of the Spiderweb Chat Database, BoA Scenario Database, & the A1 Quest List, among other things. Posts: 1556 \| Registered: Sunday, November 20 2005 08:00
Ephesos Law Bringer Member # 4153	written Thursday, February 23 2006 21:25 Profile Homepage #14 This topic actually hurts my brain. That said, I'll take the modern, because I'd have been burned at the stake in medieval times. Within minutes, probably. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 \| Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00
Thuryl ...b10010b... Member # 869	written Thursday, February 23 2006 21:37 Profile Homepage #15 quote: Originally written by Ephesos: That said, I'll take the modern, because I'd have been burned at the stake in medieval times. Within minutes, probably. Don't give yourself too much credit. You're not that flammable. -------------------- The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure! Posts: 9973 \| Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Jumpin Salmon ? Man, ? Amazing Member # 5755	written Thursday, February 23 2006 21:50 Profile #16 Oh hell, I last saw this topic with 0 replies, and had hoped it would stay like that. t Kel - Try the Russ Dunn translation of Rihla if you are interested in the 13th century Muslim world. -------------------- quote: Originally written by Kelandon: Well, I'm at least pretty sure that Salmon is losing. Posts: 4114 \| Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00
Najosz Thjsza Kjras Lifecrafter Member # 6388	written Thursday, February 23 2006 21:58 Profile #17 quote: Originally written by Kelandon: The High Middle Ages and Late Middle Ages were probably more worthwhile, but right now, the Early Middle Ages in England are making me wretch. Oh, and I bet that Eastern Europe had some fun things going on with the Slavs (speaking Common Slavic) dealing with the Byzantines. I'd say European culture in general until about the late Enlightenment, late enough that Romantic trends are active, is absolutely unbearable. The 'classics' strike me as a set of tribal myths which were given an astounding level of pretention because a civilization that bought into them just happened to conquer a twentieth of the earth; that level of pretention bleeds over into the culture revisiting them almost exclusively for over a millenium, which I find unbearable. The Renaissance was a revival of something I found hideous; it wasn't until the Enlightenment that an independent cultural tradition began to develop. (The bits of stuff that did develop independently in the parts of Europe the Romans didn't lay their filthy fingers on are fairly dull, but they're on the same level as the Greek stuff, and most of it is at least vaguely novel.) And that was good, mostly because they had a slightly better understanding of the cosmos and human nature than 'God, or some number thereof, did it' to work with. That's my two cents, incoherent probably, but what can you do. As for which is more interesting: other than as an overly smug rebuke to an overly smug assertion in defense of an overly smug culture, I've got no particular affection for the Middle Ages. A damned filthy and dangerous time. Like now, only with the entire world only most of it. [ Thursday, February 23, 2006 22:00: Message edited by: Belisarius ] Posts: 794 \| Registered: Tuesday, October 11 2005 07:00
Zeviz Nuke and Pave Member # 24	written Thursday, February 23 2006 22:53 Profile Homepage #18 This looks like one of the amuzing situations where poll results are very different from the thread results. The current spread on the poll is almost 50/50 (6 for Medieval vs. 8 for Modern), but only 2 people expressed preference for medieval times in the thread. I voted for Medieval, because while life was certainly less comfortable back then, there is always something romantic about the past. Our modern world is very familiar, while past seems mysterious and exiting. That's probably why most fantasy/sci-fi books and games take either past or future as their setting. As for moral norms and standards of living, we still have a long way to go. A few hundred years from now, XX century will look as barbaric as the Middle Ages. [ Thursday, February 23, 2006 22:55: Message edited by: Zeviz ] -------------------- Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword, For it too has the power to kill. However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword, Can also have the power to heal. Posts: 2649 \| Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
Kelandon Off With Their Heads Member # 4045	written Thursday, February 23 2006 23:08 Profile Homepage #19 quote: Originally written by Belisarius: it wasn't until the Enlightenment that an independent cultural tradition began to develop. Which Enlightenment-era literary works do you find appealing? -------------------- Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens. Smoo: Get ready to face the walls! Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr. Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever Posts: 7968 \| Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Student of Trinity Electric Sheep One Member # 3431	written Friday, February 24 2006 00:14 Profile #20 I always used to wonder why the medievals seemed so awed by their classical forebears. Then I went on a tour of Turkey, and saw Hagia Sophia and a lot of Greco-Roman ruins, including Ephesus. Then it all made sense: the Classical era had really been a lot better in many ways. I also got a look at some medieval Japanese swords in the National Museum in Tokyo. By that time I had seen a lot of medieval European swords, and they looked dull-edged, dull-surfaced, and kind of uneven. The Japanese blades from the same era looked as though they could have come out of a factory today: sharp corners, sharp points, sharp edges, everything perfectly straight or smoothly curved, and the whole surface mirror-polished. By now I seriously wonder whether the subsequent ascendancy of western Europe was somehow due to its previous unprecedented decline. Was it perhaps only the long-lasting effects of its cultural collapse in the Dark Ages that motivated its radical transition to modernity? On the other hand, it's not that the medieval Europeans were dumb. They were people like everyone else, dealing with a bad situation. So if you look carefully, you do find that they were trying lots of clever things, and making some progress. They just had an awfully long way to go before getting back in the black, compared to the rest of the world or their own ancestors. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 \| Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Najosz Thjsza Kjras Lifecrafter Member # 6388	written Friday, February 24 2006 00:48 Profile #21 quote: Originally written by Kelandon: quote: Originally written by Belisarius: it wasn't until the Enlightenment that an independent cultural tradition began to develop. Which Enlightenment-era literary works do you find appealing? I find the French farce intriguing, along with a great body of the work in independent philosophy that emerged during that period (before the Enlightenment, respectable philosophy was basically ipsedixitism - whether the ipse doing the dixiting was Aristotle, the Bible, or a mix of the two). I enjoy the authorial interpretations of holy writ to have arisen from the period; I find their art pleasing, their music decreasingly unfortunate (the late Renaissance saw the rise of baroque, which I cannot abide by in any way - but it was at least something of an improvement; the classical period came within the Enlightenment and a lot of it is quite lovely). A great deal of the foundations of my views on political science and morality, and chances are yours as well, come out of the Enlightenment. The Romantic period was interesting as well, although there was an unfortunate trend to dump one raft of dull tribal myths for another (Zeus et al for Odin et al). If you're looking for specific literature? I haven't enjoyed a book written before 1860 - too much work involved to enjoy it in any way - but I have an intellectual appreciation for very little before the Enlightenment began. Shakespeare is a fairly rare exception; the first playwrights (besides Shakespeare, mind) whose works can evoke in me the emotion they attempt to without deep reflection - in other words, which don't require one to be steeped in a culture that no longer exists to make sense, and speak directly to the human condition - were those of 17th-century France. I'm afraid I don't have any names to plug, but that's because I barely qualify as literate. All I know is the broad strokes of what I like and what I don't, and that's what they are. Posts: 794 \| Registered: Tuesday, October 11 2005 07:00
radix malorum est cupiditas Lifecrafter Member # 6403	written Friday, February 24 2006 00:59 Profile #22 Wow, I think this is the first topic made by Arghhhhhhhhh that amounted to a real discussion. Congrats Arghhhhhhhhh, someday I think you may actually be recognized as an oldbie. (Probably when we have 10000 more members....) [ Friday, February 24, 2006 00:59: Message edited by: Infernal666hate ] -------------------- ??? ?????? ???? ????? Posts: 883 \| Registered: Wednesday, October 19 2005 07:00
Drew By Committee Member # 4233	written Friday, February 24 2006 05:14 Profile #23 Say what you will about the Romans, Alec, but the truth is they were ridiculously advanced for the technology available at the time. Four words: concrete and indoor plumbing. I invite you to go to Rome and learn about it before so casually dismissing that particular culture's achievements in an effort to ride Kelandon. [ Friday, February 24, 2006 05:19: Message edited by: Drew ] Posts: 2242 \| Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Friday, February 24 2006 05:34 Profile Homepage #24 I was talking about technology. Alec was talking about culture. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 \| Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00