Tag: #essay

How ForumMagnum builds communities of inquiry

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Build norms, not features

A primary feature of a collaborative product is its social norms. I look at LessWrong, a forum product, and show how it builds its social norms. 2023-08-28

Don’t use the word ‘simply’

Avoid using the word “simply” as it can come across as insulting to the reader by implying the task is easy or the reader is stupid. Instead, rephrase to be more objective and avoid comparatives like “simply” or “just.” 2017-02-22

To what extent did the trial of Giordano Bruno set a precedent for that of Galileo?

The trials of Giordano Bruno and Galileo were connected, not because Bruno was a proto-Galileo, but because the Inquisition associated Galileo’s Copernicanism with Bruno’s condemned Hermeticism and theological heresies, creating a precedent for condemning Galileo. 2008-02-15

What were the principal factors governing state formation in the early modern period?

Humanism, the Reformation, centralized administration, the decline of feudalism, and the rise of national identity. 2007-03-10

In what ways might natural magic be seen to have contributed to the emergence of modern scientific method?

Natural magic and scientific method share commonalities, but only scientific method distinguished correlation from causation. The Scientific Revolution arose from internal technological developments, the link between knowledge and political power, and the destruction of absolute truth from the Renaissance and Reformation. 2007-02-09

‘A liberal revolution that was blown off course’. Is this an adequate description of what happened in France?

The French Revolution, far from being a “liberal revolution”, was defined by violence from the start, with the Terror and subsequent instability being a logical continuation, not a deviation, from the events of 1789. 2006-12-11

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