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[–]sodasplash 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Dude, I was banned from /r/history for pointing out that there’s an excellent and well researched book that says China discovered America in 1421.

There’s actual, MASSIVE historical evidence that China discovered America in 1421. The book is called 1421: The Year China Discovered America by Gavin Menzies.

A) It’s ludicrously inane to perms ban someone simply for pointing out that there’s a book on a topic and

B) It shows how deeply toxic the entitled group think is there that everyone must bow to the POV of the mods. It’s at once immature and evil.

I really wish I could truly quit that site. All it does is piss me off every time I go there.

[–]roc 6 insightful - 2 fun6 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

Most historians agree that book is a few interesting arguments with mostly bullshit. But you shouldn't have been banned for just mentioning it.

[–]sodasplash 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I’ve read a few of those arguments and they all seem rather strained and under the surface to boil down to “we don’t really know.” The more widely acknowledged points that “strangely accurate pre-Columbian maps of parts of the Atlantic exist, as well as the biological evidence of pre-Columbian Old and New World contacts” seem like especially strong points to hang one’s hat on, given that the Western world cares much more for history than China.

I’ll have to try 1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance by Menzies next.

This sort of idea that we should simply conclude on the side of “500 years of (Western) history” in the face of newer evidence when the West never has had (and still doesn’t have) access to much of what input China might offer on the subject is misplaced to me. But I’ve always argued against the acceptance of a single narrative, which happens to be your, my, and most people’s major issue with what reddit has become today.

[–][deleted] 4 insightful - 4 fun4 insightful - 3 fun5 insightful - 4 fun -  (0 children)

I don’t wish to debate, I only want to reiterate what I’ve read on reddit before: being a subreddit moderator is the smallest amount of power I’ve ever seen go to someone’s head.