#AskHistorians

[beansprouts]

“The act of revolt is common to the human experience.” -r/AskHistorians

r/AskHistorians has a well-earned reputation for quality: its moderators work very hard to uphold high standards for research and civil discussion, resulting in among the most beloved history-centric forums online today. Unsurprisingly, they are among the subs protesting API changes right now, and because u/spez is a bastard and not backing down, they are still protesting post-blackout: most of the sub is currently in private (read-only, effectively) mode.

r/AskHistorians moderator u/CoeurdeLionne pinned this writeup on revolts to the sub, which I quite liked and wanted to share to my primary hellsite.

Post Transcription follows (emphasis mine, links are from original):

Welcome back Historians! Like most of Reddit, we are in the midst of what many news outlets have described as a ‘revolt’ against proposed changes to Reddit’s API policies that will hurt the functionality of our platform, and hinder our ability to continue providing moderated content.

You can read our previous statements here, here, and here. And if you would like to see a sample of r/AskHistorians’s broader outreach to mainstream media, you can read our statements:

The New York Times The Washington Post CBS News SFGate Forward

The act of revolt is common to the human experience. Humans rebel for a variety of ends, often to preserve a norm or institution being threatened, or to destroy one viewed as oppressive. The very act of revolt or rebellion can take infinite forms and have equally diverse outcomes. Some end in small victories that fade into the tapestry of history, while others lead to immense social change that dramatically change the wider world. Even when revolts fail, they leave lasting consequences that cannot always be escaped or ignored.

We are inviting our contributors to write about instances of revolt, rebellion, revolution and resistance. No rebellion is too small, or too remote. From protests against poor working conditions, to the deposing of despots, tell us the stories of revolt throughout history, and the consequences left behind.

Floating Features are intended to allow users to contribute their own original work. If you are interested in reading recommendations, please consult our booklist, or else limit them to follow-up questions to posted content. Similarly, please do not post top-level questions. This is not an AMA with panelists standing by to respond. Such questions ought to be submitted as normal questions in the subreddit.

As is the case with previous Floating Features, there is relaxed moderation here to allow more scope for speculation and general chat than there would be in a usual thread! But with that in mind, we of course expect that anyone who wishes to contribute will do so politely and in good faith.

Comments on the current protest should be limited to META threads, and complaints should be directed to u/spez.

[perrysoup]

How would something like r/AskHistorians work here? I crave history questions and facts from reputable sources

[wakewithgiggli]

A fascinating thread on trans people through history from askHistorians. I wish the thread was longer.

Of course, there's one comment from a transphobe pretending to just have concerns, but he gets firmly shot down by the moderators who are good people but probably not as familiar with anti-trans rhetoric as they are with white supremacists attempts to sneak in their holocaust denial and anti-semitism. (They are very good at spotting that and deleting it on sight.)

There a lot of pretty heavy, thought provoking comments there. Enjoy!

[lesbianshepard]

these are the questions about history that the people really need to ask

[isthenapoleoncute]

Rating: Cute!

This Napoleon is snorting cocaine, he's got a cat friend who knows how to shoot a gun, and he has an army of loyal rats which is really cool. This Napoleon could beat a Duke of Wellington easy, 1, 2, 3, like in that one movie. What could be cuter?

Whoever made this enclosure REALLY went all out for their Napoleon!

[chlodovetch]

I like r/AskHistorians's characteristically comprehensive yet concise explanation for what the Reddit API drama is all about:

Their latest update is longer than I want to screenshot, but TLDR:

and

[nomchonks]

actually there are stupid questions

[st-just]

Always profoundly annoying when someone whose clearly smart and well-informed about the subject gets asked a question they either don't want to answer or find inconvenient so they just, like, zoom out and write an essay about the whole category of things the subject of the question might be grouped in without ever touching, like, specifics or particulars.

[beaniebeby]

we are roughly one year away from +reddit being the only reliable source of information

[max1461]

I'm curious. For people who use reddit, what are the last ten subreddits you posted to?

[queensboro]

Did the ancient Greeks have stand up comedy

[diamondnokouzai]

it drives me insaaaaaaaaane that the Haudenosaunee and the aztec were at like about the same time. like i could drive to mexico city in like....not a day, but it would be a spring break trip. like do you think they gossiped about each other? do you think they were pen pals

[bongosblorbos]

I think I have figured out what career I want to pursue and unfortunately it is getting a PhD and becoming a historian/history professor. It is literally the only career that doesn’t give me a pit of dread in my stomach to think about long term. I love research and I love explaining my research. But also I love job security and having money to live and do fun things.

[necco-wafer-official]

seriously considering deleting my reddit app because it's briefly down

[distancemodulus]

I heard recently that the majority of what people believe about Satan, the devil, etc is actually from the works of Dante and that even many Christians believe things about Satan that aren't actually referenced in biblical texts. How accurate is this and what are examples?

"This isn't what modern scholarship on the Book of Job holds.

In Job, Satan is a title-- the accuser or the prosecutor-- not the name of an angel or devil. The Satan is a role in the Divine Council or Heavenly Court-- a pantheon of gods, with a Supreme God at the top-- which eventually developed into monotheism in ancient Israel.

One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the LORD, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them.

Job 1:6-12 NLT

The accuser's role is to act as the prosecutor or adversary, as you allude to later. Satan isn't at odds with God when he suggests disasters that should befall Job; he's just fulfilling his role in the heavenly court."