Recent comments in /f/history

Stori_Weever t1_ivwynuk wrote

Reply to What was the societal role of polytheistic Mediterranean religions and their priests? by bhejda

I think deities in general are a means of personifying in an attempt to come to terms with big abstract forces difficult for a human to come to terms with.

Someone might have difficulties reconning with the realities of war might have conversations with war personified, through prayer or a priest to attempt to come to terms with that reality.

In this interpretation, monotheism is simply dealing with these concepts as part of a whole or to attempt to deal with the root of all of these concepts directly.

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Spaceguy5 t1_ivwy60i wrote

Reply to comment by mrgtiguy in NASA leaders recently viewed footage of an underwater dive off the East coast of Florida, and they confirm it depicts an artifact from the space shuttle Challenger by marketrent

The design wasn't bad, if it was used properly in the correct environment. The way they were using it is what was bad, because it wasn't designed to be used at those temperatures and they knew it but ignored the spec. And using stuff outside of spec without any kind of analysis nor investigation to confirm it won't be a problem is a lesson they learned in blood. It's something still taught to the current NASA work force (which I'm part of).

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Spaceguy5 t1_ivwxwgr wrote

Reply to comment by MoMedic9019 in NASA leaders recently viewed footage of an underwater dive off the East coast of Florida, and they confirm it depicts an artifact from the space shuttle Challenger by marketrent

Not under the doors, but the very bottom of the vehicle. The belly of the vehicle was covered in square shaped tiles and a relatively flat shape, which matches the piece that they found.

Under the doors were radiators, and the doors for the most part had no tiles on them

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johnn48 t1_ivwvnyd wrote

Reply to NASA leaders recently viewed footage of an underwater dive off the East coast of Florida, and they confirm it depicts an artifact from the space shuttle Challenger by marketrent

I’d be curious if NASA would want to recover it to determine if it added anything to their understanding of what went wrong. Will this be a “let the honored dead Rest In Peace”, we’ve determined the cause and we’ve moved on. Curious to see what happens.

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DaoFerret t1_ivwhrta wrote

Reply to comment by fantasmoofrcc in NASA leaders recently viewed footage of an underwater dive off the East coast of Florida, and they confirm it depicts an artifact from the space shuttle Challenger by marketrent

As someone who got to witness the launch from the visitor peninsula (car to the visitors center, bus from there) and as a lifelong fan of Richard Feynman, I would use much stronger language and douse whoever used those words in a glass of ice-water.

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Peter_deT t1_ivwgq79 wrote

Reply to What was the societal role of polytheistic Mediterranean religions and their priests? by bhejda

First - the Mediterranean religions were very different from each other, although all were polytheistic. Some had dedicated priests, some did not (Rome had both dedicated priests and a role for male heads of families, who led worship of the household gods). Some had a focus on individual devotion (most notably in Syria), some were more communal. Socially, worship was an occasion for an expression of civic virtues and often a celebration of significant events (foundings, victories), plus benefaction and display of status.

The gods ranged from local powers of a spring or grove through (in Greece) personifications of emotion or capability (Love, Memory) to supernatural aspects of society (the Avengers) or cults devoted to particular activities (War, Agriculture) to sources of law and justice (Zeus the Law-Giver). How you conceived of them and what you did were highly contextual. Priests knew the right way to conduct the rituals and the appropriate prayers, so were experts on the care and feeding of the gods. They often had authority at certain times and occasions, and sometimes their persons were sacred (as in Vestal Virgins). The rites could be arcane - one High Priest in Rome had to sleep on a bed in contact with the earth and could not see a man in chains (if he did the man was immediately freed).

In short - the world was numinous, everyone acknowledged this and did their best to placate the invisible powers, and some people were professionals at this.

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