Paywalled article. Is there another source?
more annoyingly, it's not even paywalled -- it's just arbitrarily behind a login.
An Arsonist Destroyed an Ancient Wonder of the World for Modern Reasons
11–20 of 28 posts
Re: An Arsonist Destroyed an Ancient Wonder of the World for Modern Reasons
#12> The man who committed the act was said to be , and the ancients attempted to wipe his name away from history. Right, so maybe stop spreading it around? I mean, it's the only way to defeat him.
Young people generally have this idea that their name allows them to live forever if it is somehow preserved by repetition. It doesn’t. I had a dialectic materialist for a history teacher one term, and these notions are greatly muted when individual stories cease to be the center of all historical narratives. Cue Fight Club: “you are not special...”
That seems a strange generalization. I haven't seen any idea that 'young people generally have this idea' at all. What I -have- seen, and experienced personally, is coming of age and realizing exactly what you say, that they aren't special, that they don't matter.
And whereas boomers tended to indulge in wanton hedonism, or pursuit of commercial gain to try and feel a sense of purpose (think midlife crisis, "the one with the most toys wins", etc), millenials and later have seen that that doesn't work just by watching their parents (and oftentimes either already experienced it, or don't see it as a possibility), and so are trying something different (though something also tried, historically). Oftentimes symbolic acts that will leave an impression on others; that at least makes their existence matter -to someone-, even if it's negative.
I remember being in school during Columbine, and a comment another kid made at the time struck me - "If I was suicidal, I'd want to go out with a bang too; at least leave a mark". He was under no belief that his name would be remembered, but he wanted to at least -make a difference- before he was gone.
Re: An Arsonist Destroyed an Ancient Wonder of the World for Modern Reasons
#13Re: An Arsonist Destroyed an Ancient Wonder of the World for Modern Reasons
#14> The man who committed the act was said to be , and the ancients attempted to wipe his name away from history. Right, so maybe stop spreading it around? I mean, it's the only way to defeat him.
Herostratus Herostratus Herostratus Censorship of history should be resisted, and the chance that this was his actual name is slim. And there were no doubt a great many other Herostratus' who didn't appreciate having to suddenly be embarrassed about their names. The name "Gary" is disappearing for similar reasons. One criminal by the stagename Gary Glitter and suddenly a perfectly respectable real name is forgotten.…
Once Herostratus's name is brought up, I think it will be fair to mention that the temple he burned was built by Chersiphron and Metagenes.
Re: An Arsonist Destroyed an Ancient Wonder of the World for Modern Reasons
#15Paywalled article. Is there another source?
I use NoScript. Disabling JavaScript thus seems to disable that login/pay wall, to the point I didn't even notice it.
Re: An Arsonist Destroyed an Ancient Wonder of the World for Modern Reasons
#16> The man who committed the act was said to be , and the ancients attempted to wipe his name away from history. Right, so maybe stop spreading it around? I mean, it's the only way to defeat him.
Herostratus Herostratus Herostratus Censorship of history should be resisted, and the chance that this was his actual name is slim. And there were no doubt a great many other Herostratus' who didn't appreciate having to suddenly be embarrassed about their names. The name "Gary" is disappearing for similar reasons. One criminal by the stagename Gary Glitter and suddenly a perfectly respectable real name is forgotten.…
It probably has little-to-no effect on the decline in popularity of the name (especially looking at the time lines), but ‘A Gary’ has been a pejorative term for a bad skier for at least 20 years, if not longer.
Re: An Arsonist Destroyed an Ancient Wonder of the World for Modern Reasons
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
Young people generally have this idea that their name allows them to live forever if it is somehow preserved by repetition. It doesn’t. I had a dialectic materialist for a history teacher one term, and these notions are greatly muted when individual stories cease to be the center of all historical narratives. Cue Fight Club: “you are not special...”
That seems a strange generalization. I haven't seen any idea that 'young people generally have this idea' at all. What I -have- seen, and experienced personally, is coming of age and realizing exactly what you say, that they aren't special, that they don't matter . And whereas boomers tended to indulge in wanton hedonism, or pursuit of commercial gain to try and feel a sense of purpose (think midlife crisis, "the one…
[deleted]
Re: An Arsonist Destroyed an Ancient Wonder of the World for Modern Reasons
#18> The man who committed the act was said to be , and the ancients attempted to wipe his name away from history. Right, so maybe stop spreading it around? I mean, it's the only way to defeat him.
Herostratus Herostratus Herostratus Censorship of history should be resisted, and the chance that this was his actual name is slim. And there were no doubt a great many other Herostratus' who didn't appreciate having to suddenly be embarrassed about their names. The name "Gary" is disappearing for similar reasons. One criminal by the stagename Gary Glitter and suddenly a perfectly respectable real name is forgotten.…
I'm okay with censoring this bit of history (the vandal's name, not the event itself) personally, but that's beside the point. This whole article is arguing against publicizing the acts of fame-seeking criminals yet repeats many times proving that his strategy worked. It's an oxymoron or something.
Also, I think your logic is faulty. If no one knows 's name then they can't know to be embarrassed to share it with him. If the ancients had decreed that anyone who had the same name must change their name that would have let the cat out of the bag, eh? I think it must be that the ban was on telling the name of the vandal, not on the name itself.
Re: An Arsonist Destroyed an Ancient Wonder of the World for Modern Reasons
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
Herostratus Herostratus Herostratus Censorship of history should be resisted, and the chance that this was his actual name is slim. And there were no doubt a great many other Herostratus' who didn't appreciate having to suddenly be embarrassed about their names. The name "Gary" is disappearing for similar reasons. One criminal by the stagename Gary Glitter and suddenly a perfectly respectable real name is forgotten.…
It probably has little-to-no effect on the decline in popularity of the name (especially looking at the time lines), but ‘A Gary’ has been a pejorative term for a bad skier for at least 20 years, if not longer.
I ski, but I’ve never heard of “a Gary”. Can I ask whereabouts you live?
Re: An Arsonist Destroyed an Ancient Wonder of the World for Modern Reasons
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
Young people generally have this idea that their name allows them to live forever if it is somehow preserved by repetition. It doesn’t. I had a dialectic materialist for a history teacher one term, and these notions are greatly muted when individual stories cease to be the center of all historical narratives. Cue Fight Club: “you are not special...”
That seems a strange generalization. I haven't seen any idea that 'young people generally have this idea' at all. What I -have- seen, and experienced personally, is coming of age and realizing exactly what you say, that they aren't special, that they don't matter . And whereas boomers tended to indulge in wanton hedonism, or pursuit of commercial gain to try and feel a sense of purpose (think midlife crisis, "the one…
Impact is everything, anymore. Whenever I think about what a good legacy is, or might be, I'm always stymied by the fact that nearly every figure in America's pantheon has been a victim of the cultural iconoclasm our society is undertaking. Whatever else they may have done, they're above all else, now racists.
In ten years, given the rate of social change, everything I do today will likely be considered outmoded, backwards and probably contemptible.
In our increasingly atheistic society, even if I have a negative impact on history, I will likely be unpunished.
If I wanted to make myself a legacy, and had suicidal tendencies, the shortest path into the history books is clearly a destructive one.