
Ask HN: Do historians' research findings influence modern societies? - alando46
Are there any examples of instances in which an aspect of modern society changed or evolved in response to new findings&#x2F;research about previous societies&#x27; mistakes (that led to their decline)? Just curious!
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internaut
Definitely.

If you examine the history of the British you'll find their architecture e.g.
Georgian, was inspired by archeological digs and ruin sites in Italy. A lot of
it bears obvious elements from ancient Greek and Roman temples once you stop
to examine them.

The Federal and Colonial styles in America are similarly inspired, obeying
rules of symmetry last evident on a civilizational scale during the Roman
Empire.

It is not just architecture. The education system in Britain and America was
originally based on the methods used by the Romans e.g. logic, rhetoric. It is
not a coincidence that we use words like curriculum, syllabus. I can tell you
it is pure joy to read some Latin works, they are so interesting and clear to
read in a way I don't get from a newspaper of 2016 A.D.

Our political systems are deeply informed by the thoughts of the Greeks and
Romans. The founders of America were particularly concerned about the failure
modes of democracy that concerned ancients such as Plato and Cato, which is
why in three days the electoral college is about to vote in the next
President.

The reactionaries and conservatives in the West have always held the downfall
of Rome up as a warning to present society of various failure modes, some of
which are moral decline (corruption), lack of moral fibre/spirit/courage,
subversive religions and civil conflict from non-assimilating ethnic groups.

Recently I've seen papers saying there is good evidence that Roman literacy
rates were much higher than we formerly imagined. That certainly influenced
how I thought about stagnation and decline. I am certain that humanity
periodically goes through 'Year Zero' Resets that cause them to forget almost
everything. If you'd like to have the pants scared off you, read Joseph
Tainter's The Collapse of Complex Societies.

