The Event that Caused the Most Damage to Humanity?

[Mr. President]

Krakatoa? Do you mean the little island between Java and Sumatra?

[Ramo]

While I'd like to take your word for it, I would prefer to rely on reputable historical sources, like the Oxford Encyclopedia of World History...

che's absolutely correct. The 13th century was an age of economic boon for Europe. Serfdom was dying, populations were exploding, there were people like William of Ockham who were starting an intellectual revolution, etc., etc. The Black Death changed all that.

[Ben Kenobi]

Since we persecute people that break other commandments, some bible thumpers no doubt feel justified in spreading the word of their god and persecuting atheists and non-believers.

What about the parable of the wheat and the tares? Christians are not to weed unbelievers apart from the believers because we might pull up believers along with the unbelievers. Only God can judge correctly. Those who persecute unbelievers are sinning themselves, in usurping God's role.

[aaglo]

I figured out a better one (compared to my previous post about christianity):

The genocide of dinosaurs: If they had survived, we wouldn't be such bullies now.

[Imran Siddiqui]

In contrast, the Fall of Rome had no positive aspects.

To add to what Ramo said, the fall of Rome and the Dark Ages HELPED Europe in the long run. It created competition among different states that would result. These states, by being rivals, wanted to one up each other, and this would be very helpful when Europeans were rising in the world.

In contrast, other civilizations didn't have the same competition and didn't fare as well.

[Tattila the Hun]

My birth.

(It will have impact, just you wait.)

The comet that killed dino's. We'd be vely scaly light now.

[TheStinger]

Originally posted by Ned


I strongly disagree regarding Jesus Christ and stongly agree about Mohammed.

I have absolutley no problem with Jesus, I have a problwm with all the people who susequently decided that they could interperate what he said and that their organisation was the truth. It is the religion of Christianity that is wrong, not Jesus himself.

By all means follow his teachings just don't go round forcing other people to, or use your interpretation of his teachings( and the other more blood thirsty elements of the bible) to make war/laws etc.

[Solly]

Feminism.

[Nubclear]

France.

US, Hitler, they whine, their arrogent, stupid....

[Heresson]

Without the unreasonably harsh penalties against Germany imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, it is likely Hitler would never had risen to power and the rise of Nazism, the Holocaust and WWII would never have happened.

That's something I can not agree with.
First of all, penalties against Germany weren't at all harsh. It lost little land. Alsace, Lorraigne (Lotaryngia in Polish, I'm not quite sure of the western name), which it took several decades earlier, and part of what it took from Poland not much more than a century earlier.
The mistake was not treating Germany harsh. It was treating it not enough harsh. German politicians from the very first moment after the treaty started talking about that it has to be changed. And the mights did not
forbid that. Hitler was a moderate when it comes to the
boarder with Poland in comparison to the earlier politicians.
Germany never paid the money it was supposed to pay.
Anyway, it's like if You said "throwing the guy into a prison made him become a criminal". That's right when it comes to children, but not when it comes to Germany, which has a longer tradition of nationalism.

why would you make this difference between the two?

The difference is obvious. While Jesus created a philosophy of love or whatever it can be called, and the church, the orthodoxy, are later additions (I would call it
a shield or an armour protecting the essence of Chritianism, perhaps covering it too much sometimes).
Muhammad created just the armour.

[Ned]

To a great extent, the ending of political unity in the Empire caused by German, Arab and Viking conquests all but killed trade and the monetary economy. This had a collateral effect of depopulating cities. This in turn killed off skilled labor and education.

Perhaps Europe's lack of political unity lead to strong competition in Europe's outward colonization. But it took a very long time to bring civilization up to where it had been during the Empire. Many estimate that it took 'til 1850 to reach the level of civilization that the Romans enjoyed. For Europe, this meant 1400 years of comeback.

No the Huns, Andrianople and the birth of Mohammend combined to kill a great civilization.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Mr. President
Krakatoa? Do you mean the little island between Java and Sumatra?

Yup. It has a habit of blowing itself up about every 150 years. Sometimes it's really bad and causes global climate change, as in 535AD (and probably the early XIVth century as well). This leads to less crops growing which causes starvation. The lowered temperatures cause outbreaks of plauge, hanta virus, and other extremely lethal diseases. They also caused nomadic peoples to migrate. In 535 it was the Avars, in the XIVth Century it was the Mongols.

[chequita guevara]

I don't theink the European dark ages were a loss for all humanity, just for Europe. Civilization still ruled in the East.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Ned
To a great extent, the ending of political unity in the Empire caused by German, Arab and Viking conquests all but killed trade and the monetary economy. This had a collateral effect of depopulating cities. This in turn killed off skilled labor and education.

Perhaps Europe's lack of political unity lead to strong competition in Europe's outward colonization. But it took a very long time to bring civilization up to where it had been during the Empire. Many estimate that it took 'til 1850 to reach the level of civilization that the Romans enjoyed. For Europe, this meant 1400 years of comeback.

No the Huns, Andrianople and the birth of Mohammend combined to kill a great civilization.

You're off here. The killing of trade and the monetary economy, as well as the depopulating of cities, was already happening when the Empire was in existence. It wasn't a result of the Germans, etc. coming in, it was part of the cause of their being able to invade. Roman political hegemony in Europe had been in decline for well over a century before the invasions became a serious problem. This was due to overextension, the army's massive portion of the economy and the system that said Italy didn't have to pay taxes, but the provinces did.

Once the legions ran out of places to steal loot from to finance themselves, the system fell apart.

[Eli]

Yup. It has a habit of blowing itself up about every 150 years. Sometimes it's really bad and causes global climate change, as in 535AD (and probably the early XIVth century as well). This leads to less crops growing which causes starvation. The lowered temperatures cause outbreaks of plauge, hanta virus, and other extremely lethal diseases. They also caused nomadic peoples to migrate. In 535 it was the Avars, in the XIVth Century it was the Mongols.

There was also an eruption/explosion in 1883 IIRC that caused a lot of mess.