littlegreenpills posted:

swampman posted:

littlegreenpills posted:

why do you think any one place on the earth was technologically inferior in any meaningful sense to any other place in the year 300 fucking BC

alex perfected the phalanx (which had only been invented in philip's reign) which became the most effective military unit of the next three centuries. he also had an actual military that trained constantly and was filled with veterans. in india alexander was basically up against intransigent hill tribes.

that';s not technology tho that's doctrine. things in your brain thats beahviours and that you could literally change just by thinking different and doing different things aren't technolgoy. technology is stuff made out of metal and wood and things

I dont know what to tell you. Alexander the Great is in the top 3, not sure at which position, of history's greatest figures of military science and empire building. There is a reason he had the title of "hegemon" and then suddenly 2400 year later we use the word "hegemony."

littlegreenpills posted:

lmao you're dismissing it by claiming its essence lies in the form of inanimate objects. if alexander's successes were primarily due to having slightly differently shaped cuirasses and longer spears than anyone else then why would anything he did still be relevant now in an age of automatic weapons and helicopter gunships. Technological Superiority Isn't Real. You Made It Up

Alex's successes were not primarily due to the shape of his swords. If that's all you think was going on, that Alexander built longer spears than any previous spear, then no wonder you have very little to say on the subject...

drwhat posted:

since i was the one who used the word technology i could tell you what i think of its definition but w/e

Its not a conversation worth having. This light blue person said "nobody was technologically superior to anybody when alex was conquering khujand," these are words xhe introduced into the conversation, FYI, then said I "made up" technological superiority. Well no. I didn't. I had just assumed that xhe meant that Alexander conquered the same way all conquerors conquer, with just a lot of conquering, when in reality most of his empire was managed by allegiance and the threat of force, and his army was fairly tiny compared to most armies of the day, except he paid his so they didn't have to take time off every year to help with the harvest, and so on.

deadken posted:

military doctrine is a technology. different societies produce and are produced by different military doctrines. steppe peoples could not use the phalanx, it's a technology that follows from intensive agriculture and urban populations. reducing technological differences to 'types of pointy thing' is dumb and, furthermore, gay. simultaneously considering alexander's conquests as stemming from his Historical Greatness rather than the material forces at the time is Gay In A Different Way. peace *drops mic on own foot* owie

Thanks Im aware that Alex wasnt actually descended from the gods. I already got that. Thanks for explaining it to me you dang old chav. Hurt feelings all around ahole.

littlegreenpills posted:

swampman posted:
littlegreenpills posted:
why do you think any one place on the earth was technologically inferior in any meaningful sense to any other place in the year 300 fucking BC
alex perfected the phalanx (which had only been invented in philip's reign) which became the most effective military unit of the next three centuries. he also had an actual military that trained constantly and was filled with veterans. in india alexander was basically up against intransigent hill tribes.


that';s not technology tho that's doctrine. things in your brain thats beahviours and that you could literally change just by thinking different and doing different things aren't technolgoy. technology is stuff made out of metal and wood and things

Yes but doctrine and ideology and such surely arise from material conditions and surely technology would be part of those material conditions?

deadken posted:

steppe peoples could not use the phalanx, it's a technology that follows from intensive agriculture and urban populations.

i'm gettin mad about the phalanx over here, real mad

thirdplace posted:

swampman posted:

alex perfected the phalanx (which had only been invented in philip's reign) which became the most effective military unit of the next three centuries.

if we're gonna post grumblefishbait let's just talk about greek buggery, dis troll is baroque as fuck

look all i was doing was agreeing with the other poster about alex being a testament to the sheer possibility of it all.

swampman posted:

deadken posted:

military doctrine is a technology. different societies produce and are produced by different military doctrines. steppe peoples could not use the phalanx, it's a technology that follows from intensive agriculture and urban populations. reducing technological differences to 'types of pointy thing' is dumb and, furthermore, gay. simultaneously considering alexander's conquests as stemming from his Historical Greatness rather than the material forces at the time is Gay In A Different Way. peace *drops mic on own foot* owie

Thanks Im aware that Alex wasnt actually descended from the gods. I already got that. Thanks for explaining it to me you dang old chav. Hurt feelings all around ahole.

thank, you

littlegreenpills posted:

swampman posted:

littlegreenpills posted:

also forget the catapults you big aspielord technoboner. they aint shit w/o killer logistics and morale. tha best armies are not whoever has the coolest toys sry. except the US army. and even then not really

I'm not "sperging" you utter child. Will you go to lunch.

you are a giant idiot child because you think in a pre-gunpowder era the exact shape and size and texture of the large rocks and pointy things people are inflicting trauma on each other with really matter all that much hahahahahahahahaha

holy FUCK its like you didnt play age of empires at all.........