10 of the Biggest Mistakes Ever By analise.dubner  [230 more lists]

This has long been held to be the thing that made us masters of our universe. And it was. The supposition was always that growing our food in one spot gave us lots of extra time to kill. Time that allowed for development of innovations and culture. And, yes, that's totally true.

But evidence has since shown that hunter-gatherer societies had as much, if not more, leisure time. In fact, the archeological record indicates that mortality rate actually went higher when groups switched to agriculture. A Hunter-Gatherer society gets more exercise and eats a more varied/healthy diet of berries, meat and fruit. Sedentary populations gave that up for a few different starchy grains that they simply used in varied ways. Development of refined sugars and alcohol were not something that HG societies would have come into.

And the thing is, agriculture as it has become is a very deep, one-way hole we have yet to dig our way out of. We have an overpopulated world that can now only be fed by the modern food industry. Sustainable foods are no longer cost-effective or even scalable. We can't go back to healthy farming, there are just too many people now. Both animals and plants have been mutated and bred to the point where they can barely even be considered healthy any more. And the dirt itself can hardly even support growing this stuff without considerable help in the form of petroleum based fertilizers and pesticides.

Sorry world, I don't see a way out of this one. In my opinion, this was the biggest mistake we, as a species, have made.

I bet there are folks out there who could say (and maybe they might technically be right) that Slavery allows for economic growth and prosperity. But I'm also betting that even those folks say it with a grimace. Because was it worth it? Not a chance in hell. Treating any sentient being like a piece of property is a disastrous decision... not just for ethical reasons (which should be enough, but never are) but every single instance of slavery has ended in blood. People will never accept it, never allow their families to accept it. And while they might be kept in that situation by force, it will never last. It is a reprehensible thing that has followed humanity through history, and still exists today. There will always be lazy, cruel and stupid people who think that getting a thing by force is just fine.

But it's always a mistake, and the perpetrators always find that out the hard way.

The loss of the ancient world's single greatest archive of knowledge is a pretty significant tragedy on anyone's terms. Think about how much was lost, and what we might know about our past if it had survived.

The blame for the destruction is not agreed upon, however. There are three possibilities that have circulated through time.

1. Julius Caesar did it. In 48 BC, Caesar pursued Pompey into Egypt. He was cut off by an Egyptian fleet at Alexandria. Greatly outnumbered, Caesar ordered the ships in the harbor to be set on fire. The fire spread and destroyed not only the Egyptian fleet, but also burned down part of the city - the area where the great Library stood. Caesar wrote about starting the fire, but didn't mention the burning of the library... which, well, he wasn't the sort of guy to admit to mistakes like that, but there is no direct mention of him burning the library.

2. Around 391 AD riots broke out in the city when Hierax, a Christian monk, was publically killed. Because the city was, like Jerusalem and Constantiople, a place where Christians, Jew and Pagans all lived together... it was a volatile place. A group of Jews, who it was believed had instigated the killing of Hierax, lured more Christians into the streets by claiming the Church was on fire. Once outside, the largely Jewish mob killed most of them. Mass havoc began as Christians retaliated against both Jews and Pagans... one of which was Hypatia, the head Librarian. Some regard her death as the final destruction of the Library.

3. Finally, the last theory blames Muslim Caliph Omar. In 640AD, the Muslims took Alexandria. When they learned of the Library in the city, the general asked the Caliph for instructions. He has been quoted as saying of the Library's holdings "they will either contradict the Koran, in which case they are heresy, or they will agree with it, so they are superfluous." Sounds like a logical guy.

Was it a mistake to welcome newcomers? I guess not... really. But it's hard, in hindsight... knowing what would become of the Aztecs and eventually the rest of the New World. It was a particularly large mistake on the part of Moctezuma... but given all the omens flying around and what seemed like a pretty high likliehood that the newcomers might be from an important Deity, I'm not sure he can necessarily be blamed. Plus, he was pretty powerful... and there were only like 600 Spaniards.

Still, smallpox epidemics and the destruction of not only their culture but ultimately the destruction of every native culture in the Americas. Yikes.

This one was a big oopsie in afterthought. I guess those who don't really pay attention to the whole historical repercussions thing probably thought they were just doing what was fair. But after WWI, the victorious Allies decided that Germany needed to pay them back for all the economic damage done by the war. This led to the economic collapse of Germany, isolating them and creating the pristine and pure conditions for the development of Totalitarianism and the Nazi party.

Yeah, that one didn't turn out so well, did it?