The Feed

Posted by /u/Kutluna

Why have straight men historically been so hostile toward homosexuality?

I've had this thought since I was a kid, and every time I bring it up to my friends they just laugh. But I genuinely don't understand it, so I'm curious if there's an explanation from psychology, sociology, evolutionary biology, or history. I'm a straight man, and my logic has a…

Posted by /u/Captain_Strudels

In recent years, I've seen some claims in several circles that "Historically the solution to excess unmarriageable men is to start a war to kill some of them off". Has this ever been remotely true? Have we ever even had historical times of…

I've quoted the claim word-for-word from a very recent frontpage sub, however I've seen this sentiment echoed more than once and it got me curious. It seems really unlikely to me - at most, perhaps unmarried men might seek out war for social mobility, but I can't imagine some le…

Posted by /u/Wise-Text8270

Why does Adam Smith say 'neat' instead of 'net' income?

In book 2 he talks about gross and 'neat' income. It is just net income as we use the term today, but why did he spell it differently? Why did we change? Did they pronounce it 'nEAt' back in the day?

Posted by /u/Bkerrychina1

What role did Mao Zedong play in the creation of modern China, and what were his achievements and mistakes?

Hello! I am Kerry Brown, professor of Chinese Studies and Director of the Lau China Institute, at King's College, London. My most recent book is about Mao Zedong - `Mao: Power and Contradiction'. I have been thinking about Mao since my first visit to China in 1991, and this book…

Posted by /u/dr-doc-phd

It's 1978, Christopher Reeves has just made me believe a man can fly, and I now want to read as much Superman as I can. How do I get caught up on nearly 40 years worth of comics?

Today if I wanted to start reading older Superman comics, I could pirate them online, or purchase one of the many omnibuses. But in 1978 those omnibuses didn't exist, and the internet was still a twinkle in young Al Gore's eye. While I could certainly start buying the books as t…

Posted by /u/Raschevljanin

How many people here go to a weekly confession?

I’ve seen quotes from St. Padre Pio who advises weekly confession. I know St. Pope John Paul II confessed his sins weekly. I just want to make sure I am not exaggerating, because ever since Easter I’ve been going to confession every 7-10 days.

Posted by /u/wastevens

What's the origin of American Resturants serving "Take home leftovers" amounts of food?

I saw a post elsewhere about how, contrary to much of the world, the expectation at most non-fine dining restaurants is you will be served between a meal-and-a-half to two meals worth of food per order. When/how did this develop as an American cultural norm, distinct from the wo…

Posted by /u/Byerly2k21

Atheist going to mass

Hello, I am an atheist and, I am planning on going to mass this weekend. Is there anything I should know before going? I have been questioning atheism lately, and I have been looking into the Catholic Church.

Posted by /u/Romboteryx

Why did Iron Age Greeks seemingly have no memory anymore of the Hittite Empire?

Archaeology seems to indicate that the Hittites had extensive contact with the Achaeans and even had Aegean city-states (including Troy) as their vassals. Yet after the Bronze Age no memory seems to remain of there having been a major empire in Central Anatolia and Herodotus mis…

Posted by /u/Bongolio-the-seal

At what point did the Confederacy's leadership in the US Civil War realise the war could not be won? What was the attitude among the CSA's government as this became apparent?

I assume that it was not solely a few days before Appomatox that the CSA's government realised that the war was a lost cause. So at what point did everyone realise the jig was up? Were there any people who thought the war could be won even at the very end? Like, I assume we have…

Posted by /u/WartimeHotTot

How did US homelessness during the Great Depression compare to homelessness today?

The way I was taught about the Great Depression in school made it seem like there was extreme political pressure coming from homeless people themselves, and this ended up affecting politics at the highest level. To me, it seemed that the term Hoovervilles (along with Hoover blan…

Posted by /u/poedancing

My family uses the thief on the cross to dismiss anything Catholic

I have been sharing sources on the real presence in the Eucharist with my family to try to convince them of it. Recently it was an hour and a half long video of Brant Pitre discussing how the OT points to the Eucharist. Anytime a good point is raised they immediately object by b…

Posted by /u/Crazy-Blacksmith-336

Why didn't Argentina, despite having one of the largest European settler populations outside Europe, end up becoming part of the Global North like the US, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand? What caused it to diverge so much economically an…

Posted by /u/irencilla

What was the lasting effects on Argentinian politics of the Malvinas/Falkland war?

After some digging in the subject, I came to realize that most contemporary Argentinians consider the Malvinas subject as an internal political issue. They accuse one another of ‘desmalvinizar’ and differentiate between career military officers and ‘los pibes de Malvinas’, among…

Posted by /u/River-19671

Meeting with Eden Invitation today

I (58F, have SSA) have been away from the church for 7 years and have been thinking about coming back. Last month I was on a zoom call with some people from Eden Invitation, which I understand is a fairly new church approved ministry to LGBTQ folks, and today I have a story call…

Posted by /u/funnylib

The average height within populations has varied due to factors like nutrition, with people in 21st century western countries generally being slightly taller than their ancestors, but when did the modern idea that people were historically…

For example, from my understanding the difference in average height between a late 18th century American and a 21st century American being within an inch, but I commonly hear people (random people, not anyone academic) talk about it as if it were half a foot or more. I imagine i…

Posted by /u/Umpuuu

Medieval peasants famously ate "bread and cheese". What kind of cheese was it? Would whatever cheeses they normally ate, be recognizable as any of the modern varieties?

Posted by /u/ExternalBoysenberry

The Batista government was so brutal in trying to suppress the rebellion that the US stopped selling them weapons in March 1958. Are there other examples where Cold War-era US refused, on human rights ground, to sell weapons to a governmen…

Did the US really allow human rights concerns to supersede its geopolitical interests in this case, or did it make a strategic move (ie maybe assessing Batista's position to be hopeless?) and sell it as moral integrity?

Posted by /u/BjorkingIt

How did people perceive or respond to Postpartum Depression in pre-modern times?

Posted by /u/jeffisnotmyrealname

Rosary appreciation thread

I love the rosary. Clinging to it is like being a child clinging to Mary's legs. It crushes the head of the serpent. It provides a feeling of safety. It is a compendium of the Gospel. Like exorcist msgr Essef says, it protects you in the worst time of your life. Tell us why you…