jamotide: It is totally relevant, 5 to 10% of a population dieing due to the likes of Mao happened so often so often you cant even count it. But killing 30% of the population of a country is noteworthy, even if the country is small.

For example, murders in china are not more interesting than murders in France, just because the total number is much higher. It would only be interesting if the murder RATE was much higher in one of the countries.

You are just trying to save your idiotic statement now, saying that deaths are higher in bigger countries is not "inhumane and horrible".

t4n3: Speaking of which, have you seen The Croods? It's about cavemen that survive the breakup of Pangaea, and discover fire. I thought that was hilarious with all the weird creatures. Only drawback is Nic Cage voicing the father.

Anyway, God yes fire is amazing. That honestly was the fist step towards civilization I believe.

t4n3: Can't you both agree that murder is evil and shake hands? C'mon there are better things to discuss.

Like how Roman women invented the bra by using a leather strap.

Lifthrasil: I thought his name was Prometheus! But in any case that was probably THE most important change in (pre)-history. The first expression of rationality over instinct. Or in other words, it was the moment when our species changed from instinctively fire-fearing animal to fire-using human. And fire still shapes our lives today. No other step of civilization ever had the kind of impact that fire had. Not even the wheel.]

Lifthrasil: I thought his name was Prometheus! But in any case that was probably THE most important change in (pre)-history. The first expression of rationality over instinct. Or in other words, it was the moment when our species changed from instinctively fire-fearing animal to fire-using human. And fire still shapes our lives today. No other step of civilization ever had the kind of impact that fire had. Not even the wheel.

.............................................................................................................. ...........................Lifthrasil: You forgot one important detail!

ChrisSD: Speaking about first steps to civilization... what I find really interesting is how farming came about. It was independently invented in probably only three or four different places in the world but it did spread really quickly.

I'm not entirely sure if it's true or not but apparently all modern wheat used in farming can trace its ancestry to a hillside in Mesopotamia.

t4n3: Have you heard about Norman Borlaug? If not I encourage you to read just a little on him. Because of him everyone on this planet can be easily fed, if only we could remove all the corruption in power first.

Cormoran: You're not even making any sense now.

ChrisSD: I'd never heard of him before! Thank you, I'll do some reading...

Lifthrasil: All of history is fascinating. But the period that interests me most are the crusades. Especially the 3rd crusade, I.e. the time of Barbarossa, Richard Lionheart and Sultan Saladin. You get several dominant historical figures at once and the events of that period have a deep impact on everything that follows after.
My second pet-period is the 1920-es. A very interesting period torn between hope and fear. Everything was changing, science, art and society. Everything was new. But also the political scenery was changing daily and dangerously so. So it's a very vivid period with lots of things to study.
Apart from these two I am also very interested in early-historic cultures like Babylon and Sumer. First appearance of script, fist recorded mathematics and astronomy and one of the first transitions from a rural to an urban society.

jamotide: You need to read again, it makes perfect sense. The comments were in no way equal. I was just saying that deaths of a common cause are obviously higher in bigger countries which is a fact of reality, not inhumane.
He was saying that death rates are obviously higher in smaller countries which is logically false and inhumane especially in the context of one of the worst genocides in history.