Tagged Questions

8
votes
2answers
549 views

Is the Lindy effect well supported by evidence?

The Lindy effect is the observation that, contrary to the pattern with perishable things like people, the longevity so far is a good predictor of the future longevity. In other words, technologies ...
6
votes
0answers
173 views

Did clergymen contribute more to science than scientists in the 19th century?

Taleb provides yet more fodder for skeptical enquiry. In the middle of Chapter 16 of Antifragile ("A lesson in disorder") where he is arguing that science isn't the source of practical applications of ...
1
vote
2answers
2k views

Did ancient Indians invent guns, lasers, radars and nuclear weapons?

I found this site which claimed that Ancient India was an extremely advanced civilization whose technology equaled & in some cases even surpassed current technology. None of the claims have ...
14
votes
0answers
494 views

Were metered taxis busy roaming Imperial Rome?

While in Rome, I heard a claim that Ancient Romans had invented the taxi meter. "Ancient" here means the common usage of "a long time ago" instead of a specific historical period such as the Early ...
27
votes
1answer
6k views

VHS vs Betamax: How influential was the pornography industry in the format war?

Image Source For many years I have heard the legend that the porn industry played a crucial role in the victory of JVC's VHS over Sony's Betamax. It resurfaced during the format war between ...
22
votes
3answers
4k views

Would humans be more advanced if the Dark Ages never happened?

So there are a lot of people who say that the Dark Ages, lasting about 1,000 years, set humans back technologically. However, some say that since the Dark Ages really only affected Western Europe, ...
9
votes
4answers
4k views

Did Apple “jumpstart” the USB market?

Did Apple "jumpstart the USB market"? An example of the claim is as follows: When Apple released their iMac there was a rush to release peripherals to support them. Before that nobody really cared ...