# Anachronistically Modern People **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 11, 2010, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anachronistically-modern-people/560263 "2010-11-11T02:12:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anachronistically-modern-people/560263/21 "2010-11-11T10:01:03Z")
What if we had underwater tarts pass out cutlery? How would that be for the basis of government? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anachronistically-modern-people/560263/22 "2010-11-11T10:31:39Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Democracy were probably used among cave men tribes. I read that democratic assemblies in Mesopotamia were replaced by the first monarchies. Primitive humans were probably led by a dominant alpha male, just like all higher primates. ---
**Author:** ![StrangeBird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@StrangeBird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StrangeBird)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anachronistically-modern-people/560263/23 "2010-11-11T11:22:11Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > I love you. _I_ love this thread. Pray, tell us more about the advanced and civilised ways of the pirate. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anachronistically-modern-people/560263/24 "2010-11-11T11:35:07Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Primitive humans were probably led by a dominant alpha male, just like all higher primates. I think you meant to say “Higher Pirate”. ---
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anachronistically-modern-people/560263/25 "2010-11-11T12:31:39Z")
RE: “parlay” I always assumed this was actually the French “Parler” / “Parle” (“to speak”) with that accent mark over the “e”. Yes? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anachronistically-modern-people/560263/26 "2010-11-11T14:19:49Z")
> [@UncleFred](#): > > RE: “parlay” > > I always assumed this was actually the French “Parler” / “Parle” (“to speak”) with that accent mark over the “e”. > > Yes? Not quite. In the sense of a discussion between enemies it’s spelt “parley”. “Parlay” is an unrelated verb meaning to roll the winnings from one bet onto a second bet (from Italian “parolo”, meaning “pair”). ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anachronistically-modern-people/560263/27 "2010-11-11T14:55:50Z")
One thing to keep in mind is that among pretty much all of these people, being a woman (or slave, or minority, or poor) sucked. Even the most enlightened people in the past were only enlightened about small parts of society. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anachronistically-modern-people/560263/28 "2010-11-11T14:56:51Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Speak for yourself! > > I thought I’d taken great lengths to ensure that both of my posts wouldn’t be taken seriously. 😃 > > “The brave and noble pirates” > “well-known for their peaceful and humanitarian sensibilities” > “I like to think that pirates were the first true Americans” > I even threw in a Disney film reference. > > Guess it wasn’t enough! 😛 You’re new here, aren’t you? 😉 There’s almost no assertion that is sufficiently absurd or nonsensical that someone hasn’t made it in all seriousness in GQ (and even more so in other forums). Since this forum is devoted to factual answers, the default assumption is that a post is meant to be taken factually. So it’s best to include a smiley if you really are joking. Now it was obvious that you were being somewhat tongue-in-cheek. However, actual pirates _did_ often make agreements among themselves, and sometimes did make decisions by majority vote. So your posts were not entirely false, although they were exaggerated. Therefore it was better to address them rather than just accept them as a complete joke. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anachronistically-modern-people/560263/29 "2010-11-11T18:55:17Z")
[Bartolomé de las Casas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartolom%C3%A9_de_las_Casas) was an early advocate of Native American rights at a time when such things were almost unheard of in the Western World. He also (belatedly, after initially supporting it as a means to end oppression of Native Americans) opposed the African Slave trade, again long before there was anything approaching an anti-slavery movement. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anachronistically-modern-people/560263/30 "2010-11-11T19:06:16Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > What if we had underwater tarts pass out cutlery? How would that be for the basis of government? What? Some moistened bint lobbing scimitars, for example? That’s no basis for a system of government. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anachronistically-modern-people/560263/31 "2010-11-11T20:32:33Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > What? > > Some moistened bint lobbing scimitars, for example? > > That’s no basis for a system of government. Stop oppressing him. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anachronistically-modern-people/560263/32 "2010-11-11T21:58:37Z")
Quoth **Odesio** : > [@](#): > > Holding a lottery to determine public office is no way to run a government. Why not? It’s a lot more fair and representative than our method of holding elections. You probably wouldn’t want to elect the single Head Honcho that way (too many swings from one to the next, and too much chance of a lone nut ruining everything), but I can’t see any problem with using it to select members of a few-hundred head governing body like our House of Representatives. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anachronistically-modern-people/560263/33 "2010-11-12T04:01:53Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Why not? It’s a lot more fair and representative than our method of holding elections. You probably wouldn’t want to elect the single Head Honcho that way (too many swings from one to the next, and too much chance of a lone nut ruining everything), but I can’t see any problem with using it to select members of a few-hundred head governing body like our House of Representatives. We already use a lottery to select juries, after all. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anachronistically-modern-people/560263/34 "2010-11-12T05:11:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Quoth **Odesio** :Why not? It’s a lot more fair and representative than our method of holding elections. You probably wouldn’t want to elect the single Head Honcho that way (too many swings from one to the next, and too much chance of a lone nut ruining everything), but I can’t see any problem with using it to select members of a few-hundred head governing body like our House of Representatives. Indeed. The one problem with politics is that those who most want to hold office are least qualified. I almost consider this a definition! Recall that MPs in Britain are not officially allowed to resign, supposedly because there was a time when people elected did not want to serve. With a large enough body, a randomly selected group of people are quite likely to faithfully represent the will of the populace. Keep the bureaucracy filled with professionals who know how to wrangle the newbies every 2 years, and we’d be set. Oh, and what we need as the source of power is something like a guy who lives out in a shack in the middle of nowhere, with a cat and a crossword puzzle to keep him company between the comings and goings of folks who want him to approve things. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anachronistically-modern-people/560263/35 "2010-11-12T07:35:12Z")
[William Wilberforce](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wilberforce). Modern in some ways, a man of his time in others. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anachronistically-modern-people/560263/36 "2010-11-12T07:48:01Z")
Hmmm, I guess Wilberforce doesn’t count as _anachronistically_ modern, as he was head of a popular movement, not a lone voice… ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anachronistically-modern-people/560263/37 "2010-11-12T08:47:23Z")
Whereas I don’t think he counts as anachronistically modern because he came along well into the modern era. You’re not _anachronistically_ modern unles you are active in the pre-modern era - say, before the sixteenth century. And if we regard the abolition of slavery as a modern idea, this fits well. We can trace aboltion back to at least the sixteenth century, when the Spanish abolished the slavery of American natives, and emancipated native American slaves, under the influence of the views of Bartoleme de las Casas. (Sure, they continued to hold _African_ slaves, but it was a start.) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anachronistically-modern-people/560263/38 "2010-11-12T12:18:58Z")
[Hero of Alexandria](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero_of_Alexandria). He invented the coin-operated vending machine. In the 1st century AD. ---
**Author:** ![phaemon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/977dab/32.png) [@phaemon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phaemon)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anachronistically-modern-people/560263/39 "2010-11-12T13:13:04Z")
[Robert Burns](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Burns), for example in songs like “A Man’s A Man For A’ That” ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anachronistically-modern-people/560263/40 "2010-11-12T13:13:51Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Speak for yourself! > > I thought I’d taken great lengths to ensure that both of my posts wouldn’t be taken seriously. 😃 > > “The brave and noble pirates” > “well-known for their peaceful and humanitarian sensibilities” > “I like to think that pirates were the first true Americans” > I even threw in a Disney film reference. > > Guess it wasn’t enough! 😛 You forgot about the sodomy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anachronistically-modern-people/560263.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anachronistically-modern-people/560263.md?page=3)