It was common practice in the 16/1700s. Find a tribe, use modern technology to make them believe you are gods. I can't remember who it was, maybe blackbeard? Came to an island, with lots of pyrotechnics, and told the people to give them food. Knowing there would be a blood moon soon, he said that if they didn't give him food, a week from now he would turn the moon blood red. They didn't give him food, and lo and behold, 1 week later, the moon turned red and the tribe positively shit themselves, and handed over the food.
There's a theory that Robert Louis Stevenson also used this kind of tactic on the people of Samoa, whilst searching for the lost treasure of Coco Island.
There was a story about predicting an eclipse too. Said their god was superior and if the natives didn’t give them resources then the god would take away the moon or something.
Sounds like utter horseshit tbh made up by dudes who just robbed and stole their shit. They’re tribal they’re not idiots. Eclipses happen and everyone can see them, it’s not a discovery
While it's a overused trope, it doesn't come from thin air. Colonial history is full of similar stories. 'Explorers" landing in Central America and literally being mistaken for gods was well documented, on both sides.
South America also had a incredible range of civil development. From deeply isolated tribes to massive metropoletan areas. Europeans never go to see those in their full glory, since foreign phatogens killed most of their populations
So you're comparing an advanced and well educated empire to a tiny island village?
Sort of, I thought it was obvious that I was specifically using the Maya as an example to indicate that pre-Columbian mezo-americans were knowledgeable in astronomy. So no I'm not comparing the technological prowess of the Maya with the 20 people that live in this forest hut. My entire point was that they probably know what an eclipse is. Whether they attribute it to magic or planetary alignment doesn't really matter. They are familiar with them was the entirety of my point.
Right that's my point you can't point to a tech that one empire (that was renowned for their knowledge) has and say because these people know this everyone knows it
But that's not what I did. I said the Maya had a calendar therefore it's more than reasonable to assume these people in hut are familiar with eclipses. Use any other civ, doesn't matter. The point is, people have been looking at the sky forever and have seen eclipses since forever. The idea that you would somehow trick them into thinking you're a God who did it because they didn't know about eclipses is silly. That's the point, stop trying to stretch it. I'm not comparing technology, I'm saying the Maya had sophisticated calendars therefore it's reasonable to assume these people are at least familiar with eclipses. Again, doesn't matter what they attribute them to.
Are you trying to assert that conquistadors used this method to fool natives or that these people in a hut don't know what an eclipse is? Or are you saying that even though we know the Maya knew about eclipses, and we are only talking about eclipses, literally nothing else, it's not reasonable to assume these people have seen an eclipse before?
I don't know when the next solar eclipse. Does that mean I'm unfamiliar with solar eclipses? No.
Did I ever claim that these 20 people in a hut had a calendar? No.
Does this have anything to do with my point? Also no.
Yes a calendar is a technology but I wasn't saying these 20 people in a hut had calendars. I'm not going to continually rephrase the same point over and over again. If you don't have it by now then move on.
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u/[deleted] Sep 15 '22
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