Pictured Power
Couldn’t resist sharing this:
My main quibble is with the chromatics — a single color for the Anglosphere would have been helpful. More generally, a correspondence of color with language groups would have given a more intuitive picture of history’s shape.
Also, China looks a little slender, no? (I wonder how ‘power’ is being calculated?)
This goes to, I think, 1950. China has grown in real power a lot since then, I think.
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Zerg Reply:
July 23rd, 2014 at 7:20 pm
“The Histomap by John Sparks, 1931″
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admin Reply:
July 23rd, 2014 at 11:14 pm
(Note the discreet racial labels at the top.)
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Hurlock Reply:
July 23rd, 2014 at 8:43 pm
China is also the only one of the original civilizations to still be relevant even today.
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Erik Reply:
July 23rd, 2014 at 9:02 pm
And India.
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admin Reply:
July 23rd, 2014 at 11:12 pm
I wasn’t referring to modern China, but to the China of the Qin, Han, Tang, Song, even Ming and 18th C. Qing Dynasties.
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E. Antony Gray (@RiverC) Reply:
July 24th, 2014 at 2:06 am
I suppose it must have to do a lot with projected power (look at the Mongolians!)
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Interesting how sharp the Mongolians appear both times.
Also interesting how universal the expand-contract cycle is.
Also note the differences in velocity over time. Very slow for first 1000 years or so.
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Erik Reply:
July 23rd, 2014 at 9:04 pm
Might the slow early period be an artifact of our lack of data?
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nyan_sandwich Reply:
July 23rd, 2014 at 9:49 pm
Could be.
What processes do we expect to affect the speed? Printing press and industry doesn’t seem to affect it.
I imagine the social tech cycle is driven by living memory.
I imagine the dysgenic cycle plays a large role as well.
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Amon Khan Reply:
July 23rd, 2014 at 11:26 pm
Indeed. Based on this data, there appears to be an 800 year cycle of Mongolian imperial explosions. I am therefore going to predict another eruption some time around the middle of this century. The Mongol empire will rise again!
Be afraid, be very afraid: http://gdb.rferl.org/7986E854-FD2B-4B3C-ACA8-F088C299B43E_mw1024_s_n.jpg
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Orthodox Reply:
July 24th, 2014 at 6:03 am
Mogol turned into Russia, so it already happened if the map was fast forwarded to 1980.
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[…] Source: Outside In […]
Posted on July 23rd, 2014 at 8:24 pm | QuoteThe thinness of China can be fixed by just pushing the map right an inch or three. Also gives space for the An Lushan Rebellion and the Mongols to squeeze it over.
The eastern Byzantine Empire should change colours to Greek green – but gradually (Justinian I still spoke Latin, etc). The final switch to green should strike at AD 668 when Constans II was murdered in Syracuse.
Above all the Hittites on this graph are laughable. They were barely more than cavemen prior to Thera’s eruption ~1625 BC; why are they here? Instead there needs to be a Hurrian section, abruptly ending when Suppiluliuma I quashes the Mitanni state.
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Posted on July 23rd, 2014 at 11:45 pm | QuoteVery interesting, thank you for sharing. It does accurately show the destruction of Mycenaean Greece, as well as the comparatively slower declines that the Babylonian and Egyptian states suffered during the Bronze Age collapse (circa 1200 B.C. to 1150 B.C.). Also note the Assyrian empire’s great expansion at the expense of its neighbours during the turmoil of this period.
Strangely, though, it doesn’t seem to correctly show when the Hittites were conquered. The demise of the Hittite empire was certainly within that timeframe, with Hattusa being razed around 1180 B.C.. Maybe the author was thinking of the Neo-Hittite kingdoms after this event instead.
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Posted on July 24th, 2014 at 2:32 am | QuoteThere is value in a percentage map, however a map that shows the expanding capability of human civilization would be way more cooler. It is infobits like these that make me rue the politically correct climate of today. It would be awesome to have a more realistic depiction of this map, with all the civilizations given their due. Energy control could be used as the one universal basis for comparison.
I feel India and China look seriously underwhelming in this map, while in reality, India’s riches inspired the quest that led to the european discovery of America.
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Posted on July 24th, 2014 at 5:39 am | QuoteIt’s interesting to see how *constant* China is on this chart.
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Posted on July 24th, 2014 at 11:38 am | Quote@C. Y. ChenThat was my thought too.
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Posted on July 25th, 2014 at 1:33 am | Quote[…] Power throughout the ages. […]
Posted on July 30th, 2014 at 5:01 am | Quote