u/miguel-elote

Ancient Canaan (roughly modern Israel and Lebanon) and the Levant (Canaan plus modern Jordan and Syria) was an incredibly diverse region. From roughly 1000BCE to 500BCE, Canaan was a patchwork of petty kingdoms in nearly constant conflict. Judah and Israel were just two kingdoms in a politically and religiously diverse area. Large empires such as Egypt, Hittite, Assyria, Babylon, and Persia had to carefully navigate shifting alliances with these minor powers.

By about 300BCE, when Hellenistic kingdoms were fully established, only Judah (the kingdom) and Judaism (the religion) are left. There's no mention of kingdoms like Ammon, Moab or Damascus, nor of Canaanite gods like El, Baal, or Ashura. Why did Judah and Judaism alone survive this period?

Some specific questions:

• Am I completely wrong? Did kingdoms like Moab or Gaza still exist when Ptolemy and Seluecus established their empires?
• Did the Dictate of Cyrus establish Judean dominance over the region? That is, did Cyrus not just permit the Jews to return, but also helped them take over the entire region?
• Why did the monotheistic Israelite religion survive into the Common Era, while Canaanite practices survived in Carthage, Iberia, and other places far from their birthplaces?
• Did Canaanite practices syncretize with Greek, Egyptian, and Jewish practices? Such that they didn't disappear but rather were absorbed into other belief systems?

The Great Leap Forward was a 4-year program (1958-1962) intended to industrialize China's economy. Today (in the US at least), it's remembered as an unmitigated disaster, resulting in the worst famine in world history. This post is not an attempt to justify the tragedy. It's an attempt to learn: Did it benefit China's economy at all?

The criteria for an "industrialized economy" versus "agrarian economy" are complicated and vary. I'll say "more industrialized" instead. Between the start of the Great Leap Forward in 1958 and the Seven Thousand Cadres conference in 1962 (a rare moment when Mao actually took responsibility for a bad policy), was there:

-More factories manufacturing goods?

-Greater output of basic manufactured goods (probably the wrong terms), like steel beams, concrete, hand tools, etc.?

-Increased output of complex manufactured goods (again, probably the wrong term) such as automobiles, telephones, or military vehicles?

-Electrification, either in bringing electricity to some rural areas, or increasing electrical generation in cities?

-Increase in any general economic measures, such as GDP or balance of trade?

A family member is a gambling addict. He goes to Seminole Hard Rock 5-6 days a week, between 2 and 8 hours a day. He lies to family members when he goes, saying that he's headed to a different destination only for us to find out later he spent the day at the slots. Lately he wrecked his car while racing to the casino to beat a midnight deadline for "free money" (money that can only be spent gambling at the casino).

Unfortunately he doesn't consider himself an addict. He hasn't totally destroyed his finances, and he doesn't notice the damage he's done to his relationships, his physical health, and now his car. He's not likely to take advantage of the self-exclusion program at the casino. We're wondering what we, the family members can do to help.

1. What we can do at Seminole Hard Rock Casino? I'm sure the staff will say there's nothing they'll do unless he asks for help. If we push, could we get him removed from Unity club? Or take his address and phone number off their mailing and texting lists?

2. There are many addiction treatment services in Tampa Bay. Have you encountered any that are good with gambling addictions?

3. How to do an intervention? The depictions I've seen are just people telling the addict how much damage he's done and how terrible a person he's become. That sounds really counterproductive. Is there a better way to do it?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

As an American, I know only stereotypes about British public schools (what we call private schools). A major part of that stereotype is the hazing older kids meted out on younger kids. TV shows and movies depict kids separated from their parents and constantly subjected to humiliation, beatings, and Oh God why did I look up 'Soggy Biscuit'?

This is a broad topic. I'll narrow the scope to mid-20th century. This post was inspired by the Lord Of The Flies adaptation, so let's go with those characters. If they were students at a British public school, what would their experiences have been like?

Was hazing more common in boys' schools than at girls' schools?

Were certain schools infamous for a hazing culture?

What were common hazing incidents?

Did professors and other adults turn a blind eye to hazing? Or even condone it?

*Were public schools a British phenomenon? Or just English?

A person at my sangha is both a dedicated Buddhist and a devotee of Isha Yoga and Sadhguru. Do you have opinions on him?

I know he's neither secular nor Buddhist, but this subreddit has been so damn good at answering my questions. I figured I could get good responses on someone Buddhist-adjacent. Mods, delete if this is too far off-topic.

I've only read the Wikipedia article on him and a few videos on his YouTube channel. I'm still note sure if he's:

• A total charlatan who's not worth researching.
• A useful source of education, but not someone to follow closely.
• A font of spiritual wisdom who we can learn from.

My sangha buddy leans toward the third choice. I'm inclined toward the first. I'd love to get opinions from people who've read about him or tried Isha Yoga.

Disclaimer 1: I haven't read the Koran, just a lot of Wikipedia articles and Middle Eastern histories. Apologies if I offend any Muslims or ask a stupid question.

Disclaimer 2: Please don't turn this into a defense of or bashing of Islam. I'm asking about history, not religion or morality.

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What was the religious landscape in Arabia during Mohammed's life, especially prior to his "Night Of Power" revelation?

It seems likely Mohammed got some ideas from local Abrahamic faiths. There were Jews in Mecca and Medina, as well as Christian communities throughout the region. There were also groups, such as the Samaritans, that believed in the Abrahamic God but didn't consider themselves Jewish or Christian.

I believe the Abrahamic faiths were far more varied at the time. Many Christian heresies that were condemned in the Council of Nicea centuries earlier thrived in places like Egypt and The Levant. And I think the modern Rabinnic form of Judaism hadn't solidified by the 7th century, with many Jewish thinkers arguing about how Judaism can continue without the Second Temple.

What groups or ideas would Mohammed have encountered? In a powerful tribe like the Quraysh, I imaging he would have met many Abrahamic groups in his travels.

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Something specific I'm curious about:

Most Jewish prophets (and Jesus) appear in the Koran with very different biographies. Moses, for example, encounters the Burning Bush at a different point in his life. Noah, rather than merely a good man who's called to God shortly before the Flood, is a prophet who actively preaches among his people.

In the opinion of historians, how much of this history was innovated by Mohammed, and how much of it adapts other Abrahmic groups that had stories outside the Old Testament?

Are there classifications of Stoicism? Schools with different interpretations, or shifting views in different eras of history?

I'm listening to the outstanding Stoicism On Fire podcast. I don't agree with everything host Chris Fisher states, but it has definitely improved my understanding of the movement. One topic he brings up quite a bit: A distinction between "modern Stoicism" and "ancient Stoicism." He uses these terms to distinguish between what ancient Stoics like Cleanthes and Epictitus wrote with what modern Stoic figures like Lawrence Becker and Pierre Hadot wrote.

I'm not posting to discuss the merits of these interpretations. I'm posting to learn of classifications of Stoic thought. The major schools of philosophy aren't monolithic, and Stoicism certainly isn't either. Have academics made an effort to classify Stoicism into different schools?

Were there major divisions between important Stoic philosophers? Maybe key differences between Zeno's original interpretation and Epictetus's writing four centuries later? Or differences across time periods, like Victorian Stoicism versus Early Christian Stoics?

Are there other Buddhist schools that don't recognize rebirth?

Secular Buddhists either believe there is no afterlife at all (like Stephen Batchelor) or remain agnostic on the afterlife (Doug Smith). Are there other, traditional schools of Buddhism with a similar viewpoint?

I don't mean to start a debate on the nature of rebirth (or lack thereof). I mean to learn if there are other Buddhist schools that either de-emphasize or fully deny continuation after death.