What book are we reading at the moment?

Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
I believe Stafford owes it's very existence to the Saxon v Dane struggle of that time, or so some say.:eek:
Or so some say?

That's the narrative of the town's foundation.

Based on pretty solid Archaeological evidence.

Or possibly Stafford owes its origins to a Roman settlement near the crossing point over the Sow. One could look at the possibility of a mislaid Roman road running from Penkridge to Trent Vale & Chesterton.
Or, almost certainly, Stafford was a minor British settlement from the Iron Age, was a minor Romano-British settlement by the time of the Roman incursion, was accommodated by the Mercians as they advanced eastward - note the many "Walton" s we have nearby - before becoming a Burh in the frontline battle against the Danelaw.

In simple terms, a spur of decent alluvial land, naturally defensible on three sides, with good access by land and water, is just good real estate.

Then you find it has a seam of clay that is good enough quality to make some top quality pots from - i'm going to milk this for the next 100 years...
 

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
Or so some say?

That's the narrative of the town's foundation.

Based on pretty solid Archaeological evidence.
.

"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth."
Marcus Aurelius
 

Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth."
Marcus Aurelius
https://pure.york.ac.uk/portal/en/p...68e8-5e5f-4ba2-837a-042fecddbe1a)/export.html

Shit in the earth is a fact, is it not? Interpretation of its significance may be subject to the vagaries of opinion, that much is true.

But when you have post holes indicative of a building in a layer that would have been present 2000 years ago, you can start to tell a story beyond opinion, n'est-ce pas?
 

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
It's still more about speculation and guesswork than fact. You keep insisting a story goes beyond opinion toward fact ... 'do you not ?'

Even the word 'fact' has an uneasy definition. (Although I would speculate that it is one of the most abused words in the language.)

Nobody really knows for certain. Even in physics, we often see opinionated facts demolished in front of our eyes by another opinion, and then that by another. The only thing you can say with some degree of certainty, is that uncertainty rules the Universe, intertwined with probability. Still speculation mind.

Post holes are like more then 90% of the contents of our Universe, we don't really know what it is with absolute certainty, best we can do is give an opiniated guess.

Let us agree to differ, you see the world far too much in black and white, while I see mostly grey. Everywhere you look ... lots of grey.

You want a reference (by the way, references to me are from people who have run out of ideas,) ... look up Sturgeon's Law.
 

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
Other laws worth looking at are 'Clarke's Laws.' (SciFi writers are quite good at Laws. Often better than physicists.)
 

Mikinton

Well-Known Forumite
I suspect some of the 90% may come under "lies to children" - “A lie-to-children is a statement that is false, but which nevertheless leads the child's mind towards a more accurate explanation, one that the child will only be able to appreciate if it has been primed with the lie”. See "The Science of Discworld" by Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen.

The problem with "lies to children" is that they persist into adulthood.
 
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BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
Also a 'white lie' is another thing, and something I suspect we all do .. to avoid upset or offence. But in science a lie in itself can lead into the wrong direction.

There is a phrase: "Numbers do not lie." In essence I'd agree with that, but manipulation of let's say statistics can lead to false truths.

The classic example of that is: "If 10% of all fatal road accidents are caused by drunk drivers, then 90% of all fatal road accidents must be caused my sober drivers ... therefore it's better to be a drunk rather than sober driver."

The logic of this statement is unsound, it locks the entire argument into one variable, but you can see how it might convince some. Variables are difficult to understand at best, let alone predict.
 

Mikinton

Well-Known Forumite
The classic example of that is: "If 10% of all fatal road accidents are caused by drunk drivers, then 90% of all fatal road accidents must be caused my sober drivers ... therefore it's better to be a drunk rather than sober driver."

The logic of this statement is unsound, it locks the entire argument into one variable, but you can see how it might convince some. Variables are difficult to understand at best, let alone predict.
I think Dave Allen did a joke on this. (Slurring his words) "Why don't all you non-drinkers stay at home and leave the roads to us drunksh."
 

Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
Even in physics, we often see opinionated facts demolished in front of our eyes by another opinion, and then that by another. The only thing you can say with some degree of certainty, is that uncertainty rules the Universe, intertwined with probability. Still speculation mind.

Post holes are like more then 90% of the contents of our Universe, we don't really know what it is with absolute certainty, best we can do is give an opiniated guess.

Let us agree to differ, you see the world far too much in black and white, while I see mostly grey. Everywhere you look ... lots of grey.
When i see apples, i too wonder why they are not oranges.
 

Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
open_graph_logo.png

Orange-Logo.png

Compare and contrast.
 

Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
Oh wait, no i don't.

Is it coz i is black? Or white?

If only i was cool like you.

:love:
 
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Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
If you would like, we could 'duke' it out.

Behind St Mary's, on top of the replica cross.

This is, of course, a replica of the very real wooden cross, buried sometime after the reign of Æthelræd II - he may have been 'unready' but i won't be, ha ha - the reason i know this being that there was a farthing minted during his reign found underneath it.

Is this just an opinion?

Perhaps we could argue about shades of grey, while we muse about how that farthing got there?
 

Mikinton

Well-Known Forumite
Just started reading this.

51q809m1w7L._SY346_.jpg


And if I get through that one quickly, I'm going to follow it up with another of her books "The Guns of August".
 

Mikinton

Well-Known Forumite
Just started reading this.

51q809m1w7L._SY346_.jpg


And if I get through that one quickly, I'm going to follow it up with another of her books "The Guns of August".
After this morning's walk around the estate, I've spent the afternoon sunbathing, finishing my book off (reading about the last 40% of it). I can certainly recommend it, especially if you like historical political dramas with a touch of espionage.
 

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
I recently re-read a Stephen King short story called 'The Jaunt.' I suppose technically it's Science Fiction, the title itself a homage to one of the greatest SciFi novels ever written: "The Stars my Destination" by Alfred Bester.

But Stephen King is a horror writer .. and wow .. does this story ever deliver. Talk about the stuff of nightmares,
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Dark just isn't a good enough word …
 
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