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#21
Off the Record / Re: The Population Decline Thr...
Last post by Oexmelin - November 13, 2025, 08:48:31 PMIt really is difficult to make any pronouncements about how "widespread" infanticide was. It's really difficult for the early-modern period, which I know best, and has some record-keeping, so I can't really imagine people being so much more confident about earlier periods.
For London, say, the Old Bailey proceedings finds 428 trials for infanticide between 1670 and 1910; less than 2 per year. It doesn't strike me as widespread. For New France, we have 10 cases for the whole period (1660-1760).
Obviously that number only concerns trials; it doesn't concern cases that were concealed as stillbirths or infants who died shortly after birth. However, what the historiography - again, for the early modern period - shows, is that trials happen because the neighborhoods denounced the practice, or at least the most extreme cases. Usually, there was a much better support network for concealing unwanted pregnancies, or providing abortion. Infanticide was a step further.
Obviously, the above doesn't apply to enslaved population, where infanticide may have happened more frequently, though we only have impressionistic evidence.
For London, say, the Old Bailey proceedings finds 428 trials for infanticide between 1670 and 1910; less than 2 per year. It doesn't strike me as widespread. For New France, we have 10 cases for the whole period (1660-1760).
Obviously that number only concerns trials; it doesn't concern cases that were concealed as stillbirths or infants who died shortly after birth. However, what the historiography - again, for the early modern period - shows, is that trials happen because the neighborhoods denounced the practice, or at least the most extreme cases. Usually, there was a much better support network for concealing unwanted pregnancies, or providing abortion. Infanticide was a step further.
Obviously, the above doesn't apply to enslaved population, where infanticide may have happened more frequently, though we only have impressionistic evidence.
#22
Gaming HQ / Re: Europa Universalis V confi...
Last post by crazy canuck - November 13, 2025, 08:31:46 PM"The rulers administrative ability now reduces proximity distance"
This is going to make it seem like easy mode compared to the careful production planning we have to do now.
This is going to make it seem like easy mode compared to the careful production planning we have to do now.
#23
Gaming HQ / Re: Valve Announces the Steam ...
Last post by Jacob - November 13, 2025, 08:20:08 PMI haven't looked into it thoroughly, since disabling wifi connection was a sufficient fix for my needs.
#24
Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...
Last post by Josquius - November 13, 2025, 08:13:13 PMHe claims it's about community despite all their other policies being anti community. Often spitefully so. Pff.
#25
Off the Record / Re: The Population Decline Thr...
Last post by Josquius - November 13, 2025, 08:10:34 PMAs said the evidence for the opposite, that people cared A LOT about infants is pretty strong.
Emergency baptisms, burials up against church foundations, etc...
The church having baby boxes for unwanted children goes back quite some way. The evidence really does seem to point towards Christian Europeans seeing this as a major hang up.
Of course when you speak about medieval Europe you're speaking about a large area over a thousand years of time. Stands to reason there'd be times and places where things were different
And of course it happened. It happens today despite our even bigger hang ups.
But it wasn't a big thing. Getting enough children to keep society going was the challenge.
Read the unmotigated pedantry piece I mentioned. It's pretty interesting.
Emergency baptisms, burials up against church foundations, etc...
The church having baby boxes for unwanted children goes back quite some way. The evidence really does seem to point towards Christian Europeans seeing this as a major hang up.
Of course when you speak about medieval Europe you're speaking about a large area over a thousand years of time. Stands to reason there'd be times and places where things were different
And of course it happened. It happens today despite our even bigger hang ups.
But it wasn't a big thing. Getting enough children to keep society going was the challenge.
Read the unmotigated pedantry piece I mentioned. It's pretty interesting.
#26
Gaming HQ / Re: Valve Announces the Steam ...
Last post by Josquius - November 13, 2025, 08:04:56 PMIsn't there a family library option on steam?
Tick a box to make your games playable by a a few other accounts?
Or that still only let's one person play?
Tick a box to make your games playable by a a few other accounts?
Or that still only let's one person play?
#27
Gaming HQ / Re: Valve Announces the Steam ...
Last post by Jacob - November 13, 2025, 07:37:00 PMIMO the biggest issue I have with the potential Steam Box is an issue I have with the Steam Deck right now. If my wife is playing Game A on the Steam Deck and I start playing Game B on my PC, she gets kicked off Game A (and vice versa) because it's the same account.
The solution has been to turn of internet connectivity on the Steam Deck when there's more than one game going on. But being able to play more than one of the games I have on different devices becomes more important if I get multiple Steam devices.
The solution has been to turn of internet connectivity on the Steam Deck when there's more than one game going on. But being able to play more than one of the games I have on different devices becomes more important if I get multiple Steam devices.
#28
Gaming HQ / Re: Valve Announces the Steam ...
Last post by viper37 - November 13, 2025, 07:28:31 PMQuote from: Grey Fox on November 12, 2025, 03:06:47 PMI'm quite excited to finally have a steam deck without the portability.
#29
Gaming HQ / Re: Valve Announces the Steam ...
Last post by Jacob - November 13, 2025, 07:17:35 PMQuote from: garbon on November 13, 2025, 07:36:24 AMWhat is the upside to attaching a PC to one's tv?
I would've bought the Steam Box last year if it had been available. Instead I got an Xbox (which I kind of regret).
The use case is: turn the gadget on, low-tech people in the family can reliably start a game and play it in the living room, no worries about watching Youtube or downloading malware or whatever - but we have access to PC games.
I'm still very attracted to the Steam Box for exactly that purpose. We have a Steam Deck and the curated "it just works" experience is pretty good. And so for I haven't had to worry about subscription services.
#30
Off the Record / Re: The Population Decline Thr...
Last post by crazy canuck - November 13, 2025, 06:19:51 PMJacob, the claims being made are:
1) Raz says that pre-modern infanticide happened more often then we think; and
2) Valmy says it happened a lot (whatever a lot means)
You are providing support that it happened selectively for females in Scandinavia. And maybe the existence of child's bones indicates it happened elsewhere, but just as likely there are child's bones because there was a high mortality rate.
There is also evidence that prostitutes in one ancient city killed unwanted babies.
Non of that is evidence which supports the claims Raz and Valmy made of it being a wide spread practice that happened a lot. And to bring us back to the topic, certainly not evidence that any of this was done to control populations.
1) Raz says that pre-modern infanticide happened more often then we think; and
2) Valmy says it happened a lot (whatever a lot means)
You are providing support that it happened selectively for females in Scandinavia. And maybe the existence of child's bones indicates it happened elsewhere, but just as likely there are child's bones because there was a high mortality rate.
There is also evidence that prostitutes in one ancient city killed unwanted babies.
Non of that is evidence which supports the claims Raz and Valmy made of it being a wide spread practice that happened a lot. And to bring us back to the topic, certainly not evidence that any of this was done to control populations.