I think that both are important and can be used together as a tool. Idealism grounded in materialism. The legend itself is a tool for further discussions.
Comment on It's always been women in STEM.
drolex@sopuli.xyz 17 hours agoI don’t agree here. Truth is important. The fact that women haven’t been visible in science is important. We need to explain why they weren’t visible. Creating historical figures is comforting but if their existence is not reliably documented, we should keep explaining why such figures couldn’t emerge, and why their absence is significant.
Yes to shitposts, no to fabrications (this lady looks like one - but I suppose it was in good faith)
fossilesque@mander.xyz 16 hours ago
drolex@sopuli.xyz 16 hours ago
OK, I get your point - but I think then that it should be clearer if we’re talking about a historical figure or a legend. In this particular case, it’s a bit fuzzy unfortunately. Ancient historians and all that.
fossilesque@mander.xyz 16 hours ago
Science is a conversation, just like the Humanities. :) Being wrong is okay, it’s just a chance for further discussions. That’s why I encourage a bit of freeform experimenting in this space.
shawn1122@sh.itjust.works 15 hours ago
What if the truth can’t be known as Ibn Abi Zar only wrote on this 500 years later and archaeological evidence is not definitive but the story has inspired countless young women in the Islamic world to pursue higher learning?
If an unverifiable story accomplishes the outcome of improving the visibility of women in science and higher education in general, how should we judge that? Would only 100% verifiable truth still take all precedence?
Finally, we have to ask why did this story (if it really is just a story) capture so many imaginations? What cultural current at the time made this gain popularity? Was there a thirst for women to be seen in this light that he was looking to quench?
Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 14 hours ago
Or, if she did exist but almost nobody heard about her in the 500 years after her death, why would that have happened?
(Not taking a position on her existence, but thinking about Hatshepsut and many women whose accomplishments were ignored, hidden, or credited to men)
shawn1122@sh.itjust.works 9 hours ago
Is it possible they did hear and it was not written down?
Or it was written down and someone had reason to destroy the evidence? Perhaps patriarchal orthodoxy did not like the idea of a woman being credited with this accomplishment.