Re:Sales of electric cars up by 43% in 2020
by anovikov on Monday January 25, 2021 @10:50AM
(#25904551)
Fantastic! Compare this utterly bullshit Chinese world "map" from 1609:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Sancai_T...
With Piri Reis map from 100 years before: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91XW2CEmU4L...
(which is a part of an atlas, picturing many areas of the world with literally amazing detail and precision)
Granted, Piri Reis did an amazing job, even raising a few conspiracy theories on how he did it, but here is the fairly average European map of the world from 1609:
A stable society that spans centuries can stagnate. See Imperial China and Japan before Admiral Perry showed up.
In 1600, the Chinese (and Moghul India) were probably more advanced than Europe in many respects, but there seemed to be little to no desire for further development. The telescope, which kicked off a revolution in the West, was basically ignored. When the Jesuits showed up in 1595, the China still thought that the Earth was flat:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth#Ming_Dynasty_in_Chi...
As science developed so did technology, and the European powers were able to basic steam roll over everyone else a century later.