Difference between revisions of "Debate:Can Europeans say they "discovered" an inhabited area?"
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(Pardon my name-calling, you'd have to be an idiot to misconstrue this figure of speech) |
(No difference)
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Revision as of 13:59, July 13, 2007
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YES
Although it doesn't seem to make sense to speak of discovering something which has already been seen by people (like an inhabited island), Europeans took the perspective that what they didn't know about was shrouded in mystery. It was unknown to them.
Hence, whenever they found out about a new territory, they described in terms of "discovery". What was covered or shrouded was no longer hidden to them.
Some people may think that this is disrespecting the inhabitants of islands such as Hawaii, but the Europeans who discovered Hawaii rather pointedly reported that the found the land inhabited. Only a moron would think that the Europeans considered themselves the first people to set foot on that land! --Ed Poor Talk 09:59, 13 July 2007 (EDT)