Am I Too "Woke" for Saying CE and BCE?

Dr. M answers a question about why he prefers to say CE and BCE over AD and BC.
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[@WorldofAntiquity]

If you liked this video, maybe you will enjoy these: HOW ARCHAEOLOGISTS DATE ARTIFACTS kzbin.info/www/bejne/mYTYYaCarNqgjtk ANCIENT EVENTS: HOW DO WE KNOW WHEN? kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZ3Ln2ONm8SdgNU THE OLDEST BOOKS IN THE WORLD kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnjEZqhrbrB3bLM

[@franksimmons1407]

You are one of the very few I trust, outstanding sir!

[@joeconnolly89]

tbh i really didn't know what you were talking about with this bce stuff I understand bc and ad like most people I would maybe suggest you stick to the bc and ad so people don't get confused

[@vlady8me]

Dunning-Kruger much? pbuy

[@timborghinitube]

You've never struck me as a "woke" individual. No explanation needed, but appreciated.

[@cattymajiv]

@@joeconnolly89 How absurd! The common terms that are widely used by nearly every historian and archeologist are now BCE and CE and likely will be for at least 100 years, and more probably for 1000 years. The experts on history very wisely decided not to use a term that is based on a fairy tale. Before Christ is a ridiculous term that most people in the world reject. If you want to refer to a myth, go right ahead, but don't expect the experts to do so.

[@UsefulCharts]

I get at least 4-5 comments a day about this. Little do the commenters know, they're just feeding the algorithm and spreading my BCE/CE videos even further. Mwahahaha.

[@stevendorries]

Brilliant

[@cattymajiv]

Useful Charts (and graphs?) is an excellent channel that everyone should refer to regularly. It covers SO MANY different issues. Virtually any issue that can be measured has had a graph made, and this channel has almost all of them!

[@ericlipton7640]

Your channel is such a gift. I’ve learned so much from you, too. Thank you!!

[@mercster]

I unsubscribed and told KZbin not to show me your videos over a completely different issue... your smug satisfaction at benefitting yourself sounds fitting. 👍

[@HandmadeDarcy]

ssssshhh! 🤫🤫🤫🤣🤣

[@sanjisanpu]

The irony of being anti-woke and and at the same time ignorantly offended by simple facts is apparently lost on these people.

[@dororo101]

Most people aren’t “anti-woke” for logical reasons or fact. At this point “woke” is kinda like “sjw” where the term has no real meaning it’s just “people I don’t like doing things I think aren’t good.”

[@necaacen]

its quite amazing that they have formed this very real mob of permanently offended conservative snowflakes who run around society acting as the thought police as a means of protesting against a mob of permanently offended progressive snowflakes who police society that, from what I can tell, don't actually exist.

[@cattymajiv]

@@dororo101 Yes. The only people who ever use the term "woke" are right wing fanatics. I have never heard anyone to refer to themself that way. It's a stupid word in every sense. It's like a 5 year old calling someone else a poop or a pooper. Just a childish way to say "I don't like them." Exactly as you said.

[@petergaskin1811]

Snowflakes melting in the light of the scientific enlightenment.

[@Soapy-chan]

​@@dororo101there are sjws and woke people. There is a whole big movement behind this. The problem is when people call things woke that aren't.

[@anthonygregory5150]

This is the core reason I am so concerned with our society. A literal Ph.D. Scholar could patiently sit with and explain the truth of something they know. And they will still believe they know more. 😣😣

[@ShannaNL]

Scholars are not always right. Keep that in mind. And what you need to be concerned about is that the USA was founded by religious extremists, kicked out of every country the try to settle and gets more and more extremist every year after.

[@davidaustin6962]

​@@ShannaNLWhat are you talking about. Columbus was not particularly religious. The pilgrims were not extreme in any of their beliefs. Protestants not so much either.

[@ShannaNL]

@@davidaustin6962 pilgrims, right, troublemakers, loudmouths, kicked out of multiple countries. And gues what, modern USA, troublemakers, loudmouths, not welcome all over the world. And there is another characteristic quite at work here, denying reality to fit your agenda. Good job proving exactly what I said.

[@RollTide1987]

@@davidaustin6962 Uh...you might want to read up on Columbus, my friend. The man was a religious extremist. His whole reason for financing an expedition to the East Indies was to bring enough money back to finance a Crusade to re-take Constantinople and Jerusalem from the Ottoman Turks. Though after reading the remainder of your post I have to believe that you are being very sarcastic.

[@watchonjar]

No this change shows whats wrong with academia right now. The Numerical validity of AD and BC are irrelevant. The point of the naming is that most humans want to contextualise our history around Jesus Christ, and the fact that western academics think they have the moral right to just decide to change this is insulting. Academics need to remember they discover, they make arguments, they present ideas, they do not make decisions or attempt to force decisions.

[@AChapstickOrange]

Being able to recognize and deal with the fact that you're sharing the world with people who aren't necessarily exactly like you and don't have to be, either, is one of the things that's supposed to designate you're a mature adult with a modicum of self-confidence.

[@headlessspaceman5681]

You're overqualified for the job of President

[@davidaustin6962]

Then why commit the offense to suggest that what Christ started was an "Era" which we must accept as something that is "Common" among all men? Isn't it less offensive to say, "Hey our dates refer to some event that was significant to the Gregoroan monks who came up with the system and has nothing to do with me"?

[@TomTomicMic]

If you mean people can trample over your rights or freedoms then that's not going to happen, the eco woke lefty backlash will just ensure that the right wing gets in and you will find out it's not a good idea, the centre ground should be taken not the extremes!?!

[@yaldabaoth2]

"I'm from Leicester." That is amazing credentials.

[@Diogenes_ofSinope]

The implications of that are amazing. That would mean every Greek person is good at philosophy and every Chinese person a Kung-Fu master.

[@MarkVrem]

That comment had me AI ask and search so many random things about Leicester LOL. To really learn absolutely nothing about it lol

[@wolfgangwhyte5571]

Yeah, I kinda spit up a little coffee on my keyboard when I heard that 😂

[@skrudrvr]

Yeah that made me bust out a laugh. Who the fuck cares where he's from?

[@greedycapitalist8590]

It's well known that Leicester is the scholastic capital of the world. People who can't get in to the University of Leicester have to settle for Oxford or Cambridge.

[@kevinfile3690]

You handled this far more gracefully than I ever could. Fairly recent viewer here and I’m thoroughly enjoying the channel.

[@Gothicus]

You will love this channel then. He gets on here every few months to give his audience a dressing down. He is kind of unhinged.

[@Martiandawn]

I'm pretty sure that I first encountered CE and BCE in grad school back in the 1990s, long, long before I ever heard the term "woke." I think they were standard usage in books in publication at that time, but there were still a lot of older monographs that used the older system being assigned in my history seminars.

[@VulcanLogic]

Back then, "woke" just meant "white people who understand that this is systemic racism in the United States". That's where it comes from. The bigots thought it would be funny to take that word and make it a pejorative, like they tried to do with "liberal" or "progressive".

[@Martiandawn]

@@VulcanLogic Actually, the term "woke" originated in the African-American community. In the 2010s it was appropriated by privileged white progressives, who have a habit of colonizing language from people of color to legitimize their white saviour fantasies. It was after self-aggrandizing white progressives began calling themselves "woke" that conservatives took note of the term and started using it as a pejorative 🤣

[@thecraigster8888]

I first encountered the terms in an undergrad world history class in the 70s.

[@tomthx5804]

You are extremely sick@@VulcanLogic

[@drychaf]

I'm amazed you know so much about this, despite not coming from Leicester.

[@craigvinet3883]

Sir! Your fight against misinformation and negative commenters must be tiring. Thank you for continuing to do it diligently and factually!

[@joeconnolly89]

problem here is that many and i mean the majority don't understand these new terms

[@lyndafjellman3315]

@@joeconnolly89 If they bothered to look at this video, and others, they might learn.

[@tikifire]

​@@joeconnolly89They're not new terms, as he explained in the video.

[@cattymajiv]

@@joeconnolly89 I can't see how you could possibly believe the majority don't understand it. That's simply absurd. You must be living in an isolated enclave that doesn't get any up to date info, because this is very old. Just read the other comments to see how long it's been since the experts began using CE. I'm sorry you were momentarily confused, but we all encounter new and changed words all the time, and we merely adapt. You now know what it means, so there should be no problem. It's not worth even discussing. It's a fact. These 2 terms are based on facts, not on a myth that only a small part of the world believes in, so it's far more correct. Jesus may have lived, but if he did, he was not what Christians believe, and so not something the whole world's timekeeping should be based on. The tyranny of Christianity is not something the experts should condone. They came to their senses on this issue much later than they should have.

[@gomahklawm4446]

@joeconnolly89 They aren't new terms.....and cultists aren't known for accepting new information...

[@smitinathan]

As a fellow archaeologist, I so appreciate this breakdown and explanation. Thanks for this!

[@Kaijuus]

I am English teacher who majored in English and minored in history, and I know this background. It is taught in College, in History 101 or its equivalent. Are you really an archaeologist, or just a hobbyist or worst... "self proclaimed".

[@philipbailey9670]

@@Kaijuus I'm sure you're very popular with your students 😂

[@Kaijuus]

Yes. They appreciate honesty. I don't proclaim to be someone I am not. 👍

[@smitinathan]

@@Kaijuus While there are definitely different ways to become an archaeologist, my path was one of the typical ones (i.e., fieldwork, PhD, writing academic works, etc.). While I know this background, I appreciated how Dr. M explained it and I'm glad he put it out there. Hope this clears up any confusion!

[@joeconnolly89]

smug narcissist

[@foresthill8462]

Great video as always 👍 I use BC (Before Covid) and CE (Covid era) dating. We are currently in year 5 of our lord coronavirus 😅

[@TheBiggreenpig]

This is so true. When I refer to something relatively old, I always say "Before covid". And recent as "After covid".

[@Kalyahna]

@@TheBiggreenpig I occasionally refer to it just as "the before-times."

[@OxAO]

more appropriate then you might think. Under the Prep act SCOTUS ruled Kehler v. Hood that we don't have a right to informed consent under emergency powers. To me that is exactly the same as saying, none of us have the right to life "legally" under emergency powers. Roe v Wade was moot

[@zacharycates5485]

"AC/BC" is the most hardcore Catholic band in existence, with such hits as 'Thundersmote,' 'You Blessed Me All Night Long,' 'Indulgences' (or as it's more commonly known: 'Tollroad to Heaven'), and of course, 'Dirty Deeds Done, Covered Up, Shuffled Around to Other Parishes, Then Done Again.'

[@aaronmarks9366]

God damn 😂

[@serenityphawx]

there's just not enough aloe for the burniness of this burn 😂

[@charliblake8551]

😙👌🏼

[@la_belle_heaulmiere]

Most excellent

[@innvtr2487]

Wow, I learned a TON from this video. Literally everything I knew about this topic was wrong, lol. Thanks for the knowledge!

[@briangindling1266]

Hooray, someone who knows what he's talking about. Thanks for doing the legwork and keeping us informed!

[@RabidCupcake2010]

Excellent explanation Dr. Miano! We need more scholars like yourself who make your expertise accessible to the public. In this modern social media era it's all too common to see popular misconceptions spread like wildfire, so I'm always thankful for people like yourself who keep the conversation grounded in facts. Thanks again for all that you do!

[@Shantari]

People really will be angry over anything that they can tenuously tie back to their idea of "woke".

[@jkeelsnc]

And woke doesn’t even have a clearly defined meaning. So it is meaningless nonsense. “Woke” is basically anything evangelicals and right wingers are triggered by that they hate or don’t like. And that gets broader and farther reaching everyday. Next it will be plant reproduction (pollenation) that they are upset about.

[@J_Z913]

8:51 I went to a conservative evangelical university in the American South. The history department there used CE and BCE. If they used it, then I can't see any reason why it isn't anything but standard practice.

[@rogeriopenna9014]

They probably thought CE meant Christian Era.

[@Vox-Multis]

@@rogeriopenna9014 Unlikely. Many Christian scholars and institutions prefer CE/BCE knowing full well what it means.

[@rogeriopenna9014]

@@Vox-Multis I was kidding, because it was an EVANGELICAL university in South America, I mean, in South USA. Probably the history professors know very well what it means, but the people who still havent put fire to the university, think it's Christian Era.

[@nicsxnin6786]

And you were taught Jesus was 30 not 33?

[@VickieVale367]

Thank you for breaking this down! I’m going to watch it again with my daughters tonight. I am trying my best to foster a love for history in them and they really enjoy your videos 💜

[@WorldofAntiquity]

I love to hear that!

[@xp8969]

​​​​@@WorldofAntiquityI'm curious: why do you use woke Arabic numerals like some kinda Liberal Communist Nazi instead of the long accepted standard Roman numerals that have been used by all real Patriots and Scientists for the full 6,000 years of human history? (this is a joke)

[@Rednecknerd_rob9634]

@@WorldofAntiquity This past Christmas I mentioned your's and History with Cy's channels to my older Stepsister.

[@j.a.stafford1617]

I am a Christian, and since at least the1960’s, my faith has used CE and BCE rather than BC and AD. Thank you for striving for accuracy over emotion. I’m going to subscribe to your channel!

[@charlesyoung7436]

Tell people who are upset about the designation BCE/CE to just think: "Before Christian Era" and "Christian Era."

[@flowingafterglow629]

Yeah, I always figured that the labels BC and AD beg the question of when Christ was born (heck, or is is conceived?) I mean, it's always really weird to say that Jesus was born in 6 BC. CE and BCE just assign a date and leave it at that. If it were me, I'd argue that dating should start on July 16, 1945. Talk about a new era.

[@Tabako-san]

Which sect? Because the Vatican has been promoting usage of "The Year of the Lord" in Encyclicals under Francis, and under Benedict XVI they were still officially using BC. Southern Baptists afaik still promote using solely AD/BC. In my upbringing in the Russian Orthodox Church we also use AD/BC when discussing the Georgian calendar. Ethiopian Christians of most sects don't use the Georgian calendar whatsoever and use Incarnation Era in the Ethiopian calendar. I feel like only protestant sects have converted to using BCE/CE.

[@eodyn7]

Your faith has not used that.

[@andrewwoods6689]

In my Christian school 15ish years ago they were using BC and AD, they were Missouri Lutheran synod, I'm curious what denomination you are?

[@glenn_r_frank_author]

I love that you answered this in such a clear and logical way, actually presenting the history of it. People get hung up on things that they think are meant as offensive, but they are just not very informed about the issue. I admire how you presented this. Keep up the great work.

[@InternetDarkLord]

As one comment pointed out, if you are religious, you can always read the new BCE and CE as "Before Christian Era" and "Christian Era." Believe it or not, I noticed the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC uses BCE and CE.

[@Tina-mt9cl]

Wow...A-museum-in-DC-using-a-politically-correct-term...Imagine-that?

[@J.e.r.o.e.n]

Or maybe, just not be bothered by it 😄

[@barnaba2137]

Or, if you are religious (and christian) you could read BCE and CE as everybody else, because it is not in fact a sin. Misinforming others about when Jesus was born or using his name for calendar (aka in vein, because he isn't really needed for calendar calculations) might be a sin though :P I find it extra funny that majority of the offended aren't catholic (because that's a very USA thing to get offended about), their entire religion is based on disregarding the work of catholic monks, popes and theologians, yet they suddenly get salty when someone "dismisses the influence of Christianity on our timekeeping".

[@t_ylr]

@@Tina-mt9cl I went to a conservative charismatic christian university and had to take a lot of history classes for my major. This was in the early 2010s we used BCE/CE and BC/AD pretty much interchangeably and no one cared. Now that I think of it I don't remember any professors using BC/AD. It's just the academic custom. I took BIBLICAL Greek for fun. It was taught by a very conservative catholic prof who used BCE/CE. It's just not that big of a deal imo.

[@briankgarland]

And if you aren't religious, what exactly separates BCE from CE? Hmmmm? yeah....that would be Christ.

[@el.blanco8961]

I'm so happy that you make videos like this, it's so unfortunate that many pseudoscience and misinformation/conspiracy videos are posted on this platform with millions of views yet real archeologists rarely get the same privilege. KEEP FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT!

[@candui7278]

That might be because institutional archeology is pseudoscience.

[@kitefan1]

It's like xmas. The x is an old notation from people who were writing with dip pens.

[@epluribusunum1460]

Yes, Sir! What an excellent and comprehensive but yet concise exposition. I’m sending it to my friends as an example of thoughtful history at its best. I’ve been subscribing to KZbin channels for about 10 years now but this is a first for me: I’m turning on notifications for the first time, so that I won’t miss any of your contributions. Thank you, I appreciate your good work.

[@michaeldavidbarr3970]

Thanks David, you’re excellent! As a fellow historian, I very much appreciate your levelheaded approach. Please don’t let the trolls get you down.

[@mikewifak]

We sure don’t miss an opportunity to take offense these days. These folks might make better use of their time and energy actually reading the texts they are so adamantly defending.

[@LalitaBooth]

Generally speaking, I am so profoundly weary of outrage politics and culture.

[@Dan_Ben_Michael]

⁠@@LalitaBooth100%. I refuse to participate in these culture wars. I’m tired of the extremity on both sides. I personally don’t think political correctness is a bad thing per se, when it’s being polite and not being intentionally insulting, but I also think certain people go overboard and analyse every single thing people say or do and if there’s anything that can be even remotely construed as being offensive, then the pitchforks come out. Nuance and context doesn’t play a part these days. You can’t play devils advocate, you can’t make a good faith argument, you can’t have no malicious intent, nor can you make an honest mistake. Nobody can learn and grow from their past either, if there’s anything you might’ve said 20 years ago, well you’re a P.O.S and must be cancelled. Then there’s the other end of the spectrum where any kind of common decency or inclusivity is seen as “political correctness gone mad”. God forbid KFC sells halal chicken, or that a commercial features a gay couple. God forbid you teach slavery in schools as it demonises all white people. I’m Australian, and we don’t have the same extremities… yet. But there seems to be no middle ground with these things. On the one hand you’re either 100% woke or you’re a Nazi, or you’re either a crazy liberal, communist, SJW if you even deign to show any signs of progressive thoughts. Sorry for the rant. It’s just it’s really annoying how ridiculous this is all getting. Can’t we just all get along?

[@xibalbalon8668]

And ironically, they're the people who constantly accuse others of being offended

[@mikewifak]

@@xibalbalon8668 Frankly, it’s offensive. ;)

[@trunkage]

It is not a 'these days' problem 'Morals' were forced by law during the 80s to be in children's cartoons because of people being offemsed at Bugs Bunny and Roadrunner Look up McMartin and see how cancelling happened back in those days Watch Oppenheimer. See how offended people try to tarnish people Stop saying these days. This has been the state of things for millennia. This happened with the Romans and Pharisees and Sadduces

Fun fact: in Polish school textbooks we go with n.e. and p.n.e. (our era, before our era), and I've seen it in every textbook I've seen published since 70's (haven't checked before that, only what I've inherited from my parents). Anno Domini is used only in religious context (mass, or an address from a bishop), never outside of it. I think it comes from 1. the matter of precision 2. it's in Polish, not Latin, so it's easier to say. And from what I've read about time notation, referring to commonality of shared time unit is just logical and normal thing to come up with. People feel comforted by strengthening the social bonds and pointing to things we have in common helps with that. The more Christian notation can be cool in the right context too, I'm not gonna lie.

[@lemmypop1300]

Yup, same in Serbia. 'Nova era' and 'pre nove ere' - n.e. and p.n.e.

[@-SUM1-]

Same in Russian (only with до instead of przed).

@@-SUM1- Seems that this shapes up to be a general approach in Slavic countries; ergo here is yet another proof the whole split AD/CE is just a minor phenomenon, not an attack on Christian civilisation. Americans should say their core value is not a democracy, but exaggeration and robienie z igły widły (lit - making making a hayfork from a needle - blowing things out of proportion) XD

[@Enyavar1]

@ interestingly enough, there are German expressions like "(vor) unserer Zeitrechnung" _(before) our time calculation"_ , but good luck finding a widely accepted abbreviation for the term. The only widespread shortcut used is "v. Chr." and "n. Chr." and it specifically calls out the Christ. But doesn't call him "the Lord", at least. Same in French, I only ever saw "av. J.-C." (typing that is not an abbreviation in my eyes!) and thought it was universal, but I see the change to just "AEC/EC" much more these days. It definitely easier to type ;-) So no, this split is not just an English phenomenon, and I know how unreasonably 'excited' French and German culture warriors get over it.

[@Jasmixd]

I have no idea why we use n.e./p.n.e. nowadays, but if you're saying its common use originated in the 70s, I have to ask whether the communist regime's anti-religion sentiment was a cause, at least in part. Not to mention their aversion to the word "Pan" (something like "lord", "sir", or "mr." in Polish, it's kind of special). That would certainly make sense.

[@timhibbard4226]

Damn, the extent to which this toxic “anti-woke” nonsense has infected so many people’s thinking is almost staggering. I originally learned about BCE and CE being the new standard in historical academia when I was in community college… 20 years ago in the early 2000’s. Yet somehow only recently has this become a problem for certain people. This stuff would almost be amusing if it wasn’t so concerning.

[@Enyavar1]

It is a cult. People are told by cultists that they should be sick and tired of 'being told' by 'tha meedia' how they should see the world, and should instead listen to the cult leaders who tell them (using media!) how they should see the world. Independent thinking, no thanks, the cult says that I'm even doing my own research when I consume their content.

[@scallopohare9431]

YT says there is a previous reply, but won't show it. Anyhoo, what on earth is so concerning about other questioning the use of BCE and CE? The caller on this video was not at all agitated or abusive in his query.

[@eugenemartone7023]

I found it annoying af back then too

[@davidkottman3440]

Apparently, 20 years ago is about when the new designation began. Those of us educated in the 20th century never, ever heard of it, & BC/AD were used for centuries. People just don't like change for reasons poorly understood.

[@tripolarmdisorder7696]

ITS BECAUSE "THEY" ARE TRYING TO MAKE Y'ALL FORGET ABOUT JEEBUS!! If the zionists that actually control the world take this away... well, then wait a minute. Nevermind. They already won. They figured out how to persecute us by not persecuting us at all. Makes us believers look like Fascist nutter butters. Atheism is on the rise and why not? They just have to say that they aren't convinced that an all powerful god that can't even change his own laws so instead has to fulfill them with the ultimate blood sacrifice, except only his blood is powerful enough. It doesn't make sense to me and I believe... /s

[@jamesolivier5224]

Thank you for being so level headed. Unfortunately, that's a rarity these days here in the digital world. I always enjoy your presentations. Please keep up the good work.

[@bipolarminddroppings]

Strangely, the first time I ever heard the term BCE and CE were in a documentary made by a Christian about the historical Jesus, back in about 2001. Go figure.

[@GhostScout42]

why is that strange? Jesus died in 27 After Death, which just dont make sense so why wouldnt we use christian era, which we are in?

[@edwardwright8127]

I grew up with “BC” and “AD”. I still use them most of the time. They are what seems most natural to me, but I’ve gotten used to hearing “BCE” and “CE”, and sometimes I will use them myself. Most importantly, *it’s not worth fighting over!” I’m bothered more by people who say “2023 AD” instead of “AD 2023.” And bothered much more by people who argue about “woke” because I have no idea what that means and none of the people using the word ever bother to define it. From what I can gather, I just refers to anything they don’t like.

[@edwardwright8127]

@rohanorton Marvel Comicbooks is rote where I look for any sort of accuracy.

[@chrisball3778]

@rohanorton 2000 AD isn't a Marvel comic! Maybe Marvel has issued it in the US at some point (I couldn't say), but they definitely didn't originate it- it's a British publication.

[@jackiebiskan4748]

woke is when you are super far left BUT in the last 5 year normies got it and now it lost what it was right wing is the same what was once just people FARRR right is now anyone right of the middle but 10 years ago normies got it and now we are all woke or far right as someone that HATES all people in the GOV seeing woke and far right uned for people that dont even care about the gov tells me we just use any word we can to attack people

[@w0t_m818]

Complaining about wokeness is just an attempt by certain people to keep complaining about so-called political correctness without sounding like a broken record. They've always been complaining about the same stuff, they just switch up the buzz words to make it sound fresh.

[@capitalb5889]

I don't think I've come across people putting AD and BC before the date, even in academic texts.

[@shang6158]

I prefer to think of it not as '1 AD" or '1 CE' but rather as -63871270848 Seconds into the Unix Epoch.

[@ralphyetmore]

I'm so glad that your channel has become popular enough to have dedicated internet trolls. You made it! Congratulations! 🎉

[@smbogan]

I think some people just go through life looking for things to be offended about.

[@backalleycqc4790]

Yes, can you imagine getting all upset because you can't handle a time designation from an academic historian. You have to have a really weak ego, calling everything you don't like "woke" simply because you don't want to be presented something new is pathetic.

[@szymussmilitaryfreak]

Funny thing - most of far right calls left sided "snowflakes", while most them can be equally easily offended.

[@MrSanTang]

In the US, if I mention there is something funny about someone's hat, it that someone happens to be black or brown or jewish that proves me automatically a racist or antisemite.

[@TSZatoichi]

And some people have found that it's really easy to make enormous sums of money by keeping those people offended.

[@necaacen]

@@TSZatoichi this is what its really about i think.

[@jcpmac1]

Nothing, I often think, can ever be so trivial that it won’t attract some group of people to feel violently passionate about it.

[@fasted8468]

My friend has a swastika tattoo and it's amazing how pissy people get

[@blacky_Ninja]

@@fasted8468 I think a swastika is a bad example for that. I mean as long as he doesn‘t follow and tout the bad ideology okay, but it HAS become an international symbol for a VERY bad time and VERY bad people, so i can‘t really blame those people either. That‘s like tattooing the confederate flag on yourself (if not worse).

[@goskaparchatka]

I come from Poland, a definitely very Christian country, and the Polish equivalents of BCE (p.n.e) and CE (n.e.) have been used for my whole life (which started in 1981). Then suddenly, in recent years, some Polish conservatives started to be offended by use of BCE and CE in English, even though their native language does exactly the same! It's madness. Thank you for the very informative video.

[@jkeelsnc]

That is because American dunce heads like Steve Bannon have been trying to sway the minds of “conservatives” in other countries and especially Eastern Europe. In fact, he had a hand in Victor Orban’s election campaign in Hungary. He is also a boot licking sycophant of Aleksandr Dugin, Putin’s mentor. His office in Washington, DC is paid for by Chinese interests. And he was for a time one of Trump’s most trusted advisors. And yet many Americans are crazy enough to want another round of attempted fascism and election denial.

[@keithcurtis]

Thank you, that was extremely well presented. I tend to casually use AD/BC out of long habit, and would never object to CE/BCE usage by another. I try to use CE/BCE when I am speaking or writing in a more formal or considered situation. But there was a lot here that I had never heard. Very educational.

[@christinecharbonneau4448]

I recently ran across a transcript of my grandmother’s time at Mt Holyoke, where the criticism of her college Professor was that she was “insufficiently Christian” which affected her grade. This was NOT for a class on religion. So, the finger waggers have been at this kind of thing for a very long time. I personally have no need to shove religion down anyone else’s throat, ergo I see BCE/CE as a kind of grace note in a pluralistic society. I love your videos Professor.

[@cattymajiv]

Thank you for your great comment! And for your Grandmother's experience and words. Your comment was so very well put, and was greatly appreciated.

[@kitefan1]

@christinecharbonneau4448 I so glad for you that you have those records! Just as a point, Mount Holyoke Female Seminary was started as a Christian school. It didn't change to a College until the 1880s. Mt Holyoke was named after a man who was lived in the area. But if I were founding a religious school it would be a great name because the "Holyoke surname lived beside a religious marker known as the holy oak or beside a tree known as the evergreen-oak".

[@mage1over137]

This has to be the best response to people crying over not using AD

[@user-un8tv1pp8m]

Eh. Bit wordy. I _like_ the informative background history, dont get me wrong, But IMO "the best" response for such people is a simple _"Just cope, snowflake!"_

[@outsideoftimeandspace]

You remained far more charitable than your critics, and I applaud you for it. Well done!

[@Kimmaline]

I can't believe I just witnessed a Johannes Keppler mic drop. That was amazing.

[@ebrim5013]

People can be so silly. I remember first encountering CE/BCE in high school. That was nearly 30 years ago. Way way before anyone was “woke”.

[@nodruj8681]

Woke implies modern far left politics which have existed as early as the 60s, so unless you're 80 and went to school that long ago.. no you didnt go to school when this started

[@AloisWeimar]

Nothing “far left” about liberalism at all, geez dude

[@justinbarnhouse4940]

@nodruj8681 wrong. Woke started less then a decade ago when right wing morons took the term and twisted it to mean something they cannot define yet rail against. true Muricans lol

[@MetastaticMaladies]

@@doug871 Glad you got out of it, I struggled to leave and it took a long time to get out of the place I was in, religion was seriously harming myself and others in that small town I escaped from. It was surreal and scary.

[@briankgarland]

Yeah, that a statement on the education system and teachers, isn't it? They were, in fact, "woke". It just wasn't called that then.

[@Kaiser86]

In the Iberian Peninsula, they had another era system altogether for most of the Middle Ages. They used Aera Hispanica, which starts in 38 BCE. In parts of the peninsula, it wasn't replaced until the 15th century. Interestingly, even in Muslim Spain, Al-Andalus, this era continued to be used by Christians. I work with a lot of Spanish manuscripts, and this era is by far the most common one used.

[@lakrids-pibe]

The reasons behind the choice of 38 BC are unknown. (says wikipedia)

[@pattheplanter]

Isn't "era" also the Spanish for "it was", like "Era 1424" meaning "it was 1424"?

[@garymaidman625]

​@@lakrids-pibeoh, wikipedia the all-knowing.

[@garymaidman625]

​@@pattheplanternope. Era is a modern iteration of the Latin word Aera. Spanish, being a Romance language, gets a lot of their words from Latin. The term was originally used to refer to counters used for calculation. For instance if you were a store owner and wanted to count your stock, you would use one bit of copper for instance for one type of stock, the copper would be your counter. The copper would therefore be the aera. It doesn't mean 'age' like we think of it now.

[@TheAlchaemist]

@pattheplanter this is pure luck, in Spanish "era" as a noun comes from Latin "aera". Which I think in turn it comes from Greek.

[@ulexite-tv]

Thank you. I am Jewish and grew up with BC and AD, knowing what they meant, but trying to go along with the program, as a minority group member who had to comply with the way things are. As BCE and CE became more widely seen in historical writing, i felt a lot of pent-up tension draining out of my shoulders, and i relaxed, and immediately adopted BCE and CE as my preferred dating system.

[@monkofmayhem1373]

Do Jewish people use anything like before/after Moses or similar? Sorry Im not too educated on Judiasm but Im curious if you guys did something similar?

[@ulexite-tv]

@@monkofmayhem1373 -- We have our own calendar. We are currently in the year 5784. For anything older or scientific, we use the BCE / CE system.

[@monkofmayhem1373]

@@ulexite-tv how interesting whats the reference point?

[@ulexite-tv]

@@monkofmayhem1373 The beginning of calendar-making in Jewish culture dates back to the birth of Adam, about 3760 years BCE. The final digit of our calendar matches the Gregorian calendar's final digit, making it easy to memorize. That is why 2024 is 5784. Literalist Jews consider the first calendar date to refer to the creation of the world, but very few Jews believe that (just as only a few Christians literalists believe that the Earth was created in 7 days). There is actually a lot of discussion in Jewish scholarly circles about who Adam was. He is called the first man, and his origin marks the beginning of the calendar, but many of us believe he is simply the first person on our family tree with an approximately known birth date -- and we were merely making our own family tree calendar, based on the estimated birth date of our own first known ancestor, Adam. And that, by the way, is why the Book of Genesis mentions other groups of humans who marry into Adam and Eve's family. They were real people, but we don't know their birth dates.

[@monkofmayhem1373]

@@ulexite-tv wow that was so much information i dont know where to begin! I dont have anything more to comment but thank you for sharing the knowledge!

[@ivyhome4489]

I didn’t realize this was a controversial thing. Thank you for explaining it so clearly and respectfully. I really appreciate it

[@mikki3961]

How absolutely tiring it must be to deal with such nonsense.The world is wide and one religion does not dominate. Tolerance and acceptance is so welcome. I thank you as always for your channel.

[@jackiebiskan4748]

i dont even follow that god BUT we use the bc ad time its 2024 year from (when we think he died) like it changing something just to change it the Koreans have a time line for them too you dont see people that dont follow that one changing what they call it

[@Crazy_Diamond_75]

@@jackiebiskan4748 "AD" does not refer to the year he died, and was never intended to. Did you watch the video?

[@Piterdeveirs333]

@@jackiebiskan4748 when was the last time you had to say ad in a casual conversation not about history?

[@jackiebiskan4748]

@@Crazy_Diamond_75 i posted this before i did tbh it just proves how little i know about him still use it tho

[@jackiebiskan4748]

@@Piterdeveirs333 not ONCE i dont think i ever in my life used it when not talking about history and i dont think more people use it to so i think changing it is dumb

[@nebulan]

I appreciate you teaching us how the scholarship is taught

[@bryankarsh9909]

You responded with much more grace and patience than I could have. Love your channel and content. Keep fighting the good fight!

[@jwcinc12]

You have a great way of explaining yourself. I love the teaching style from one educator to another.

[@rahrahrobbbieee]

People are silly. You produce great content.

[@skybluskyblueify]

Silly and fearful. They cant handle change and they have been told they are under attack! Fear can make people cranky and unreasonable.

[@przemog88]

Here in Poland we commonly use our equivalent of CE ("nasza era" or "n.e." in short) and BCE ("przed naszą erą" or "p.n.e." in short), so I personally don't understand what's problem with using it.

[@ridleyroid9060]

Heyy, that's the same as in Serbia, Nasa Era and Pre Nase Ere.

[@przemog88]

Awesome. I wonder if other Slavic countries also use the same thing 🤔@@ridleyroid9060

[@luckyblockyoshi]

In China the common way is “公元” which is short for “Gregorian calendar-era” and “公元前” which is “before Gregorian calendar-era” which also has nothing to do with Jesus. It used to be “西元” meaning “western era”, which is still commonly used in Taiwan today.

[@brianmincher716]

I’ll happily explain it then. In America there is a continued effort to get rid of Christianity and anything else that relates back to the good old days of the founding of this country and most Christians use BC and AD and almost all of us grew up hearing everybody including academics using these same initials. In about the last twenty years or so academics stopped using BC and AD and switched to BCE and CE, and that is why a lot of folks here have an issue.

[@carlpeberdy9086]

@@brianmincher716 Why is there an issue with academics using their preferred terms? If it makes more sense to them why is it a problem for you? People use BC/AD or BCE/CE informally and we know what they mean - I don't see a problem, and as for Christianity, do you really think it will make any difference to peoples beliefs? I don't think that Christianity is as weak as that.

[@dlynnfrazier5216]

I have known about this for decades. It's (or so I thought) common knowledge. But your explanation gave me a far greater understanding of the topic. I really enjoy your thoughtful and knowledgeable posts.

[@trippydrew8492]

This video had a whiff of a Hitchslap about it, and I am all here for it!!

[@spitfirerulz]

Thank you - I greatly appreciate this. Aside from your factual correctness, "BC" and "AD" were always just so frustrating to use growing up in India, the Middle East and Singapore. I have nothing against any religious community. And I don't want Victorian literature to be "revised" to remove "year of our lord" mentions. But it felt like a constant nudge that I needed to study my own civilisation with a colonial/Indiana Jones attitude - it just felt off-putting, that's all.

[@grindsaur]

Yeah, right? There are cultures outside of the christian sphere :)

[@japona9899]

I hope the current swam of people that cant handle some letters being changed. History is history. It doesnt matter what letters we use for years as long as you understand. Keep doing what you are doing! Your work is invaluable

[@TomCantDance]

I remember thinking it was weird that we used the terms "Before Christ" and "Anno Domini" since they were different languages but I never knew the history of why. What an interesting video!

[@DarkManser]

It's terrible you had to make this video, but I love how you turned it into an incredible learning experience. :)

[@seminolewar]

This is nothing new. I went to high school in Israel in 1980, and CE and BCE was the ONLY designation used. It had probably been that way long before I was born!

[@yodasmomisondrugs7959]

As a Christian and being born in 1980 I can remember the switch in school from the teachers using BC/AD to BCE/CE and it never bothered me in the slightest. But this filled in a lot of info gaps I had concerning the subject. Great as always and once again thanks for an informative video.

[@derp195]

I really don't get why a lot of Christians are so fragile that this would bother them. If you really have the god of the universe in your corner, this kind of thing shouldn't be such a big deal. I don't need the world structured to specifically espouse my beliefs. It seems pretty entitled to think otherwise.

[@NettiGaming]

100%

[@whycantiremainanonymous8091]

@@derp195 Our OP actually made everything clear to me. There's nothing ordinary people get more fanatic about than arbitrary stuff they were taught in elementary school, and has since gone out of circulation. Another case in point is the status of a Pluto as a (no-longer) planet. It's generally true that the most recent and superficial traditions in society, precisely because they are fleeting, are the ones traditionalists are most vehemently attached to.

[@MorbidEel]

Strange. I was born a bit later but books were still using BC/AD when I was in school. I think it was sometime after college that I started seeing BCE/CE.

[@MorbidEel]

@@whycantiremainanonymous8091which is pretty stupid since all traditions were new and different at one point

[@JDSCT]

Some people get their kicks spending time seeking out things to be offended by. It's quite sad really.

[@jkeelsnc]

ESP when “woke” can be anything they want it to be in the moment.

[@alexcarter2542]

Lol 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 God bless your patience Dr. Miano

[@youngimperialistmkii]

I've heard historians using these terms interchangeably. Thanks for the detailed explanation.

[@tikifire]

Thanks for the succinct explanation. Ignorant people will hate. It is an unfortunate side-effect. Appreciate your videos!

[@Arrendle]

Absolutely loved this video and all the others I have seen on your channel. I am an author and I use history and science in my fictional books as a jumping off point for imaginary landscapes, characters, and conflicts. I am commenting here regarding the backlash you received regarding these terms. I have seen the same kind of vitriol regarding the Oxford Comma and the use of apostrophe s after a word ending in s to show possession. People can be downright vicious! It seems as though you didn't take it personally and I am glad you didn't. We absolutely need you to continue these videos. Especially the Myths series! I try to do my own homework after watching any of the "Megalithic Era" history manglers, but it is difficult to do it by myself. This channel is invaluable for anyone who loves history and doesn't want to be duped.

[@miketheburns]

so well-said and respectful and insightful. We need mre people like Dr. Miano in the world!

[@chrish.8241]

Thanks for clearing that up, I had no idea that BCE & CE had been in use for so long.

[@mohammedosman4902]

the fact that you had to make this video is sad. And the direct replays and reading of ignorant and crazy emotional (over a calendar system!) was even sadder. Thank you for making this video to explain things. I don't think these people who love being angry will actually watch but for the rest of us, it went deep and provided explanations. Thanks again.

[@joeconnolly89]

why? People don't know what these new terms mean

[@cattymajiv]

@@joeconnolly89 The post right above this one shows that the poster, and thus millions of other kids, was taught in school in the 1980s about BCE and CE. So ever since then all kids have been taught the same thing. Just because YOU don't know something does not mean nobody else knows it! You are 1 of a TINY number of people who have managed to avoid exposure to these terms. So stop exaggerating. It also could not possibly have any material effect on your life. It seems you've entirely blocked yourself off from anything that was written or produced in recent decades, including the comments here that talk about when the change began in schools and universities many decades ago. I don't know how you managed to avoid something that's common knowledge to nearly everyone else, but your own common sense should tell you move on. It's certainly no big deal. It's only one 2 letter acronym, and another with 3 letters. SHEEESH! Why on earth would you bother obsessing about that?!

[@HenningStrandin]

Wonderfully concise and substantial breakdown of the origin and history of these familiar terms, much appreciated!

[@skougi]

thank you for this video. never heard this explanation before, but, seriously, thank you for your historical integrity. Super useful. super super useful.

[@TalaAtTanagra]

You are a better person than I. I see these folks as whiny babies, and sometimes I even call that out. Respect to you for dealing with them more gently.

[@robertmm1379]

You didn't have to explain yourself. People these days look for anything to complain about. The funniest part is the ones saying crap about how they know so much about history and the calendar but if they did they wouldn't have a problem with BCE and CE. Keep this amazing content coming and thank you for another wonderful peek into the past.

[@simply1lloyd]

I think we should explain ourselves even when we are right. It’s a good faith gesture in discussion that can take an interaction from negative to a civil discussion sometimes, and their assumption was wrong in the end possibly causing them to miss out on knowledge he could share with them.

[@frankrizzo7454]

Curious take considering someone complaining is why we don't use AD/BC anymore.

[@raychapman1134]

People not explaining things and just telling people I'm right and you're wrong is a problem.

[@karu6111]

He did and now we have a wonderfully informative video about it.

[@yudeok413]

The man is an educator. He's just plain explaining, not explaining himself (which we agree is not necessary in the least). And he both can't help it and enjoys it 😁

[@NettiGaming]

Great video. Amazing to me that people get so offended. I love how you read the comments 😂 "i am from leicester" comment floored me

[@CWLater]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and breaking subjects down so they are easy to understand.

[@jackcotner8981]

Excellent response, Dr. M.

[@jjshaw8360]

The problem with using BCE/CE is that it's easy to make a typo and give the wrong date (e.g accidentally omitting the B and giving a date of 300 CE instead of 300 BCE), that's not possible with BC/AD. For this reason alone I prefer BC/AD.

[@molybdomancer195]

Unless the date in question is near the change from BCE to CE, the mistake would be obvious because the events, artefacts, etc of 1000 BCE are very different from those of 1000 CE.

[@jjshaw8360]

@@molybdomancer195 While most specialists and academics would quickly pick up on the error, it could spread very widely if journalists report the incorrect date and it spreads to the general public through that. Also, I find that the BCE/CE and BC/AD systems are used most prominently when describing antiquity (i.e the centuries before and after 1 BCE/BC). In other words, the more likely someone is to be using BCE/BCE and BC/AD for clarification, the more likely a mistake is to cause confusion. It's still an issue you potentially have to worry about with one system that you simply don't with the other, which means there is at least one substantial benefit to using BC/AD.

[@hoggypare7629]

I really appreciate the breakdown of the problem and explanation of your reasoning. I fully respect your choice, of course, however, I personally have been using AD and BC in my to-date work, and there is one very simple reason why I will probably keep doing so. Thus, if I may add to the discussion, English is not my first language and I have been teaching students or speaking to audiences that also learned it as a second language. BCE and CE just sound very similar and, especially if you already make greater effort than a native speaker to understand what is being said, it is very possible to mix them up. AD and BC do sound very distinct, it is much harder to mistake one for the other. So, I do not really care about political correctness or religious aspects, it is simply for clarity's sake that I choose to do so.

[@AveragePicker]

I can not figure out what you are making speeches on where you're flipping back and forth on dates to the point someone might confuse an entire extra letter. If nothing else, the topic of the speech usually gives the context in which the AD or BC is irrelevant to use anyway. Even crossing over it would be contextually understood what period is being discussed. I've also taught ESL classes (and my favorite, US idioms and slang which I did as extra side projects) and on the list of confusing things, that is so far down the list as to be nonexistent. If that is causing the confusion, most of what is being said is probably being missed anyway. And any refugees with an academic background typically knew CE and BCE anyway. Though it isn't really an ESL thing since usage is pretty rare to begin with.

[@hoggypare7629]

@@AveragePicker Ancient history, obviously. And I never said this is a huge issue. But, since using AD/BC or CE/BCE is, as the video stated, only a personal preference, and I agree with it, thus, when making a choice between a term that has a small chance to be confused and the one that simply cannot be, I prefer the one that avoids the problem altogether. Another, similar issue, is typos and being able to spot them. My whole point is that there simply are reasonable reasons, outside of religion or ideology, to prefer AD/BC naming convention.

[@revilo178]

Totally agree with you.

[@revilo178]

@@AveragePicker "If nothing else, the topic of the speech usually gives the context in which the AD or BC is irrelevant to use anyway." Then there is no reason to use these abbreviations anyway. As the uploader himself says, they are used precisely in situations where confusion could arise. And in such situations it makes perfect sense to go a step further to maintain clarity.

This is one of the best videos ever. And not only on your channel.

[@evilgingerminiatures5820]

Fascinating stuff & delivered with the proper degree of precise pedantry

[@gmachln.3900]

Danke! Good of you to give such a detailed eplanation as to why you say what you say. I wish we had such popular alternatives in German

[@lumidaub]

Du tust der deutschen Sprache Unrecht :) Wir haben z.B. vuZ (vor unserer Zeitrechnung) und uZ (unserer Zeitrechnung) oder auch vdZ (vor der Zeitenwende) und ndZ (nach der Zeitenwende). Hat sich nur noch nicht flächendeckend herumgesprochen.

[@WorldofAntiquity]

Thank you!

[@gmachln.3900]

@@lumidaub Stimmt, das mit vuZ und uZ habe ich tatsächlich schon mal gehört, wird aber leider so gut wie nie verwendet. Die anderen kannte ich gar nicht. Habe aber mal meinen Kommentar verändert

[@ulrikeberndt8573]

@@gmachln.3900 Ich habe den größten Teil meiner Schulzeit in der DDR verbracht. Da war u.Z und v.u.Z das gängige. An v. Chr. und n. Chr. habe ich erst später gewöhnt.

[@VeronicaCawelti]

I tend to use AD and BC, not because of religion (thought I really like the sound of Anno Domini!) but because of habit! I guess I'm old enough that AD and BC were far more commonly used than CE and BCE. In fact, I don't remember hearing it at all until the 90's! Crazy, huh? Anyway, I will sound far more intelligent discussing era designations having watched this, so thank you! Always a joy watching your videos.

[@PeloquinDavid]

Perhaps it's because they mostly only speak the current lingua franca of our time, but English-speakers have always struck me as VERY provincial. For the record, in French (my native language here in Canada), my sense is that while you often hear people saying that such a thing happened in year X "de notre ère" ("of our era"), when dealing with the more ambiguous dates of Antiquity that could be from before or after "Year 1", we usually revert back to "avant/après Jésus-Christ (av./ap. J-C in abbreviated form)" - even though these days French-speakers here (and in Europe) tend to be much more secular than our English-speaking counterparts... But for the fact that I do speak English, "BC" would be meaningless to me, though "AD" would be familiar enough from the Latin...

[@carlosaugustodinizgarcia3526]

It is the same here in the americas...except in Canada and USA.

[@annafdd]

Same in Italy: Avanti Cristo e Dopo Cristo. We haven’t used AD in… I think since we stopped speaking Latin?

[@greg_1492]

I didn't even know this was an issue. I've been reading and watching historical and archeological content since the 90's and it was common to use BCE & CE back then. I had no idea it was politicized in recent years. Very good explanation video on long accepted terminology.

[@TheGeekyHippie]

Certain elements like to politicize everything. A few years ago I was hanging out in a voice chat on a Discord server that had the rule "no politics." Anyways, one night I was somewhat bemoaning the fact I hadn't seen a "real winter" here in Michigan for years, and next thing I know I was being told I couldn't talk about that cuz it "was politics." What? Talking about the weather in my home state is now politics?

[@tikifire]

It's mostly evangelical Christians who are so weak in their faith that they feel threatened by secular terms.

[@greg_1492]

@@TheGeekyHippie Wow! That's crazy world we're in now. SMH

[@Pushing_Pixels]

Some people are just looking for any excuse to be outraged. They are the most miserable people alive.

[@MlleAventure]

Wow that was so interesting! So much I didn’t know. See even weird critiques can bring about fascinating discussions and discoveries. Txs so much :)

[@milanapeacock6062]

I applaud your grace and patience 👏 Love your channel. Thank you!

[@Lillian2167]

I love how you give history of both terms, I always learn something new with your videos.

[@whatabouttheearth]

I usually go by BH, Before Hekate but sometimes I use BPL, Before Papa Legba, or BK, Before Krishna. But I predominantly use BCS, Before Carl Sagan. Now I do proclaim that all past dates will be BDDM, Before Doctor David Miano.

[@creativelycunningstunts]

Love this! 😆

[@tonisee2]

Very good explanation, thank you very much!

[@usergiodmsilva1983PT]

Always a gentleman when addressing these comments (a better man than I am 😂). But about our calendar, let's not forget that Gregory only revised, the person who introduced our calendar was JC himself... After he crossed the Rubicon and all that. 😂

[@CaptainBipto]

Great video, thanks for explaining the history of the terms used in dating. Really informative video, keep up the great work. And all the best for 2024 CE.

[@petergaskin1811]

Good Yule and a happy 2024 CE. And a ho, ho, ho, to all here.

[@Kincoran]

Excellent video, as always, thanks very much! I'm glad to have found a creator and researcher putting practices and communication styles that favour accuracy above superstition-enabling!

[@NoName-ds5uq]

This is an awesome description of how some people misinterpret history! Thank you so much!

[@yensid4294]

Thank you for the clarification & background on where the terms came from Dr.

[@Frank-wh8cm]

This is the first time that I watch one of your videos and thought "Why the heck do I need to even watch this. Why is this a thing. Why would anyone care." This is a nontopic and a good symptom of what's going wrong in this "cultural war". Thank you for the video I guess. But honestly... people...

[@cattymajiv]

Exactly what I said. Some people are just constantly wanting to be offended, and even to hate someone if at all possible. The right wing is a bunch of crazy fanatics that make mountains out of molehills.

[@oscargoldman85]

Many Historians don't realise the important part of history; sharing the knowledge and raising the understanding of non historians. This is more than just listing the facts to whoever is listening. You do an excellent job of finding the salient parts of a historical subject, and portraying them accurately, in a way that is not condescending, nor simplified. Again here, you have taken a sensitive subject and described it in an accessible, neutral, but intelligent way. Thank you - I wish more were so talented at their vocation. Thumbs up.

[@Tareltonlives]

This video helps clarify so much. It does make the terminology make sense- just centuries of trying to keep time.

[@nananou1687]

Great video Professor. Love your videos!

[@Matts_Ancient_Coins]

Great video!

[@Kradlum]

More than happy with you using CE & BCE. I've been annoyed by a few videos recently (not yours) where they switch between CE/BCE and "before present day", and then I have to backtrack to figure out when they are talking about! (I'm Julian of London, although named after Julian the Apostate)

[@telebubba5527]

I find the BP (Before Present) designation much more agreeable. You don't have to go into arithmetics then, it's immediately clear how long ago something happened. Also using BCE makes it look like it's not that long ago (3,000 BCE vs 5,000 BP).

[@BobbyHill26]

@@telebubba5527BP can be slightly misleading though because “present” actually refers to 1950. Which is a logical decision because the present is always changing and there would be no consistent reference point. I imagine this is why you mostly see it used for things in the range of 3000+ years old, because that that point, the extra 74 years don’t make much a difference to a non expert that might not know the convention

[@TonyFreeman-LocoTonyF]

Thank you for the discussion. I'm still watching.

[@benoloughlin1557]

Thank you for your commitment to common sense and good scholarship!