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Predictive History, Professor Jiang, No Ads

No advertisements lectures. All credit goes to Jiang Xueqin, aka Professor Jiang. Audio files of Jiang’s lectures.

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Civilization #43: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Apr 08, 2026

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What is the Scientific Revolution, and how did it happen? Why did it happen in Europe, and not anywhere else? In this talk to his Chinese high school students, Jiang Xueqin explains that the Scientific Revolution happened because of a change in focus from asking "What is Truth?" to asking "How can we know Truth?". To resolve the geocentric vs. heliocentric debate, Europeans pioneered the Scientific Method, a system of processes and protocols to test and refine hypotheses. This led to an explosion of technological innovation. Jiang Xueqin concludes by arguing that the Scientific Method has ossified into an imperial bureaucracy. Today, geniuses like Galileo, Newton, and Einstein would be shunned for their eccentricities. Have we come to the end of the Scientific Revolution? References:1. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn2. The New Atlantis by Francis Bacon3. The Cosmic Serpent by Jeremy Narby

Civilization #42: The Protestant Reformation and the Birth of Capitalism Apr 08, 2026

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In this talk to his Chinese high school students, Jiang Xueqin explains how the Protestant Reformation birthed capitalism. Martin Luther and John Calvin saw the Catholic Church as inherently and irredeemably corrupt. Martin Luther proposed "justification by faith," which argued that Christians can only be redeemed by their unwavering faith in God (regardless of how much money they donated to the Church). John Calvin proposed the concept of "double pre-destination," which argued that God at the beginning of time had decided the fate of all (and thus buying "indulgences" from the Catholic Church was pointless).In accepting these two doctrines and rejecting Papal authority, Protestants now had to prove to themselves that they were among the faithful elect. In their anxiety, they focused on the accumulation of money. References:1. Max Weber's "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" (You can download this classic for free at https://gpde.direito.ufmg.br/wp-conte...)2. Emile Durkheim's "On Suicide"3. Georg Simmel's "The Philosophy of Money"

Civilization #41: Dante's Quiet Revolution Apr 08, 2026

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The Renaissance was a re-imagining of Classical Greece in a Christian European context, a spirit that would birth modernity.How did it start?Scholars argued that the Renaissance came about due to a perfect storm of structural factors. The build-up of commercial trade, the re-discovery of Greco-Roman thinkers, and the development of intellectual centers (such as universities and monasteries) were among the most important. In this talk to his Chinese high school students, Jiang Xueqin argues that it was Dante's Divine Comedy that would spark the confident self-expression and triumphant self-expression of the Renaissance.

Civilization #40: Church and Empire Apr 08, 2026

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What were the Crusades? Why did they start? Why did they end?In this talk to his Chinese high school students, Jiang Xueqin explores the history of Europe's late middle ages. He shows that while the Roman Catholic Church was dominant, there were still challenges to its authority. Muslims controlled the Holy Land, Muslim Iberia was more wealthy and innovative, and the Orthodox Church claimed sovereignty. As well, Catholic clerics were considered corrupt, which led to widespread dissent.In 1095, Pople Urban II hoped to channel his flock's religious energy, and direct it to warfare against Muslims and heretics in order to cement the authority of the Church. Crusaders captured Jerusalem, conquered the Iberian peninsula, and crushed the Cathars. The Crusades ended when a series of crises engulfed Europe in the fourteenth century. Biblical rains, famine, war, and the Black Death halved Europe's population. In his conclusion, Jiang explains that Europe's Crusading fever never died out. In the Age of Exploration, Europe's new Crusaders would cross the Atlantic.

Civilization #39: Genghis Khan, World Shatterer Apr 08, 2026

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Genghis Khan is considered the world's greatest conquerer. Why was he so successful?In this talk to his Chinese high school students, Jiang Xueqin argues that Genghis Khan had the same characteristics as other great conquerors, such as Sargon of Akkad, Philip of Macedon, and Julius Caesar.Genghis Khan believed that he had a divine mission to re-make the world. In overcoming hardship and defeat, Genghis Khan came to recognize his mission, and committed himself to completing it. He united the warring Mongol tribes into a professional, meritocratic, and innovative army that would go on to conquer most of the Asian continent.

Civilization #38: Twilight of the Middle Kingdom Apr 08, 2026

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Why did China stop being creative after the Song dynasty (960-1279 CE)? In this talk to his Chinese high school students, Jiang Xueqin explains that it's because the Ming and Qing dynasties achieved a level of national unity that was not possible in the past. While this national unity ensured the longevity of the emperor and his imperial bureaucracy, it made the nation insular and stagnant. The imperial bureaucracy used three mechanisms to monopolize status, literacy, and culture. The "keju" (civil service examination) focused the energies and ambitions of local gentry. The "keju" tested for "wenyan" (classical literary Chinese), a language that was so difficult that students had to spend decades mastering it. Confucianism restricted openness and innovation. This lecture relies heavily on the scholarship of Professor Yuhua Wang, who is a Chinese historian at Harvard. You can watch his Youtube talk here: • The Rise and Fall of Imperial China | Yuhu... His book "The Rise and Fall of Imperial China" can be found here:https://press.princeton.edu/books/har...

Civilization #37: The Golden Age of Islam Apr 08, 2026

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The Abbasid Caliphate was considered the Golden Age of Islam. Before the Mongolian conquest, the House of Wisdom in Baghdad was the global center of learning and literacy. Muslim scientists and mathematicians were respected and influential even in Europe. Why did the Islamic world enter its Golden Age, while Europe was stuck in its Dark Ages? Why did this Golden Age come to an end? Why did Christianity eventually overtake the Islamic world? In this lecture to his Chinese high school students, Jiang Xueqin explains that Islam was an intellectual revolution that combined the intimate inter-connectedness of paganism with the absolute clarity of monotheism. This revolution would initiate a new era of human creativity.

Civilization #36: Memory of the Norse Apr 08, 2026

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What was the Viking worldview? What was their value system? Why did they venture out into the world? Unfortunately, the Vikings maintained an oral tradition, most of which was lost after they converted to Christianity. What we do know about the Vikings comes from archaeology and the Norse mythology that was written down in the Poetic and Prose Edda.In this talk to his Chinese high school students, Jiang Xueqin attempts to re-constitute the Viking worldview, and argues that their core values were courage, loyalty, and resourcefulness. He explains the power and beauty of Norse mythology, and how such power and beauty could only be developed in the oral tradition. He refers to Professor Neil Price's lecture on the Viking worldview ("The Shape of the Soul"), which can be found here on Youtube: • The Shape of the Soul: The Viking Mind and...

Civilization #35: The Viking Legacy Apr 08, 2026

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We have understood Western civilization to be composed of four major traditions -- that of the Greeks, Romans, Jews, and Christians.In this talk to his Chinese high school students, Jiang Xueqin argues that the Viking legacy is just as important for the development of Western civilization. During the Viking Age (793 - 1066 CE), the Vikings would interact with and influence the regions from which would emerge the nation-states of Great Britain, France, Germany, and Russia. These four became world empires. They were also for the past four hundred years the greatest cultures of the Western world. Jiang Xueqin argues that this was not just a coincidence -- the brilliance of the Viking oral tradition had a tremendous impact on these future empires.

Civilization #34: The Useful Fiction of the Holy Roman Empire Apr 08, 2026

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Voltaire once wrote: "The Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.”Historians often see this as a witticism. In this lecture to his Chinese high school students, Jiang Xueqin argues that Voltaire was right, and the Holy Roman Empire was a useful fiction created to legitimize the rule of Charlemagne and his successors.

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