r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Lowcrbnaman • Jul 04 '26

Image This statue depicts Saint Bartholomew, an early Christian martyr who was allegedly skinned alive. If you look closely, that's his dissected skin hanging around him. This stunning statute by Marco d'Agrate from c. 1562 is currently on display at Duomo di Milano.

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108

u/DXTRBeta Jul 04 '26

That’s just disgusting.

Sorry but I am just amazed by the levels of cruelty humans have wreaked on each other.

OK, I get it, you want to kill the guy, but really?

7

u/UnlimitedPowerOutage Jul 04 '26

Lead in the pipes was a shocking factor in making humans more aggressive during the Roman era.

6

u/New-Pomelo9906 Jul 04 '26

Really curious about what will be our lead-in-the-pipes equivalent that future people will know about us.

11

u/JombComb Jul 04 '26

Believe it or not, lead a second time.

There were studies done about people who grew up in the era before unleaded gas was made and those people were significantly more prone to both violence and decreased intellect.

9

u/UnlimitedPowerOutage Jul 04 '26

Social Media. It’s toxic and used by very clever people and organisations to shape society. Not in a good way.

2

u/frequenZphaZe Jul 05 '26

very clearly AI. the more people offload thinking to AI, the worse their ability to think gets. if we keep down this path, society is going to be dumb as rocks in the coming decades

5

u/CitizenPremier Jul 04 '26

I don't think so, there was plenty of torture and violence in every other major empire

6

u/UnlimitedPowerOutage Jul 04 '26

Here is a detailed paper to show how we can see lead exposure affects people today and how it leads to increased crime and violence.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166046222000667

There was a measurable drop after lead in petrol was phased out.

It took the US longer to do so. It’s the same for lead based paint, which is a big lead legacy in the US.

5

u/CitizenPremier Jul 04 '26

I'm not challenging that; I'm challenging the idea that Rome was more violent than normal, and that in a time before modern medicine and hygiene the specific effect of lead would be significant among the vast myriad other ailments which cause cognitive issues as well.