Religion and Ethics and Health BBS

Religion and Ethics and Health BBS
[ Religion and Ethics and Health BBS ]

Should we assign all inventions throughout human history by ethnicity?

Posted by Mugwump on May 17, 2026, 4:15 pm

Or would that make us childishly bigoted?

Most religions

Posted by Skye on May 18, 2026, 6:22 pm, in reply to "Should we assign all inventions throughout human history by ethnicity?"

are based on creation myths, superstition and stories of miracles and fantasy regarding what happens after death.

The more dangerous and destructive religions have focused more on a war god mentality or 'might makes right' and 'god likes me best' type of theology... unfortunately.

Very true. But is the need to denigrate those of a different faith

Posted by Mugwump on May 19, 2026, 6:30 am, in reply to "Most religions"

pathological or just part of an ugly package? Or both?

What is interesting....

Posted by Skye on May 19, 2026, 5:20 pm, in reply to "Very true. But is the need to denigrate those of a different faith"

is when one denigrates a "different" religion that really isn't so different from their own. Maybe a pathological obsession with self importance?

should be under Ken's post

Posted by Skye on May 18, 2026, 6:24 pm, in reply to "Most religions"

We could talk about religions that encourage science, technology and inventions.

Posted by Ken C on May 17, 2026, 8:20 pm, in reply to "Should we assign all inventions throughout human history by ethnicity?"

Some religions seem anti-science while other religions encourage science and learning.

Shinto, for example.

Posted by 7:77 on May 19, 2026, 7:42 am, in reply to "We could talk about religions that encourage science, technology and inventions. "

Zero conflict with scientific progress, at least in actual practice...

Why the Arabic World Turned Away from Science

Posted by DFM on May 18, 2026, 2:40 pm, in reply to "We could talk about religions that encourage science, technology and inventions. "

https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/why-the-arabic-world-turned-away-from-science

Contemporary Islam is not known for its engagement in the modern scientific project. But it is heir to a legendary “Golden Age” of Arabic science frequently invoked by commentators hoping to make Muslims and Westerners more respectful and understanding of each other. President Obama, for instance, in his June 4, 2009 speech in Cairo, praised Muslims for their historical scientific and intellectual contributions to civilization:

It was Islam that carried the light of learning through so many centuries, paving the way for Europe’s Renaissance and Enlightenment. It was innovation in Muslim communities that developed the order of algebra; our magnetic compass and tools of navigation; our mastery of pens and printing; our understanding of how disease spreads and how it can be healed.

Such tributes to the Arab world’s era of scientific achievement are generally made in service of a broader political point, as they usually precede discussion of the region’s contemporary problems. They serve as an implicit exhortation: the great age of Arab science demonstrates that there is no categorical or congenital barrier to tolerance, cosmopolitanism, and advancement in the Islamic Middle East.

To anyone familiar with this Golden Age, roughly spanning the eighth through the thirteenth centuries a.d., the disparity between the intellectual achievements of the Middle East then and now — particularly relative to the rest of the world — is staggering indeed. In his 2002 book What Went Wrong?, historian Bernard Lewis notes that “for many centuries the world of Islam was in the forefront of human civilization and achievement.” “Nothing in Europe,” notes Jamil Ragep, a professor of the history of science at the University of Oklahoma, “could hold a candle to what was going on in the Islamic world until about 1600.” Algebra, algorithm, alchemy, alcohol, alkali, nadir, zenith, coffee, and lemon: these words all derive from Arabic, reflecting Islam’s contribution to the West.

Today, however, the spirit of science in the Muslim world is as dry as the desert. Pakistani physicist Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy laid out the grim statistics in a 2007 Physics Today article: Muslim countries have nine scientists, engineers, and technicians per thousand people, compared with a world average of forty-one. In these nations, there are approximately 1,800 universities, but only 312 of those universities have scholars who have published journal articles. Of the fifty most-published of these universities, twenty-six are in Turkey, nine are in Iran, three each are in Malaysia and Egypt, Pakistan has two, and Uganda, the U.A.E., Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait, Jordan, and Azerbaijan each have one.

There are roughly 1.6 billion Muslims in the world, but only two scientists from Muslim countries have won Nobel Prizes in science (one for physics in 1979, the other for chemistry in 1999). Forty-six Muslim countries combined contribute just 1 percent of the world’s scientific literature; Spain and India each contribute more of the world’s scientific literature than those countries taken together. In fact, although Spain is hardly an intellectual superpower, it translates more books in a single year than the entire Arab world has in the past thousand years. “Though there are talented scientists of Muslim origin working productively in the West,” Nobel laureate physicist Steven Weinberg has observed, “for forty years I have not seen a single paper by a physicist or astronomer working in a Muslim country that was worth reading.”

Comparative metrics on the Arab world tell the same story. Arabs comprise 5 percent of the world’s population, but publish just 1.1 percent of its books, according to the U.N.’s 2003 Arab Human Development Report. Between 1980 and 2000, Korea granted 16,328 patents, while nine Arab countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E., granted a combined total of only 370, many of them registered by foreigners. A study in 1989 found that in one year, the United States published 10,481 scientific papers that were frequently cited, while the entire Arab world published only four.

a little research uncovers a different picture

Posted by trish on May 19, 2026, 6:32 am, in reply to "Why the Arabic World Turned Away from Science"

1996 — SSL encryption becomes foundational to the modern internet

Egyptian-American cryptographer Taher Elgamal helped develop SSL/TLS internet security systems that became essential for secure online banking, e-commerce, and encrypted communications. His “ElGamal encryption” remains influential in cryptography.

1998 — Lithium-ion battery advances

Moroccan engineer Rachid Yazami co-invented the graphite anode used in modern lithium-ion batteries, a key step behind smartphones, laptops, and EV batteries.

Late 1990s — Wireless broadband technology

Egyptian engineer Hatim Zaghloul contributed to OFDM-based wireless communications technology used in Wi-Fi and 4G systems.

2000 — Large-scale Arab investment in satellite communications

Organizations like Arabsat expanded telecommunications and broadcasting infrastructure across the Middle East and North Africa, improving regional internet and media connectivity.

2001 — Genome and biotechnology expansion in the Gulf

Countries such as Qatar and United Arab Emirates began major biomedical research initiatives, including genetic databases and precision medicine programs.

2002 — Growth of modern Arabic computing and NLP

Researchers across the Arab world accelerated development in Arabic-language OCR, search engines, speech recognition, and natural language processing — crucial for making Arabic functional online at scale.

2006 — First female Muslim private astronaut

Iranian-born engineer Anousheh Ansari became the first female private space traveler.

2007 — KAUST founded

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology was established in Saudi Arabia and quickly became one of the region’s leading centers for AI, desalination, Red Sea ecology, and clean-energy research.

2008 — Water harvesting from desert air

Chemist Omar Yaghi pioneered metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), enabling technologies that can pull drinkable water from desert air.

2010 — Major advances in solar energy in the Gulf

Projects in United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia pushed concentrated solar power and desert-scale photovoltaic deployment.

2012 — Mars and space technology programs accelerate

The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre dramatically expanded the UAE’s aerospace ambitions.

2014 — Arabic AI and machine translation breakthroughs

Arab universities and tech labs increasingly contributed to Arabic machine learning datasets, translation systems, and speech AI tools.

2015 — Nobel Prize for femtochemistry influence continues

Egyptian chemist Ahmed Zewail had already revolutionized femtochemistry (ultrafast chemical reactions), and by the mid-2010s his methods were central in molecular imaging and nanoscience.

2016 — Arab robotics and drone research expansion

Universities in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar became increasingly active in autonomous systems, robotics, and AI-assisted logistics.

2018 — AI research hubs emerge in the Gulf

The UAE appointed the world’s first national Minister of Artificial Intelligence and invested heavily in machine learning, smart-city systems, and autonomous transportation.

2020 — UAE launches Hope Mars Mission

Emirates Mars Mission (“Hope Probe”) became the first interplanetary mission led by an Arab nation. It successfully entered Mars orbit in 2021 and contributed atmospheric data about the Martian climate. This was widely viewed as a landmark moment for Arab science and engineering.

2021 — COVID-19 genomic and vaccine logistics work

Scientists and logistics networks in the Gulf played major roles in genomic surveillance, vaccine distribution, and AI-assisted public health systems.

2022 — Arab advances in desalination and water security

Researchers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE made major efficiency gains in membrane desalination, solar-powered desalination, and sustainable water engineering.

2023 — AI language models for Arabic

Arab research institutions accelerated development of large Arabic-language AI models, improving Arabic digital infrastructure and language accessibility online.

2024 — Expansion of regional semiconductor and AI initiatives

Saudi Arabia and the UAE increased investments in advanced computing, data centers, cloud infrastructure, and AI research partnerships.

Current Arab scientific investment is heavily concentrated in:

Artificial intelligence
Renewable energy
Water technology
Biotechnology
Space systems
Smart-city infrastructure

Rather a pathetic list of statistically irrelevant exceptions.

Posted by DFM on May 19, 2026, 10:04 pm, in reply to "a little research uncovers a different picture "

Simple FACT.

Israel has produced MORE Nobel Prize winners in sciences than the entire Muslim world.

Israel has produced MORE medical innovations than the entire Muslim world.

And so on. Islam stultifies the minds of its adherents. In Islam, every question has exactly ONE answer (in any particular sect). In Judaism, every question has many answers.

to you perhaps. Your hatred blinds you badly

Posted by trish on May 20, 2026, 10:13 am, in reply to "Rather a pathetic list of statistically irrelevant exceptions."

as does your over use of explanation marks

Is if fun being attacked by a banned poster violating a DNR?

Posted by mugwump on May 20, 2026, 2:00 pm, in reply to "to you perhaps. Your hatred blinds you badly"

Two for the price of one? Or a zero managing to be nothing divided in two parts.
As for the missing exClaMation.points, not the end of the world.

Your statement about "Blind Hatred" is quite hypocritical.

Posted by Benton Krumpled on May 20, 2026, 11:34 am, in reply to "to you perhaps. Your hatred blinds you badly"

I've seen your hateful statements, in repetition.

by all means PROVE your assertation with links

Posted by Trish on May 20, 2026, 3:18 pm, in reply to "Your statement about "Blind Hatred" is quite hypocritical."

I will wait.

I'd respond, but you've placed a "DNR" against me...

Posted by Benton Krumpled on May 20, 2026, 3:28 pm, in reply to "by all means PROVE your assertation with links"

...remember?
🙄

you do know lying is a sin

Posted by trish on May 20, 2026, 3:15 pm, in reply to "Your statement about "Blind Hatred" is quite hypocritical."

What is a "Sin"?

Posted by Benton Krumpled on May 20, 2026, 3:29 pm, in reply to "you do know lying is a sin"

I'm unfamiliar with the term or its concept...Please explain.

Certainly you can tell me what a "sin" is. After all, it IS a human construct...

Posted by Benton Krumpled on May 20, 2026, 4:17 pm, in reply to "What is a "Sin"?"

...so it should be simple to reconstruct it to suit your means or the means of others leaning on these cultish religious beliefs...

That is total BS and we all know it.

Posted by Mugwump on May 20, 2026, 1:45 pm, in reply to "Your statement about "Blind Hatred" is quite hypocritical."

DFD,

when there's nothing left people lie and insult to redirect the topic

Posted by trish on May 20, 2026, 3:24 pm, in reply to "That is total BS and we all know it."

This poster claimed not to know what a DNR is (7/15), but now exposes a long history. Not too difficult to figure out the rest.

So what did you figure out...?

Posted by Benton Krumpled on May 20, 2026, 3:57 pm, in reply to "when there's nothing left people lie and insult to redirect the topic"

...besides your hypocrisy?

that you are Mondo and you purposefully

Posted by trish on May 21, 2026, 1:35 am, in reply to "So what did you figure out...?"

tried to hide it, pretending not to know what a DNR is.

You are so disingenuous. I should have realized the first time you talked about hypocricy (which you now have become the poster boy for)

May 20: "I'd respond, but you've placed a "DNR" against me...'

May 15: "What is a DNR?'

Bzzzzzzz...Sorry! Wrong Answer! But get ready for the bonus round...

Posted by Benton Krumpled on May 21, 2026, 8:18 am, in reply to "that you are Mondo and you purposefully"

...where the prizes really add up!

he is the only person I have a DNR with

Posted by trish on May 21, 2026, 8:29 am, in reply to "Bzzzzzzz...Sorry! Wrong Answer! But get ready for the bonus round..."

Whatever game you are playing, you are a coward hiding behind more than one handle.

Pretending not to know what a DNR is, then reversing yourself ...

Seriously.

Why visit a discussion forum if you don't desire discussion?

Posted by Benton Krumpled on May 21, 2026, 9:45 am, in reply to "he is the only person I have a DNR with"

If you want to discuss, why a "DNR"?

I think you'd be better served on a forum where everyone agrees with everyone else, like Dem Underground and other Progressive Communist sites.

So, you admit you're the Tennessee Twit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by Mugwump on May 21, 2026, 10:45 am, in reply to "Why visit a discussion forum if you don't desire discussion?"

Ignoring the ban that Ken set and continuing to behave like the listmaking sack of shit you have always been. If Ken lacks the backbone to deal with you I guess it can honestly be said that you fully deserve one another.

nah it Fubar

Posted by Trish on May 21, 2026, 2:44 pm, in reply to "So, you admit you're the Tennessee Twit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

cheap shaman
or whatever

BINGO! You win that ocean cruise! Hope it's not inconvenient but...

Posted by Cheap Seats Shaman *= on May 21, 2026, 4:24 pm, in reply to "nah it Fubar"

...the ship has had a previous problem with an unobtrusive form of Hantavirus.

Ship Ahoy!

p.s. See? you DO have a DNR with me. You and 7:77 as well...

If you look at the bottom of the page....

Posted by trish on May 22, 2026, 5:32 am, in reply to "BINGO! You win that ocean cruise! Hope it's not inconvenient but..."

Do you know what I found at the bottom of the page?

Posted by Cheap Seats Shaman *= on May 22, 2026, 8:22 am, in reply to "If you look at the bottom of the page.... "

A list of whining Leftists who are afraid to discuss anything with anyone who disagrees with them.

What I find in you is a ling sack

Posted by Trish on May 22, 2026, 10:29 am, in reply to "Do you know what I found at the bottom of the page?"

First you pretend not to know what a DNR is, hiding behind a sock puppet

Then you claim I have one against you as does poppet... which is visably untrue

I think you are going to lie whenever it suits your argument (hum.. JD?)

What is a ling sack?

Posted by Cheap Seats Shaman *= on May 22, 2026, 12:28 pm, in reply to "What I find in you is a ling sack"

Like an athletic supporter for my lingam?

The Genealogy couple with lists, DNR business, stench

Posted by mugwump on May 21, 2026, 2:52 pm, in reply to "nah it Fubar"

Nastiness directed at you (and at me) It's Mondo.

Now when exactly did I direct any nastiness toward you that wasn't...

Posted by Cheap Seats Shaman *= on May 21, 2026, 8:45 pm, in reply to "The Genealogy couple with lists, DNR business, stench"

...in defense of nastiness directed at me?
(who you merely assumed was Mondo)
😉

Bzzzzzzz...Sorry! Wrong Answer! But you still get the Home Version...

Posted by Benton Krumpled on May 21, 2026, 10:54 am, in reply to "So, you admit you're the Tennessee Twit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Who's our next contestant, Murray?

Your statement about

Posted by Benton Krumpled on May 20, 2026, 11:31 am, in reply to "to you perhaps. Your hatred blinds you badly"

Setting the record straight. Truly, the statistics are shocking.

Posted by GOG on May 18, 2026, 5:46 pm, in reply to "Why the Arabic World Turned Away from Science"

No way would God make them the “chosen people”. Low IQ. And therein lies the envy, the ancient birthright issue, the hairy arm, the first born vs the second born.

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[ Religion and Ethics and Health BBS ]