Comments on: The Missing Scientific Renaissance http://xrdarabia.org/2008/01/12/the-missing-scientific-renaissance/ Informed comment and commentary about Saudi Arabia, reform, and its relations with the US Mon, 22 Mar 2010 10:43:08 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: John Burgess http://xrdarabia.org/2008/01/12/the-missing-scientific-renaissance/comment-page-1/#comment-10753 John Burgess Fri, 25 Jan 2008 01:13:38 +0000 http://xrdarabia.org/2008/01/12/the-missing-scientific-renaissance/#comment-10753 Mine started with a teacher trying to tell me that 'like charges attract' in a science module. She was only 40 years older than me, so what did I know? I knew that like charged did not attract. Mine started with a teacher trying to tell me that ‘like charges attract’ in a science module. She was only 40 years older than me, so what did I know? I knew that like charged did not attract.

]]> By: AbuSinan http://xrdarabia.org/2008/01/12/the-missing-scientific-renaissance/comment-page-1/#comment-10751 AbuSinan Thu, 24 Jan 2008 21:16:42 +0000 http://xrdarabia.org/2008/01/12/the-missing-scientific-renaissance/#comment-10751 John, Been there, done that. I love history and would often get into debates with my high school history teachers. They didnt like to be informed that they were wrong about given subjects. My father's undergrad degree was in history, so I guess I took it from him. Couple that with an absolute love of reading and I was trouble for many of my teachers. John,

Been there, done that. I love history and would often get into debates with my high school history teachers. They didnt like to be informed that they were wrong about given subjects.

My father’s undergrad degree was in history, so I guess I took it from him. Couple that with an absolute love of reading and I was trouble for many of my teachers.

]]> By: Solomon2 http://xrdarabia.org/2008/01/12/the-missing-scientific-renaissance/comment-page-1/#comment-10750 Solomon2 Thu, 24 Jan 2008 20:55:11 +0000 http://xrdarabia.org/2008/01/12/the-missing-scientific-renaissance/#comment-10750 <i><a href="http://www.middleeasttransparent.com/article.php3?id_article=2586&lang=en">The decline set in</a> when the puritan Al-Ghazali began to undermine this rationalistic tradition and instead push for dogma over thought, obedience over free will and the primacy of doctrine. It was the beginning of the end...</i> The decline set in when the puritan Al-Ghazali began to undermine this rationalistic tradition and instead push for dogma over thought, obedience over free will and the primacy of doctrine. It was the beginning of the end…

]]> By: John Burgess http://xrdarabia.org/2008/01/12/the-missing-scientific-renaissance/comment-page-1/#comment-10603 John Burgess Wed, 16 Jan 2008 19:09:28 +0000 http://xrdarabia.org/2008/01/12/the-missing-scientific-renaissance/#comment-10603 I started getting into academic trouble starting in, oh, the second grade? By the fifth, my correcting the teachers was presenting a problem... for the teachers. By the time I hit high school, I knew that I could either challenge on the facts or just shut up and continue to know what I knew in silence. Some <strike>teachers</strike> people just don't like to be challenged, especially on the facts. I started getting into academic trouble starting in, oh, the second grade? By the fifth, my correcting the teachers was presenting a problem… for the teachers. By the time I hit high school, I knew that I could either challenge on the facts or just shut up and continue to know what I knew in silence.

Some teachers people just don’t like to be challenged, especially on the facts.

]]> By: John Burgess http://xrdarabia.org/2008/01/12/the-missing-scientific-renaissance/comment-page-1/#comment-10602 John Burgess Wed, 16 Jan 2008 19:08:51 +0000 http://xrdarabia.org/2008/01/12/the-missing-scientific-renaissance/#comment-10602 I started getting into academic trouble starting in, oh, the second grade? By the fifth, my correcting the teachers was presenting a problem... for the teachers. By the time I hit high school, I knew that I could either challenge on the facts or just shut up and continue to know what I knew in silence. Some teachers just don't like to be challenged, especially on the facts. I started getting into academic trouble starting in, oh, the second grade? By the fifth, my correcting the teachers was presenting a problem… for the teachers. By the time I hit high school, I knew that I could either challenge on the facts or just shut up and continue to know what I knew in silence.

Some teachers just don’t like to be challenged, especially on the facts.

]]> By: olivetheoil http://xrdarabia.org/2008/01/12/the-missing-scientific-renaissance/comment-page-1/#comment-10599 olivetheoil Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:13:12 +0000 http://xrdarabia.org/2008/01/12/the-missing-scientific-renaissance/#comment-10599 Solomon2: Western mainly but I honestly don't think it made a difference. Professors in US were just more open to questioning and opposition from students. It's not just science, it is so ingrained culturally that I still consider it rude to question someone older than myself even when I know they are being idiots. I shoot away nonethless;) Solomon2:

Western mainly but I honestly don’t think it made a difference. Professors in US were just more open to questioning and opposition from students.

It’s not just science, it is so ingrained culturally that I still consider it rude to question someone older than myself even when I know they are being idiots. I shoot away nonethless;)

]]> By: Solomon2 http://xrdarabia.org/2008/01/12/the-missing-scientific-renaissance/comment-page-1/#comment-10582 Solomon2 Tue, 15 Jan 2008 21:41:40 +0000 http://xrdarabia.org/2008/01/12/the-missing-scientific-renaissance/#comment-10582 <i>I think I learned to aggressively ask questions only after I moved to the US.</i> But in the US did you have Arab and Muslim professors or were they Western ones? I think I learned to aggressively ask questions only after I moved to the US.

But in the US did you have Arab and Muslim professors or were they Western ones?

]]> By: Kashmiri Nomad http://xrdarabia.org/2008/01/12/the-missing-scientific-renaissance/comment-page-1/#comment-10522 Kashmiri Nomad Sun, 13 Jan 2008 20:08:18 +0000 http://xrdarabia.org/2008/01/12/the-missing-scientific-renaissance/#comment-10522 <strong>Islam And The West Accelerated Links For 13 Januar</strong> Crossroads Arabia explores the issue of why Muslim civilisation has fallen behind western civilisation in the field of science. Islam And The West Accelerated Links For 13 Januar

Crossroads Arabia explores the issue of why Muslim civilisation has fallen behind western civilisation in the field of science.

]]> By: olivetheoil http://xrdarabia.org/2008/01/12/the-missing-scientific-renaissance/comment-page-1/#comment-10516 olivetheoil Sun, 13 Jan 2008 08:35:19 +0000 http://xrdarabia.org/2008/01/12/the-missing-scientific-renaissance/#comment-10516 Solomon2: My teaching experience is very limited. But as a student educated in South Asia, my biggest gripe was the focus on learning by rote. Professors (including those in science) actively discouraged questioning and criticism. I think I learned to aggressively ask questions only after I moved to the US. Solomon2:
My teaching experience is very limited. But as a student educated in South Asia, my biggest gripe was the focus on learning by rote. Professors (including those in science) actively discouraged questioning and criticism. I think I learned to aggressively ask questions only after I moved to the US.

]]> By: Solomon2 http://xrdarabia.org/2008/01/12/the-missing-scientific-renaissance/comment-page-1/#comment-10513 Solomon2 Sun, 13 Jan 2008 00:42:46 +0000 http://xrdarabia.org/2008/01/12/the-missing-scientific-renaissance/#comment-10513 I think Yusuf al Samaan got it right, and I've witnessed "the lack of a critical mentality" in action among science and engineering students of different nationalities. I consider the phenomenon is more Arab than Muslim, for it seems especially pronounced when Arab students have an Arab professor. OTO, have you seen the same thing? <i>Thanks to the commentaries of Ibn Rushd (also known as Averroes) on Aristotle, particularly his attempts at rapprochement between philosophy and Shariah, in addition to Ibn Seena, Ibn al Nafees and other great astronomers, Latin thinkers were placed back on track...Why were these figures able to have such a great influence upon the West but not upon their own peoples?</i> I feel Al-Zaydi knows the answer, for he mentions the imam one Western historian, Will Durant, considers the chief culprit in the next paragraph. But Al-Zaydi can't bring himself to criticize the man directly. <b><i>That itself is a symptom of the disease!</i></b> I think Yusuf al Samaan got it right, and I’ve witnessed “the lack of a critical mentality” in action among science and engineering students of different nationalities. I consider the phenomenon is more Arab than Muslim, for it seems especially pronounced when Arab students have an Arab professor. OTO, have you seen the same thing?

Thanks to the commentaries of Ibn Rushd (also known as Averroes) on Aristotle, particularly his attempts at rapprochement between philosophy and Shariah, in addition to Ibn Seena, Ibn al Nafees and other great astronomers, Latin thinkers were placed back on track…Why were these figures able to have such a great influence upon the West but not upon their own peoples?

I feel Al-Zaydi knows the answer, for he mentions the imam one Western historian, Will Durant, considers the chief culprit in the next paragraph. But Al-Zaydi can’t bring himself to criticize the man directly. That itself is a symptom of the disease!

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