Good morning, Ray. You are asking the big questions, indeed.
A couple of nudges: the Palestinians include a majority Muslims, a large minority of Christians, a portion of Eastern Orthodox, a small number of Armenians, and even a small Jewish population. These are united against the Israeli occupation, but it is confusing to call them all Muslims. I wonder how many years (months?) it will take for that cancer to show up in the new "safe" island population? And yes, the analogy to the situation you are describing is not overlooked! There are, of course, many ways to measure the health of a population. "Nobels" can be one indicator, but there are others perhaps as telling: rate of children receiving psychological therapy, criminal convictions, election to positions of leadership, educational attainments, authorship, etc. Mathematicians do not have a Nobel prize, either: the Fields prize is considered the equivalent in prestige. The Middle East, I would suggest, is not a terrible place. Indeed, it is a place of beauty and mystery, human aspiration and creativity. And yes, it is today cursed by corruption, oppression, and war, largely the consequences of colonialism. Britain, France and a few other wannabe colonials have a heavy moral burden to bear, and it is amusing to find them now asserting a moral superiority to those whose societies they distorted. The future? I don't see any immediate prospect of a whole pan-Muslim renaissance, though some thoughtful people are working on it. I do expect though that one-by-one some Muslim countries will find their feet and emerge as viable, admirable countries, or at least relatively so compared to other countries. One can only speculate at the moral, spiritual cost that they will pay. Perhaps, and we can all hope that this will be true, a new model of a healthy society will emerge as these tectonic shifts take place. Cheers, Lawry On Jan 28, 2013, at 10:58 PM, Ray Harrell wrote: > The "Nobel" for economics is not from Nobel but from the banks. > > Islam condemns Usury which pretty well cuts them out of that race since > modern economy is based in Usury and Christians and Jews have embraced it > even though it's the same punishment as adultery in the Bible and Jesus threw > the bankers out of the temple for Usury (money lending with interest). So > we have a Nobel that is not a Nobel and we have an industry based in sin > according to all three religions but two of which have changed their minds > since its money and not homosexuality or fetus's breathing on their own. > > But Islam is a sleeping giant. One billion people, there are 14 million Jews > worldwide and the one billion Catholics don't particularly like Jews and the > 800 million Evangelicals consider them necessary for the Rapture but an > anachronism. Jewish people, who were first known as great musicians, > now struggle like other minorities, just to survive in a predatory, > proselytizing world. The 1.3 billion Chinese have a reputation for > believing the rest of the world is to them as Islam considers the Jewish > people. > > The question is whether, given the confusion within Judaism about what > constitutes Jewish culture and heritage and the battles in Israel that have > pretty well made a bi-cultural state the only option with a huge Islamic > majority, the question is whether current Jewish excellence is sustainable. > Even the children of the Jewish clergy are finding it convenient to be > secular and not support the religion. That is not the case in Islam nor is > it the case with what defines people who choose to be Christian. > > The technical terms are Pistis (or choice) and Emunah (or born to). > Christians are Pistis and Jews are Emunah. See Martin Buber "Two Types of > Faith." When you have over two and one half billion people who chose > their faith as opposed to lineage, there are problems. We have the same > problems in the Native communities where the same "Blut quantum" is a part of > the official cant. Islam doesn't have the problem and their billion plus > constitute a second China waiting for their Mao to arrive. Meanwhile the > Lilliputians continue to kick the sleeping giant. > > Has anyone noticed that the same story is now being told about the little > pissy marsupials called Tasmanian Bears? They under an assault by a > cancer in their mouth spread by biting and they just HAVE to bite each other. > The answer, for the animal folks, has been to take a sterile population > and move them to a small island off Tasmania. Once Tasmanian "Bears" were > all over Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand but now they are only on the big > Tasmanian Island where they are dying from the disease. A viral genocide. > Tasmania had a bounty on them until the population dropped and Australia > put them on an endangered list. But the Tasmanian human farmers don't > want them and wouldn't miss them. (Damned humans!) Conveniently, for the > farmers, the TBs got a "cancer" that keeps them from eating and so they are > not sustainable. Except the animal rights humans are moving the sterile > ones to this tiny island where they can be "safe." Does anyone else live > on the Island? Did anyone ask? Might there be a snake or an extinct > marsupial wolf to finish the job of the cancer? > > I never understood why God would put his favorite people into such a terrible > place as the Middle East. Did you? > > REH > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of D & N > Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2013 10:10 PM > To: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION > Subject: Re: [Futurework] [Dewayne-Net] Islam and science: The road to renewal > > The specific information below has been cherry picked by various concerns, > particularly right wing Israeli. > > The world's > 1.6 billion Muslims have produced only two Nobel laureates in chemistry and > physics. Both moved to the West: the only living one, the chemist Ahmed > Hassan Zewail, is at the California Institute of Technology. By contrast > Jews, outnumbered 100 to one by Muslims, have won 79. > > > On the surface, it appears proof that Muslims, or Islam if you will, just > can't possibly compare scholastically, intellectually, or technically. I find > this selective fact gathering misguided. Jews have always excelled, and why > not? They are a very accomplished people. But the facts are being presented > through one lens. > > If one goes by individual Nobels given out, the numbers and/or frequency > change, percentage-wise. When teams of mostly white males share in an award, > and half are for economics--that catagory even Nobel found unworthy of > greatest achievement like the 1st 4 categories; many arrive there because of > joint effort. But to work as an individual, especially when out of an Islamic > country, the achievement is far more miraculous, in most cases. If one takes > the number of peace prizes issued, the percentage for Muslims goes up. > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_laureates_by_country > > This came up recently with a rather right-wing Israeli friend recently. Same > factoids, practically a la Jihad Watch. I didn't like the tone, so I checked > the Nobel numbers and found them rather in favour of white men, first off. > Women and African Americans score poorly. Huh? How can that be? Greece, only > two wins??? Then, I compared countries, where Israel doesn't do nearly as > well as you'd presume. Israel,10, compared with one Muslim country, Egypt at > 4. Countries Israel wouldn't dare to insult often don't have a single win. My > findings were in sync with my gut reaction--the factoids are biased and > fear-based. I answered our friend: > > If we are to look at this list, Brazil, also a poor oppressed nation, > has only won a Nobel once, African Americans, 14X, and women 14 X. > Do you consider Brazilians and all earthly women fail to contribute > to the world? Of course not! Yet, you allow your fears to stress the > intellectual inferiority of Islamic people as a whole. Shame their > leaders, not the poor disadvantaged people who are only offered one > type of book to learn from. > > Nobels are a tough, competitive game, and 84% of the laureates are > predictably white males. Some should not have been awarded: one I > recall because of cheating--that of the discovery of DNA's double > helix in '62. A nun, Rosalind Franklin actually did all of the > ground work on it, but her supervisor allowed Francis Crick and John > Watson from another lab to take a look at her papers when she was > absent. They published her findings with barely an acknowledgement > of her work, stole the prize, and everyone knew it. > > While numbers of white men winning are high, many are multiple team > players for three > of the 5 categories. It also seems that almost half of the awards > are being given out to teams of undeserving economists these days. > Quote me on the undeserving part. Friedman up to derivatives spin > doctors to the last two idiots who got one for proving people's > spending/buying habits, calling it stable allocations. They are > unworthy of an award for excellence, which is in part why those > awards for economics are separate from the other categories. > Useless, mostly destructive in their professions and clueless about > how life works. Numbers of Nobels is poor yard stick to go by. Going > by actual individual awards, which is about 800, the numbers shift > to a different set of wins. The above statement is also incorrect. > There have been 10 Nobels issued to known Muslims; one for physics, > one for chemistry, others for peace and literature. > > My apologies to the few good economists on the list. > > Natalia > > On 27/01/2013 12:49 PM, michael gurstein wrote: > Interesting article... > > M > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf > Of Dewayne Hendricks > Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2013 12:39 PM > To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net > Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Islam and science: The road to renewal > > Islam and science: The road to renewal > After centuries of stagnation science is making a comeback in the Islamic > world Jan 26th 2013 > <http://www.economist.com/news/international/21570677-after-centuries-stagna > tion-science-making-comeback-islamic-world-road> > > THE sleep has been long and deep. In 2005 Harvard University produced more > scientific papers than 17 Arabic-speaking countries combined. The world's > 1.6 billion Muslims have produced only two Nobel laureates in chemistry and > physics. Both moved to the West: the only living one, the chemist Ahmed > Hassan Zewail, is at the California Institute of Technology. By contrast > Jews, outnumbered 100 to one by Muslims, have won 79. The 57 countries in > the Organisation of the Islamic Conference spend a puny 0.81% of GDP on > research and development, about a third of the world average. America, which > has the world's biggest science budget, spends 2.9%; Israel lavishes 4.4%. > > Many blame Islam's supposed innate hostility to science. Some universities > seem keener on prayer than study. Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, for > example, has three mosques on campus, with a fourth planned, but no > bookshop. Rote learning rather than critical thinking is the hallmark of > higher education in many countries. The Saudi government supports books for > Islamic schools such as "The Unchallengeable Miracles of the Qur'an: The > Facts That Can't Be Denied By Science" suggesting an inherent conflict > between belief and reason. > > Many universities are timid about courses that touch even tangentially on > politics or look at religion from a non-devotional standpoint. Pervez > Hoodbhoy, a renowned Pakistani nuclear scientist, introduced a course on > science and world affairs, including Islam's relationship with science, at > the Lahore University of Management Sciences, one of the country's most > progressive universities. Students were keen, but Mr Hoodbhoy's contract was > not renewed when it ran out in December; for no proper reason, he says. (The > university insists that the decision had nothing to do with the course > content.) > > But look more closely and two things are clear. A Muslim scientific > awakening is under way. And the roots of scientific backwardness lie not > with religious leaders, but with secular rulers, who are as stingy with cash > as they are lavish with controls over independent thought. > > [snip] > > > > Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: <http://www.warpspeed.com/wordpress> > > > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
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