[Fyron]

Originally posted by geoschmo:
You are both right. The Orient and Middle East did go through a phase similer to the European dark ages where technological advancment was stagnated due to political and religious pressures. Unfortunatly for them it came later, during the time when Europe was advancing again. The resulting technology gap allowed for the phase of European colonization that persisted into the industrial revolution. The East is only now really recovering from that.

And this is precisely why I always said "European Dark Age."

Originally posted by Aloofi:

quote:

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Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
Those Dark Ages only happened in Europe. The rest of the world went on developing new science without them. The Arabs and Chinese in particular continued to make advances during the European Dark Ages.

Yes, and the Bizantine Empire.
And the chinesse invented the most important tech advance ever: Firearms.
But it was the west the one that took that invention to the highest level.

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The Chinese invented gunpowder, and used it mostly for fireworks. They made some odd things like gunpowder crossbows, but it was Europeans that invented cannons, and then firearms (muskets, rifles, that sort of thing), from the gunpowder they got from the Chinese.

The Byzantines were not Muslims, actually. Later on, the city was taken over by... the Ottomans? Or was it the Sarecans? I forget which, actually. But the Byzantines were Christians just like Rome in the later days before the Roman Empire fell. I forget the exact chain of events, but the (insert correct Muslim group) renamed the city when they took it over, and it was no longer Byzantine.

I could go on for days but this is a long post as it is. The point is that there is a lot more going on here than I think either of you realize.

I did hint at these sorts of problems many Posts ago when I mentioned translations of the Bible, but it wasn't a big part of the post.

When looking at the bible there are many factors that must be taken into account. It is not just a matter of "I believe it, it's all true" vs. "it's unproven, it's all crap".

That was not my argument. My argument was that the predictions in the Bible were (to use your terminology) crap.

Fyron:

I can appreciate your passion (zeal?) but try to argue within the paradigm. A paragraph of you telling a man he is wrong six different ways does not advance your argument at all, and does not disprove his argument either. Probe the inconsistencies within the bible itself to make your point as opposed to unilaterally declaring the whole thing to be bunk.

He was wrong the same way 6 times, so telling him that over and over again was necessary. He posted events supposedly predicted by the Bible, even though those parts of the Bible were written after those events took place (either days after in the contemporary, or centuries after). I don't own a Bible myself, so I can't very well find those example myself. What I can do is debunk the ones he gave.

Tesco: thanks for reminding me. about half a year ago i also read an article about a research project... i think that was in the newspaper where i read it. The idea is that scientists were able (dont ask me how - physics isnt my major and it was a while ago) to accelerate particles to about 1.5 times light speed. I do not remember the details, what i do remember is that they encountered something that made them thing biological creatures wouldnt survive such an adventure using their current theories.

The kind of particles in the experiment make all the difference in the world.

[ February 28, 2003, 00:41: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]