What was the Islamic Golden Age about?

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Chuck Maverick's picture
What was the Islamic Golden Age about?

By definition, what was the period of the IGA?

What were the major scientific thinking and technological advances during IGA?

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CyberLN's picture
Here ya go...https://en.m
Chuck Maverick's picture
Thanks, I was hoping for an

Thanks, I was hoping for an opinion & generate debate. Like did Christianity hold back the Europe or help? Early scientists were monks. Christianity spread literacy. But later on, my opinion is dogma held back scientific thinking, like medicine, heliocentric theory etc Darwin was overly cautious about upsetting the Church with his evolution theory...

CyberLN's picture
Oh. It’s nearly impossible

Oh. It’s nearly impossible to extrapolate that from what you wrote in your OP.

At any rate, there was a lot of science and thinking being done by folks who happened to be muslim probably until the muslim theologian Abu Hamid al-Ghazali came along and told folks that it was naughty.

I take exception to the advances made in science, medicine, mathematics, etc being called lslamic advances just because theywere made by folks who were muslims. To me it gives credit to a religion instead of people. It would be like crediting xtianity with the mapping of the human genome just because Francis Collins is xtian.

Chuck Maverick's picture
Apologies, take your point,

Apologies, take your point, should have put more in the title. What I want to pin point was, if you take the West, post Renaissance...Newton...today.. We've can break it down to industrial age, space age, information age, human rights, liberal democracies etc...

During the IGA, be it may many ideas many have been originally Greek or Indian (we all borrow from each other), was there a major change in the way of thinking of science, medicine etc etc

Sky Pilot's picture
Chuck

Chuck

The IGA was brought about by Jewish collaborators who did all of the work and the Islamic Arabs took the credit.

LogicFTW's picture
Did something as big and

Did something as big and large and powerful such as Islam during one of the heights of their power actually advance science and technology? Most likely yes. If the human race back then had the scientific method and devoted the same amount of time, energy and people power that Islam got, towards scientific method and peer reviewed research would of their been many more advancements? Again very likely yes.

It is undeniable humans made more advancements in the last 100 years or so then in all of human history before. Another trait of the last 100 years or so?
- Increasing secularism especially in the west, the west which has lead the world in scientific advancement and breakthrough for the last 100 years. Coincidence? Does not seem likely.

From these simple findings a conclusion that Islam, (and other religions,) holds us back is a fairly easy conclusion to make even if not fully evidenced. (If someone else wants to do the work to fully evidence this view or the counter view I would be happy to read it.)

 
 

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Grinseed's picture
One of Oz's religious prime

One of Oz's religious prime ministers, parading his usual ignorance, noted that Muslims only needed a Renaissance of their own, just like Christian Europe did, before they could be rational, sane and nice like Christians, but the Islamic Empire was already very far ahead of the west in science, medicine, philosophy and everything else when their moment passed back, in the 11th century, when Al Ghazali, the revered cleric, as a result of his own personal monumental intellectual struggle to accommodate natural philosophy and mysticism of Islam to define Allah, decided for mysticism and brought an end to analytical research and the nascent scientific method that earlier philosophers had implemented.

It wasn't just a denial of natural philosophy. Over time it became a pogrom against rationalists led by fundamentalists. There was blood and death. The fundamentalists won and still rule.

In simple terms, 'causation' was replaced with 'occasionalism'. No event ever happened because of an event naturally occurring before it; Allah was there to make sure each event was created independently of all other events which he also created. There was no chain of events, no cause and effect, no unmoved mover, just one uncaused continual causer. This cleared the way for miracles to happen, because every single event is a miracle, individually created by Allah, who being supremely rational, ensures everything appears to happen in a logical order. The world is effectively being re-created all the time.
And when your god is doing all the work, who needs science? Trust to Allah and the tide will come in and go out, the sun will always rise, and the moon might split in half...if Allah wills it.

Added after reading CyberLN's comment:
"It would be like crediting xtianity with the mapping of the human genome just because Francis Collins is xtian."

Bloody good point!

algebe's picture
Without discounting any of

Without discounting any of the great achievements of Medieval Islamic societies, especially in Spain, we should also be aware that many of the advances brought into primitive Europe had their origins in other places. The Arabs preserved a lot of ancient Greek learning, and they also brought knowledge along their trade routes from China and India. "Arabic" numerals, including the zero, originated in India.

Cognostic's picture
The Islamic Golden age was

The Islamic Golden age was about the Spread of Islam throughout the known world. It was spurred on by the fall of Rome/ Like Christianity before it, you either believed in Islam (Converted) or died at the hands of a conquering army. Muhammad is the Alexander the Great of Islam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwXtTwNvWXc

arakish's picture
Neil deGrasse Tyson - The

Neil deGrasse Tyson - The Islamic Golden Age: Naming Rights

This one is marked to start at the beginning of the "arabic" stuff. It also covers why the IGA was destroyed from within (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDAT98eEN5Q&t=400s).

rmfr

EDIT: the same person who destroyed the IGA is also same person who first proposed the Kalam Cosmological Argument. Says a lot for idiocy of religion...

adamusa's picture
The Islamic Golden Age, also

The Islamic Golden Age, also known as the Abbasid Empire, was an important period in Islamic history that lasted from 750 to 1258. This period is called the "golden age" because of this time. , the Abbasid Empire reached its peak culturally, scientifically, economically and militarily. https://retrobowlmod.com

gamerun0's picture
Occasionally, specific

Occasionally, specific configurations can be altered using external configuration files, separate from the game itself. Search for the game's configuration files, typically found in the game's installation directory, and attempt to modify them directly. retro games

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