Did disease stop science developing outside Europe?

Last updated on: November 14, 2014 at 5:33 am by Epiphenom

Did disease stop science developing outside Europe? 2014-11-14T05:33:49+01:00 Epiphenom

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Why did the scientific revolution occur in Europe, and not somewhere else? It’s tempting to think that there was something different about the culture of Medieval Europe that set the foundations for the remarkable transformations of the Renaissance – and indeed this is what most historians of science tend to assume (i.e. they don’t subscribe to the ‘accidental’ view of history).

Christians sometimes claim that Christianity somehow underpins the world view that lead to the enlightenment, although these claims often lack adequate cross-cultural context and some are clearly flawed. Another possibility is that the individualism that is characteristic of European culture may have created a environment in which dogma may be more effectively challenged. The map shows one measure of individualism (The Hofstede Index) – Europe is high in individualism, whereas China and the Middle East are lower.

According to Toby Huff, Professor of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts, it was the “dominating influence of the extended kin group” that acted as a brake on learning and intellectual development in the Islamic world. He writes:

… the particularism of the extended kin group appears to have had a pervasive influence that worked against the development of scholarly guilds or any other autonomous groups – professional, legal, or corporate – which could sustain scientific inquiry and protect it from outside attack. In fact, the traditional, pre-Islamic extended family pattern was reinforced by Islamic law in that it does not recognize corporate personalities, which is why cities and universities and other legally autonomous entities did not evolve there. (Huff, The Rise of Early Modern Science, p81)

But this just begs the question: why is individualism higher in Europe than in the rest of the Old World? A new paper just out suggests that it was a cultural response to the threat of communicable disease (see ref below). Where disease levels are high, they propose, groups of people may band together and be more likely to reject outsiders.

What they did was create a composite measure of the prevalence of nine pathogens that are detrimental to human reproductive fitness (leishmanias, trypanosomes, malaria, schistosomes, filariae, leprosy, dengue, typhus and tuberculosis). They then correlated this with a variety of measures of individualism in countries and regions around the world (including the Hofstede Index). For all of them, the correlation was highly significant, with around 50% of the variation in individualism explained by historical pathogen prevalence.

The potential impact on learning and free thinking was not lost on the authors, who conclude:

Pathogen prevalence … may predict cross-cultural differences in practices pertaining to learning and education: where pathogens are prevalent, cultures are likely to encourage modes of learning that emphasize imitation and emulation of prestige in-group members (whereas in less pathogenic environments, there may be greater encouragement for individual experimentation and trial-and-error learning).

The rise of science in the Europe is a complex phenomenon, and no single explanation is likely to suffice. But, with a demonstration of a link between disease burden and cultural attitudes, at least one more piece of the jigsaw seems to have fallen in to place.

Fincher, C.L., Thornhill, R., Murray, D.R., Schaller, M. (2008). Pathogen prevalence predicts human cross-cultural variability in individualism/collectivism. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, -1(-1), -1–1. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0094

Open Access PDF

Uncategorized

Previous Post

April 17, 2008

Diana's kidney makes French woman speak English

Next Post

April 22, 2008 Too much religion is bad for your wealth

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Causes of religion - evolution Causes of religion - psychological Causes of religion - social Demographics Digest Effects of religion - health Effects of religion - psychological Effects of religion - social Notifications Politics Uncategorized

Select a Month March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Redeemer" mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

One who buys back One who gives One who judges One who conquers