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Where would we be if...

  • 16-08-2010 01:48AM
    #1
    SafeSurfer
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,182 ✭✭✭


    Where would we be if all the resources spent on religious worship since the start of civilisation were spent on scientific research instead?

    Multo autem ad rem magis pertinet quallis tibi vide aris quam allis



«13

Comments

  • #2
    GLaDOS
    Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 23,257 Mod ✭✭✭✭GLaDOS


    http://j-walkblog.com/images/darkageschart.gif

    Cake, and grief counseling, will be available at the conclusion of the test



  • #3
    Superbus
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,784 ✭✭✭Superbus


    Probably would have killed each other into extinction long before now without a man in the sky dictating right and wrong.


  • #4
    The Agogo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 834 ✭✭✭The Agogo


    in space?


  • #5
    orourkeda
    Closed Accounts Posts: 17,916 ✭✭✭✭orourkeda


    nuked or at war


  • #6
    mink_man
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,454 ✭✭✭mink_man


    I don't know.


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  • #7
    mikom
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16,391 ✭✭✭✭mikom


    Peadophile Scientists?


  • #8
    orourkeda
    Closed Accounts Posts: 17,916 ✭✭✭✭orourkeda


    who cares


  • #9
    ballsymchugh
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,943 ✭✭✭ballsymchugh


    the otters would rule.


  • #10
    plein de force
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,148 ✭✭✭plein de force


    i'll sit this one out


  • #11
    Lust4Life
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,350 ✭✭✭Lust4Life


    Interesting question to ponder.
    Maybe I would have my flying car!


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  • #12
    OutlawPete
    Closed Accounts Posts: 17,689 ✭✭✭✭OutlawPete


    In Ricahrd Branson's house shagging his daughter?


  • #13
    daz801
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,159 ✭✭✭daz801


    I see this turning into a religion-v-science thread


  • #14
    javaboy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,094 ✭✭✭✭javaboy


    OutlawPete wrote: »
    In Ricahrd Branson's house shagging his daughter?

    Making his virgin mega sore?


  • #15
    johnmcdnl
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,740 ✭✭✭johnmcdnl


    ScienceNerd wrote: »
    http://j-walkblog.com/images/darkageschart.gif

    that actually just sums it up...


  • #16
    ballsymchugh
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,943 ✭✭✭ballsymchugh


    OutlawPete wrote: »
    In Ricahrd Branson's house shagging his daughter?

    oh holly! :cool:


  • #17
    skelliser
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,985 ✭✭✭skelliser


    Well alot of science was spurred on by religion.

    the gutenburg bible being a good example.


  • #18
    Senna
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,800 ✭✭✭Senna


    I'm guessing the Japanese would have invented a better, smaller, higher resolution, pocket sized God.


  • #19
    Jeboa Safari
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,202 ✭✭✭Jeboa Safari


    johnmcdnl wrote: »
    that actually just sums it up...

    No it doesn't


  • #20
    Gray
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 208 ✭✭Gray


    Superbus wrote: »
    Probably would have killed each other into extinction long before now without a man in the sky dictating right and wrong.
    Don't seem to make much difference in fact plenty of wars have had church blessing


  • #21
    skelliser
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,985 ✭✭✭skelliser


    ScienceNerd wrote: »
    http://j-walkblog.com/images/darkageschart.gif

    That graph is so wrong!


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  • #22
    Biggins
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 34,567 ✭✭✭✭Biggins


    plein de force wrote: »
    i'll sit this one out
    Don't blame you.
    The ending of this is probably written.


  • #23
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 99,624 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    skelliser wrote: »
    Well alot of science was spurred on by religion.

    the gutenburg bible being a good example.
    actually the Chinese had movable type long before, but it wasn't so practical


    the printed book took off because
    - paper was cheap compared to the dark ages people were now well off enough to buy new clothes and the old clothes were used to make paper (from the linen)
    - spectacles were available, so it was worth learning to read, before there wasn't as much interest since you might not be able to see them later in life


    the main science spurred on by religion was the making of clocks and later astromony , religious people made scientific advances because they had free time and education and a lot of them paid dearly :(


  • #24
    nozzferrahhtoo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,369 ✭✭✭nozzferrahhtoo


    An almost impossible question to answer. It wholly comes down to who would have GOT this funding.

    Take Newton for example. If you poured all the church money of his day into HIS coffers, it likely would have all got invested in the search for the alchemy holy grail of turning lead into gold.

    The conversation between religion and science has been an entirely one way erosion of the former by the latter. This does not negate the fact that the world of science is made up of a core of success surrounded by a layer of bad science, coated with a layer of even worse science.


  • #25
    starbelgrade
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,739 ✭✭✭✭starbelgrade


    I think that by this stage, man would have re-invented the wheel.


  • #26
    OutlawPete
    Closed Accounts Posts: 17,689 ✭✭✭✭OutlawPete


    ballsymchugh wrote: »
    oh holly! :cool:

    Aye ...


  • #27
    MrStuffins
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,646 ✭✭✭✭MrStuffins


    javaboy wrote: »
    Making his virgin mega sore?

    Brilliant!


  • #28
    MrStuffins
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,646 ✭✭✭✭MrStuffins


    Oh, and my answer?

    We'd all be dead. God would have been pissed, Old Testement style, amd drown us all!

    Science Shmience!


  • #29
    sponsoredwalk
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,038 ✭✭✭sponsoredwalk


    Living in a world where repetitive posts like these wouldn't pop up,
    we'd all be too busy coping with with scarlet fever! :pac:


  • #30
    bazmac09
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2 ✭bazmac09


    You would also have to take war into account. Various armies over the centuries have wiped out all of the educated folk in the cities they were conquering to leave them powerless e.g. who knows how many brilliant minds were destroyed without us ever knowing. However I would like to think we would be somewhere quite similar to where we are now...A large part of science is (and i mean no disrespect to the millions of brilliant minds out there) accidental discovery, or at least was. So if anything we would have just got to where we are now faster?


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  • #31
    javaboy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,094 ✭✭✭✭javaboy


    The world politically and socially speaking was still in its infancy at the beginning of the dark ages. I think if science had progressed unhindered at that stage we'd probably have blown each other to smithereens.

    By the time the means to cause mass destruction became available, society had reached a point where such weapons were considered a deterrent and a last resort.

    The slowdown of scientific advancement probably normalised the geographic spread of knowledge. What I mean is that if a particular country say France was a big world power back then and made some breakthrough, they would likely have kept it to themselves. It might have paved the way to more and more advances. International relations were fairly primitive back then so it's likely France would have gone to war with the other countries using their superior tech. So the advanced countries who made breakthroughs and were in a position to exploit them would become more advanced and more powerful while the unlucky countries whose research didn't bear any fruit would be further suppressed.

    Instead what happened was the dark ages slowed science down. So advances only trickled out. They filtered out across the world and made for a more level playing field. Nobody got to get too far ahead if you get what I mean.

    The world got to grow up before we got to handle anything dangerous. As such I feel we owe religion an enormous debt of gratitude.


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