The  MAINSPRING  of  HUMAN PROGRESS By  Henry Grady Weaver P.  98.      While Europe was still stagnating in the Dark Ages — and several centuries before Britain had its Magna Charta — a dynamic  but little known civilization,  based on a recognition of personal freedom,  was blazing in the Near East  and spreading along the shores of the Mediterranean. P.  104. Contributions of the Saracens Schoolbooks lay great emphasis on European history,  ancient and modern;  but no point is made of the fact that,  when Europe was stagnating  in the so-called  Dark Ages,  the world was actually bright with a civilization  more closely akin to what we have in America  than anything that had gone before.  Thirty generations of human beings  who believed in personal freedom  created that civilization  and kept it going for 800 years.      In the deserts and the mountains and the steamy fertile river valleys,  from the Ganges to the Atlantic,  these people were of all races and colors and classes,  all creeds,  all former cultures,  all former empires.  They included Buddhists,  Christians,  Moslems,  Jews,  Hindus,  Mongolians,  Chaldeans,  Assyrians,  Armenians,  Persians,  Medes,  Arabs,  Greeks,  Egyptians,  Phoenicians,  Hittites,  Africans,  and hundreds of others  whose ancient ancestors had worn the soil to dust  before the earliest dawn of history.      There is one name that correctly applies to all of these people.  The Europeans,  who hated them,  called them  “Saracens.”      The records of the much-maligned Saracens — their 800 years of civilization,  their institutions,  their methods,  their ways of living — are locked in their common language,  Arabic.  Since American historians are European minded,  we get  only glimpses of the Saracens’ world,  seen through European misunderstanding and bitterness  dating back to the crusades. P.  105. Because of the deep-seated prejudice,  and in the interest of fair play,  it seems appropriate to swing the pendulum  the other way  and present the Saracens’  side of the story. [ Footnote:  “ This chapter is based mainly on information gathered by  Rose Wilder lane,  whose researches include personal contacts among remnants of former Saracenic tribes.  Almost everything in it  should be in quotes,  except that I have taken liberties in condensing Mrs. Lane’s original text.” ]      It is to the Saracens  that the world of today  owes much of its science — mathematics,  astronomy,  navigation,  modern medicine and surgery,  scientific agriculture — and their influence  led to the discovery  and exploitation of America.      In the world of the Saracens,  no authority suppressed scientists,  and no policemen  harried them — nor did any government  take care of them.  They opened schools;  and from Baghdad to Grenada,  students flocked to them.  Some of these schools grew into great universities,  and for hundreds of years  they continued to grow. Learning Versus Teaching The Saracen universities  had no formal organization— Mohammed  contended that too much organization  leads to corruption.  The rules were few.  There were no standardized programs,  no regular curriculums,  no examinations.  to guard against the fallacious idea that education ends with graduation,  the Saracens’ schools  granted no diplomas,  no degrees.  They were institutions,  not of teaching,  but of learning.  Students went there to acquire knowledge,  just as Americans go to grocery stores  to buy food. P.  106.      Classes were held on an open-house basis.  Anyone  in quest of Knowledge  was free to wander about and listen.  If he decided to remain,  he picked a teacher,  and privately discussed with him  what he wanted to learn  and what he should study,  and they agreed upon a fee.  IF,  after joining the class,  he didn’t get the knowledge  he wanted,  he stopped paying the teacher  and went to another teacher  or another university.  When he had learned what he thought  he ought to know,  he quit school and put his new knowledge to practical test.      For 800 years,  the Saracens’ schools and universities  proceeded on the principle of freedom — on the basis of voluntary agreement between teacher and student.  They offered all the learning of the past,  with special emphasis on scientific knowledge.      One of the outstanding characteristics of the Saracens  was their ability to build on the experiences of others.  They studied the works of Aristotle,  Galen,  Euclid.  They took unto themselves  the past discoveries and techniques of the Greeks,  the Chinese,  the Romans — and usually found ways to improve upon them.      It is only when people are free  that they begin to look for labor-saving methods.  (See page 218..) P.  218. Eli Whitney,  Eli Terry,  a clocksmith of Plymouth, Connecticut,  tack maker -  Jeremiah Wilkinson  of Rhode Island,  etc.      From the Old World viewpoint,  time was unimportant,  and the conservation of human energy  also seemed unimportant. P.  219.      It is only when men are free  that they begin to place a value on their time;  and when men begin to place a value on human time,  they begin to realize the importance of preserving human life.      Down through the ages,  the principal business had always been war.  When a people won a war,  they made slaves of the defeated people;  if they lost,  they became slaves of their conquerors.  In either case,  there was always  a surplus of burden-bearers.  Long hours of drudgery  helped to keep the slaves  submissive,  so there was no incentive to develop labor-saving techniques — no point in worrying about time. Book review Book available here: The MAINSPRING of HUMAN PROGRESS Isonomia.us   ( Home )