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Might? Knowledge and understanding. Enlightenment. That's what dominates this world today, and it came from Europe. Not what came from the sword, but what came from the mind. Europe had a better grasp of astronomy and the Chinese didn't realise it until the Jesuits came along and taught them what they hadn't grasped yet. The Magna Carta had well passed when the groundbreaking book 'The Freedom of the Will' was written by Erasmus. Copernicus and Galileo - both devout Christians - had pushed knowledge and understanding to new levels. I don't think Isaac Newton was a warrior but the man who read the bible daily, his work contributed the most to Europe's future dominance, and to the ascent of modern science. He had the German Lutheran Kepler's work on planetary motions to build on, who himself was inspired by Copernican astronomy. Modern chemistry had much to thank Robert Boyle for. Adam Smith showed the way forward for creating a modern discipline out of economics. Social contract theories were starting to spring up, and John Locke had much to contribute. The Age of Discovery meant that in the search for new trading routes and partners to feed burgeoning capitalism in Europe, new areas were mapped and previously unknown peoples were encountered. The Commercial Revolution led to the first stock exchange in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1531 - men in wigs, frock coats and hoses would show up regularly, carrying rolls of scrip. I know many want to believe that Europe were warmongers and only had their way by conquest just like the muslims. Not so. They had their way because their understanding and knowledge was light years ahead of everyone else, it was based on merit. If you believe the best ideas shouldn't win out and dominate over everything else, because it equals might, then you wanna keep the whole world back and you're the one that's wack, and we're world's, world's, world's famous! (Malcolm McClaren)
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