The decades after World War 2 were critical in shaping the Middle East’s political structures. After the war began, demand for oil increased – the Middle East became more valuable, as a supplier of oil, and as a strategic location. During the war, British and French forces occupied Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria while Soviet forces … Read more
The French established protectorates across North Africa but they were not all of the same kind. The Gulf peninsula was ruled by tribally based federations tied together through political and religious affiliations. The most important of these was the house of Saud’s alliance with the figure Ibn ‘Abd el Wahab’. The Saudi/Wahabi alliance would emerge … Read more
Chapter 1: The Ottoman Empire and its Legacy in the Middle East The Middle East is the birthplace of three monotheistic faiths of Judaism (2000 BCE), Christianity (1st Century AD), and Islam (7th century CE). The Ottomans tried to regulate Islam across the empire through the Grand Mufti. In the 18th and 19th century, the … Read more
Dataism says that everything consists of data flows and the value of any phenomenon or entity is determined by its contribution to data processing. This is not a new idea. Since Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, scientists have seen organisms as biochemical algorithms. And since the Turing Machine, computer scientists have learned to assemble … Read more
The most interesting place in the world from a religious perspective is Silicon Valley, that’s where the promises of salvation through algorithms and genes are. There are two main techno religions, techno-humanism and data religion. Data religion argues that humans have finished their cosmic task and should now make way for new kinds of entities. … Read more
Liberals promote free markets and democratic elections because they believe that individuals are unique and valuable, who’s free choices are the source of authority. In this century, we will see three practical developments that will nullify this belief. 1. Humans will lose military and economic usefulness. The economic and political system will not value them … Read more
Liberalism is like any other religion; in that it is based on factual statements that aren’t scientifically sound. One belief is that voters and buyers do not make their decisions randomly, liberalism acknowledges the existence of external influences but thinks that people ultimately make up their own minds freely. Free Will is an Illusion But … Read more
While the modern deal does not include deriving meaning from a cosmic plan, it does allow you to derive meaning independently – and this is how humanism succeeds what came before it. For ages, prophets and philosophers thought that the death of God would pose a great threat to law and order. But today, Muslim … Read more
Why do humans think they are superior to animals? Is There a Human Spark? Scientists have not found that humans or animals have souls, but scientists doubt the existence of souls not because of lack of evidence but because the idea of “soul” contradicts fundamental principles of evolution. This is why the theory of evolution … Read more
The Garden of Eden In the Garden of Eden myth, humans are punished for their curiosity and wish to gain knowledge. God expels them from paradise. But in the myth about Newton and the apple, nobody berates the scientist for his efforts – just the opposite. Teachers all over the world propagate the story of … Read more