Protoscience and the scientific revolution

[jrmu@xxxxxxxxxx]

Greetings,

Four (possibly five) civilizations participated in the axial age with
protoscientific philosophy: the Greeks, the Chinese, the Indians, the
Arab/Persians, and possibly the Mayans/Aztecs/Incans 

These have been termed "axial civilizations" because they developed the
seeds of science, although not science itself. They instead laid its
foundations because of the questions they asked about how and what we
know about knowledge.

The Europeans were the first civilization to successfully take
protoscience and turn it into advanced science during the 1600s-1800s.
They advanced so far that other civilizations abandoned their own
traditions and copied European science wholesale.

As a result, today all science is based on questions originating from
ancient Greek philosophies, and almost none from the other
civilizations.

There is, however, value in reexamining the protosciences of other
ancient civilizations. These could potentially blossom into alternative
universes of science.

Imagine the cultivation of a fruit tree from seed. Each protoscientific
tradition represents seeds of different species. Perhaps Greece is an
apple seed, China an orange seed, India a guava seed, and so on.

Apples were cultivated to great success, but the other seeds did not
bear fruit because of a lack of fertilizer, water, and good soil.
Economic and political conditions in other civilizations did not allow
the development of advanced science.

Yet because the seeds are fundamentally different species, the proper
cultivation may result in the blossoming of unique fruits. These may
turn into alternative sciences.

-- 
Aaron Lin
jrmu@xxxxxxxxxx
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