譯文簡介
網友：宗教區分了神秘主義和哲學；發現數學、哲學和工程之間的聯絡；科學方法的發現；在工程上應用科學和數學；發展一種哲學，使資本主義得以發展，而不是讓經濟停留在市場經濟的狀態；發展以民法典、普通法或習慣法為基礎的司法理論和法理學，發展法治原則……
正文翻譯
Why didn‘t China become a world superpower when it first invented gunpowder， printing， paper， the compass， and great ocean sailing ships， before the West did？
為什麼中國在發明火藥、印刷術、造紙術、指南針和遠洋航行船後，沒有比西方更早成為世界超級大國？
評論翻譯
Susanna Viljanen
Because China lacked the Required Secondary Powers。
The required secondary powers in this case were
religion which distinguishes between mysticism and philosophy
discovering the connection between mathematics， philosophy and engineering
discovery of the scientific method
applying sciences and mathematics on engineering
developing a philosophy which enables capitalism to evolve instead of economy remaining as bazaar economy
developing a judicial theory and jurisprudence based either on civil code， common law or customary law and developing the principle of the rule of law
China never made the distinction between mysticism and philosophy。 There never were Chinese Empidocles， Parmenides， Thales， Aristoteles， Platon， Socrates or Democritos。
因為中國欠缺必要的次級力量。在這種情況下必要的次級力量是什麼：
宗教區分了神秘主義和哲學；
發現數學、哲學和工程之間的聯絡；
科學方法的發現；
在工程上應用科學和數學；
發展一種哲學，使資本主義得以發展，而不是讓經濟停留在市場經濟的狀態；
發展以民法典、普通法或習慣法為基礎的司法理論和法理學，發展法治原則。
中國從來沒有把神秘主義和哲學區分開來。從來沒有中國的恩培多克勒（古希臘哲學家）， 巴門尼德（前蘇格拉底時期的哲學家）， 泰利斯（希臘哲學家）， 亞里士多德， 柏拉圖， 蘇格拉底（古希臘哲學家）或德謨克利特（古希臘哲學家）。
As result， there also never were natural philosophers such as Archimedes， Apollonios， Heron or Diophantos， who would use mathematics on resolving philosophical problems and proving concepts - such as that Earth is a ball。 The Chinese believed well until the 17th century that Earth is flat。
Without those powers you really do not develop the scientific method either， which means engineering does not become a science - it will remain as an art and tinkering based on trial and error。
Sciences and mathematics can also be applied on economy， and China never developed Capitalism。 The Chinese economy was more developed than that in Arabic countries or Russia， but they never developed the true Capitalism。
China has never had a similar tradition of law， jurisprudence and judicial science as the Romans did。 There never was Chinese Lex XII Tabulae nor Corpus Iuris Civilis in China。 Which meant there never was the rule of law and clear system of justice， but the Emperors were more or less despots and their whim was the law。 This is an especially crucial situation with contracts， individual judicial safety and safety of property and ownership。
The technological weaknesses were that China did not have glass， mechanical clocks， phonetic scxt and corning of the gunpowder。
因此，也沒有像阿基米德、阿波羅尼奧斯、赫倫或丟凡託斯這樣的自然哲學家，他們會用數學來解決哲學問題和證明概念——比如地球是一個球。中國人直到17世紀才相信地球是圓的。
如果沒有這些能力，你也無法真正發展出科學的方法，這意味著工程學不會成為一門科學——它仍將是一門藝術，是建立在反覆試驗的基礎上進行修補。
科學和數學也可以應用在經濟上，中國從來沒有發展過資本主義。中國經濟曾比阿拉伯國家或俄羅斯更發達，但他們從未發展出真正的資本主義。
中國在法律傳統、法律體系和司法科學方面從來沒有羅馬人那樣的傳統。中國從來沒有中國版的《十二銅表法》，也沒有中國版的《羅馬法/民法大全》。
（十二銅表法，又稱十二表法，是古羅馬在約前450年制定的法律，因為刻在12塊銅牌（也有說為著色的木牌）上，故而得名。十二銅表法被認為是現今“成文法”的始祖，也是歐陸法系中的“羅馬法”的源頭之一。）
中國在技術上的弱點是，沒有玻璃、機械鐘、音標和火藥的進一步發展。
Lack of glass meant no decent windows， no decent glassware， no lenses， no chemical instruments and vessels and no scientific instruments。 It was an unovercomeable obstacle for sciences。
Lack of mechanical clocks meant there was no way of determining time accurately and independently of gravity。 It meant also that bluewater navigation was next to impossible。 The Chinese had marvellous ships， but they were bound to littoral navigation as the Chinese did not a） understand Earth is a sphere and b） had no instrumentation nor concepts for oceanic navigation。
The Chinese had compass， but they used it on religious rituals and feng shui rather than geographic exploration and navigation at sea。 They never understood the connection between trigonometry， time and navigation and they never divided the compass rose on 360 degrees。
The Chinese had magnificient large ships， but they were not ocean-going。 The Chinese did not understand Earth is a ball - and never developed celestial navigation。 Going to the ocean without bluewater navigation skills is tantamount to suicide。 Zheng He made his voyages by littoral， not oceanic， navigation。
沒有玻璃意味著沒有像樣的窗戶，沒有像樣的玻璃器皿，沒有鏡片，沒有化學儀器和容器，沒有科學儀器。這對科學來說是一個無法克服的障礙。
沒有機械時鐘意味著沒有辦法獨立於重力精確地確定時間。這也意味著在藍海航行幾乎是不可能的。中國人有了不起的船隻，但他們註定只能進行沿海航行，因為中國人不知道 a）地球是一個球體；b）沒有海洋航行的儀器和概念。
中國人有指南針，但他們把它用於宗教儀式和風水，而不是地理探索和海上航行。他們從來都不明白三角學、時間和航海之間的聯絡，他們也從來沒把360度和羅盤區分開。
中國人有宏偉的大船，但他們不是遠洋的。中國人不知道地球是一個球，也從未發展過天體導航。沒有航海技能就去海洋就等於自殺。鄭和的航行是沿海航行，而不是遠洋航行。
The Chinese had paper and printing press - and 40，000 hanzi characters。 While they are beautiful and can carry enormous information on mere sight， they are basically hieroglyphs and illegible unless you know how they are pronounced and what they mean。 Before the universal literacy and computers， the printing press was next to useless - it simply took too much time to cast the characters and arrange them for prints， and literacy was not widespread。 Had China adopted a phonetic scxt such as the Mongol scxt， the Japanese katakana and hiragana， or Korean Hangul， the printing press would have become a much more powerful device on spreading information and new ideas instead of just recording the classics。
The Chinese had gunpowder， but corning of the gunpowder is a German 14th century innovation。 Without corning the gunpowder， it becomes merely a poof powder， and much more a psychological weapon and an incendiary rather than a projectile propellant or explosive。 Corning of the gunpowder improves its efficiency eightfold and enables building decent bombards， cannons and arquebuses。
There was also a grand paradigmatic difference in philosophy between the European and the Chinese thinkers。 In China， the thoughts of Meng Zi， Kong Fuzi and Lao Zi prevailed， and the goal of Kong Fuzi was to seek harmony and balance， i。e。 don’t rock the boat。 In the Chinese tradition， dissidence is poorly tolerated， which leads into a stable society， but it also leads into a societal ossification and also leads easily in the “not invented here” mindset
中國人有紙和印刷機，還有4萬個漢字。雖然它們很漂亮，而且僅憑一瞥就能承載大量資訊，但它們基本上是象形文字，難以辨認，除非你知道它們是如何發音的，它們的意思是什麼。在普遍識字和計算機出現之前，印刷機幾乎是無用的——它花了太多的時間來塑造漢字並印刷，而且識字並不普遍。如果中國採用了蒙古文、日本片假名、平假名等注音文字或韓文，印刷術將不再只是記錄經典，而是成為傳播資訊和新思想的有力工具。
中國人有火藥，但火藥的進一步發展是德國14世紀的發明。沒有了火藥的進一步發展，它只是一種粉末，更像是一種心理武器和燃燒彈，而不是拋射推進劑或炸藥。
The Europeans tend to be more extroverted in this case。 It is said the Europeans have not even today agreed what is the best societal model there is。 European share the Graeco-Jewish-Roman tradition of the big debate and open disputations in the square， in the university， in the school and， disagreement and challenging the status quo。 There is a sarcasm three Jews， four opinions， and the gemara of the Talmud is a hallmark of this debate。 Europeans were aware they were not alone， and also far more open to the rest of the world。 They knew they were not superior， and they were constantly under attack - the seaborne barbarians in North， the horse nomads in the East， Islam from South - and there was a vast ocean in the West。 In order not to get crushed， they were willing to learn from foreigners and carry their ideas and innovations even further - such as corning of the gunpowder and breech-loading cannons， which were known already in the 15th century。
在這種情況下，歐洲人傾向於更加外向。據說，直到今天，歐洲人還沒有就最好的社會模式達成一致。歐洲人繼承了希臘-猶太-羅馬的傳統，在廣場上，在大學裡，在學校裡進行大辯論和公開辯論，反對和挑戰現狀。
有一個諷刺——三個猶太人，四個觀點，塔木德法典的註釋本是這場辯論的一個特點。歐洲人意識到他們並不孤單，而且對世界其他地方也更加開放。他們知道自己並不優越，而且他們經常受到攻擊——北方是海上的野蠻人，東方是遊牧民族，南方是伊斯蘭教——而西方是一片廣闊的海洋。為了不被擊垮，他們願意向外國人學習，並將他們的思想和創新進一步發揚光大，比如火藥的進一步發展和15世紀就已經知道的後裝彈大炮。
Say what we want of the Xinhai Revolution of 1911， it really kicked the sleeping dragon awake。 What the Chinese are not is that they are not stupid。 Both Chinas - the mainland Zhongguo and island Taiwan - did a quick self-analysis and analyzed what has gone wrong - and absorbed the Western knowledge， science and thinking patterns quickly - and gained those required secondary powers。
Both mainland China under Communism and Taiwan under People’s Three Principles are hallmarks on how an ossified and dormant civilization wakes up， renews itself， absorbs knowledge and education - and take the place which really belongs to them。
說到辛亥革命，它真把沉睡的龍踢醒了。中國人不愚蠢。無論哪個中國——中國大陸還是中國臺灣——都快速進行過自我分析，分析了哪裡出了問題，並迅速吸收了西方的知識、科學和思維模式，獲得了所需的次要力量。
無論是共產主義統治下的中國大陸，還是人民三民主義統治下的臺灣，都標誌著一個僵化和休眠的文明的覺醒、自我更新、吸收知識和教育，並佔據真正屬於他們的位置。
Steve Anderson
Do you think the absence of regional rivals played a part？ While you make excellent points， I am more of a school of thought that China’s dynastic cycle and lack of consistent regional rivals led to technological and institutional stagnation。
你是否認為地區競爭對手的欠缺起到了一定作用？
雖然你的觀點很好，但我更傾向於認為，中國的王朝週期和缺乏持續的地區競爭對手，導致了技術和制度上的停滯。
Susanna Viljanen
Yes， and it is basic cultural evolution。 The lack of rivals - both external and internal - tend to ossify the society and lull it into a state of complacent stagnation。
It is the same in biological evolution - species who have lived in isolation are helpless against invasive species。
是的，這是文化進化的基本。缺乏外部和內部競爭對手，往往會使社會僵化，陷入自滿的停滯狀態。
在生物進化中也是如此——在孤立環境中生活的物種對入侵物種是無能為力的。
Michal Šturc
I agree here， Europeans had to either adapt and improve， or be beaten by those who did。
在這一點上我同意，歐洲人必須要麼適應和改進，要麼被那些做到了的人打敗。
Su Chao
I disagree with your first two bullets while agreeing with the rest。
The observation isn’t uniquely true to China。 Rather， it was Europe that blew away the competition when it entered the Age of Enlightenment。
The bulk of the Classical Chinese philosophies came about the same period as the Greeks’ in the 6th - 3rd century BC。 The cross comparison between the two are roughly equivalent。 For each of the names you mentioned above， there was a similar Classical Chinese philosopher to match。 There had been exhaustive academic papers on this subject。 However， it is worthy to point out that there was no equivalent to λογική in ancient China。 Logic， was introduced to the Chinese scholars by the Jesuits in the 16th century AD。
我不同意你的前兩個觀點，但我同意其餘部分。
並非只有中國才如此。相反，是歐洲在進入啟蒙時代時才擊敗了競爭對手。
中國古典哲學的大部分產生於公元前6 - 3世紀，與希臘相當，兩者之間的交叉比較大致相當。對於你上面提到的每一個名字，都有一個相似的中國古典哲學家來匹配。關於這個問題已有詳盡的學術論文。然而，值得指出的是，在中國古代並沒有什麼“λογικ b”。邏輯學，是在公元16世紀由耶穌會士引入給中國學者的。
To counter some of your generalization， for example， there was Zu Chongzhi - Wikipedia， who approximated the value of Pi to 7th decimal point in 5th century AD， 800 years ahead of the competition。 The earth was proved to be curved in the 7th century AD during the Tang Dynasty and there were hypotheses that the earth could be a ball。
Innovations in mathematics and engineering were sporadic， not systemic in ancient China， like everywhere else in the world。 If it wasn’t the Renaissance， the Classical Greek philosophies would have been buried away in the European history。
Thus， the real question was why the Age of Enlightenment only happened in Europe， but not in Mesopotamia， Nile Delta， Indus Valley， Yellow River Valley， or Mesoamerica。
為了反駁你的一些概括——例如，祖沖之，他在公元5世紀將圓周率的值近似到小數點後7位，領先競爭對手800年。在公元7世紀的唐朝，地球被證明是彎曲的，並有假說認為地球可能是一個球。
和世界上其他地方一樣，中國古代在數學和工程方面的創新是零星的，不是系統性的。如果不是文藝復興時期，古典希臘哲學早就湮沒在歐洲歷史中了。
因此，真正的問題是，為什麼啟蒙時代只發生在歐洲，而不是在美索不達米亞、尼羅河三角洲、印度河流域、黃河流域或中美洲。
Dmitry Kosh
Thus， the real question was why the Age of Enlightenment only happened in Europe，
Perhaps it is because Christian monotheistic theology allowed Europeans to develop a mechanistic and progressive outlook on the world - without falling into the trap of Islamic occasionalism：
Christianity and the rise of western science
Do Chinese of the previous ages believe in linear （progressive） development of the universe or cyclical one -like Hindus？ Do they have some sort of supreme deity， which allows the world to work as a designed mechanism， governed by universal laws？
“因此，真正的問題是，為什麼啟蒙時代只發生在歐洲，而不是在美索不達米亞、尼羅河三角洲、印度河流域、黃河流域或中美洲。”
也許是因為基督教一神論神學允許歐洲人發展出一種機械的、進步的世界觀，而沒有落入伊斯蘭偶發主義的陷阱：連結——《基督教和西方科學的興起》
以前的中國人是相信普世的線性（漸進）發展還是像印度人相信的迴圈發展？ 他們是否有某種至高無上的神，允許世界作為一個設計好的機制運作，受普遍法則支配？
Su Chao
Christianity as a probable cause is one of the theories。 Yet， you cannot exclude exceptions such as the Islamic Golden Age where ideas such as scientific method and algebra were first born。 Or， at least we should agree that the Renaissance is not unique across the civilizations of the world。 But the Age of Enlightenment certainly is。
I personally lean towards the theory that the unique combination of geography， politics and the Catholic Church （not Christianity the religion） played a larger role。 A very long coastline， a highly fragmented feudal system and a common Christian identity， together， gave birth to a “healthy competition”。
基督教可能是原因之一。但是，也不能排除伊斯蘭黃金時代的科學方法、代數等概念的誕生。或者，至少我們應該同意，文藝復興並不是世界文明中的獨特現象。不過啟蒙時代確實獨特。
我個人傾向於這樣一種理論，即地理、政治和天主教會（而非基督教）的獨特結合發揮了更大的作用。漫長的海岸線，高度分散的封建體系和共同的基督教身份，共同孕育了“健康的競爭”。
In a “healthy competition”： 1， many players of different sizes； 2， at any tier， there are more than 2 players； 3， it is difficult to drive a player out of the game； 4， if a player is driven out of the competition， a replacement should appear， without damaging the total dynamics； 5， a credible external threat that prevents the game from implosion （i。e。 the Ottoman）。
In a “healthy competition” between the states， states compete in both soft and hard power where arts and literature could blossom。 In a “bad competition” when states could conquer each other， they focus on hard power。
The Greek City States were in a healthy competition before the Peloponnesian War。 The Spring Autumn Period in China was a healthy competition。
在“健康的競爭”中：
1。許多不同規模的玩家；
2。在任何層面都有超過2名玩家；
3。很難將其中一名玩家驅逐出去；
4。 如果一名玩家被逐出了競爭，那麼應該在不破壞整體動態的情況下出現一個替換者；
5。 防止遊戲發生內爆的外部威脅（如奧斯曼帝國）。
在國與國之間的“健康競爭”中，國之間在軟實力和硬實力上競爭，藝術和文學可以蓬勃發展。在一場“惡性競爭”中，當各國可以相互征服時，它們會專注於硬實力。
在伯羅奔尼撒戰爭之前，希臘城邦之間的競爭很激烈。中國的春秋時期也是一個健康的競爭時期。
Susanna Viljanen
The problem with Islam was that its fundamental core tenets never recognized the difference between philosophy and theology， physics and metaphysics。 One of the core tenets of Islam is Occassionalism， which denies the law of causality。
You cannot evolve the scientific method if you deny the law of causality。 It will stultify the cultural evolution。
Paradoxally Indian civilization， with Hinduism and Buddhism， and the concept of karma， came very close to this breakthrough。
Likewise， Capitalism could never have evolved in the Islamic sphere， and the reason is simple。 Islam condones slavery， and slavery creates a horribly divided society into filthy rich， dirt poor and the slaves - there is no middle class， and no free labour， which are the fundamental pre-requisites for Capitalism。 Likewise， if the only laws are Sharia and ruler’s whim， there is no judicial safety and no security of ownership and concepts of legal rights。 The Islamic economy was doomed to remain as a bazaar economy and not evolve any further。
伊斯蘭教的問題在於，它的基本核心教義從未承認哲學與神學、物理學與形而上學之間的區別。伊斯蘭教的核心教義之一是“偶然主義”，它否認因果律。
如果你否認因果律，你就不能發展科學的方法。它會阻礙文化的發展。
自相矛盾的是，印度文明，包括印度教和佛教，以及因果報應的概念，非常接近這一突破。
同樣，資本主義也不可能在伊斯蘭世界發展，原因很簡單。伊斯蘭教縱容奴隸制，而奴隸制造成了一個可怕的社會分裂，其中包括骯髒的富人、骯髒的窮人和奴隸。沒有中產階級，沒有自由勞動力，而這正是資本主義的基本前提。同樣，如果唯一的法律是伊斯蘭教法和統治者的一時性起，就沒有司法安全，也沒有所有權和法律權利概念的保障。伊斯蘭經濟註定要繼續作為一種市場經濟而不能再進一步發展。
Certainly the Muslim mathematicians developed algebra。 But they never found the connection between philosophy and mathematics， science and mathematics and engineering and mathematics。 They remained as separate spheres。 That is one of the pre-requisites again for the scientific method。
Healthy competition is the thing which powers the cultural evolution。 The Eastern Roman Empire （Byzantine Empire） faced too hard competition and it was in a defensive war at all its fronts throughout the history。 While it had all the pre-requisites for the rise to the next evolutionary level， all its resources went into warfare。 There is a reason why the Byzantine armies have always been the wargamers’ all-time favourites， but the same reason also stultified the cultural evolution there in the 12th century。
Likewise， too little competition will coagulate any those processes which run the cultural evolution， and likewise stultify the cultural evolution。 If the surrounding world is also less evolved， a blissful complacency is almost guaranteed。
But let us suppose Mongolia， Korea， Japan， Vietnam， Indonesia and Malaysia had been stronger and culturally more evolved than they historically were during the era of Spring and Autumn， and the Warring States。 Would it have also meant that the state of healthy competition would have prevailed？
當然，穆斯林數學家發展了代數。但他們從未發現哲學和數學，科學和數學，工程和數學之間的聯絡。它們仍然是分開的領域。這也是科學方法的先決條件之一。
健康的競爭是文化進化的動力。東羅馬帝國（拜占庭帝國）面臨著過於激烈的競爭，歷史上一直處於防禦戰爭中。雖然它擁有上升到下一個進化階段的所有先決條件，但它的所有資源都投入了戰爭。拜占庭軍隊一直是戰爭玩家的最愛，這是有原因的，但同樣的原因也阻礙了12世紀的文化演變。
同樣地，過少的競爭將凝固任何那些執行文化進化的過程，同樣使文化進化變得遲鈍。如果周圍的世界也沒有那麼發達，那麼幾乎可以肯定會陷入一種自滿情緒。但是，讓我們假設蒙古、朝鮮、日本、越南、印度尼西亞和馬來西亞在春秋和戰國時期比歷史上更強大，文化也更發達。這是否也意味著健康競爭的狀態會佔上風？
Su Chao
I was raised a Roman Catholic。 However， over the years， I came to the realization that the core theologies of different faiths in the world， after millenniums of evolution， do not differ fundamentally。 It is their earthly institutions that at different times， drew the physical separations between the people， i。e。 it was not the thoughts， but the subsequent interpretations motivated by politics that divided us。
Hence， I wouldn’t claim that Islam， the faith， is prohibitive to innovations and quest for truth。 Instead， why would Occasionalism， a doctrine raised three centuries after the birth of the religion was not overturned？ What geopolitical forces preserved its relevance？ Please also remember that the Occasionalism doctrine coexisted with the Islamic Golden Age for 200 years and didn’t hinder the Golden Age at all。 Furthermore， I would argue it was the Mongol invasion that gave rise to a conservative counter resurgence that in turn bolstered Occasionalism。 The aftermath of the Mongol invasion decisively turned ancient China inward looking and isolationist。
我從小就是羅馬天主教徒。然而，多年來，我意識到，世界上不同信仰的核心神學，經過幾千年的演變，本質上並沒有什麼不同。是它們的世俗制度在不同的時期，把人們分開，也就是說，不是思想，而是由政治驅動的後續解釋，把我們分開。
因此，我不會說伊斯蘭教這種信仰阻礙了創新和對真理的追求。相反，為什麼在宗教誕生三個世紀後興起的偶然主義沒有被推翻？ 是什麼地緣政治力量保持了它的相關性？請記住偶然主義與伊斯蘭黃金時代共存了200年，並沒有阻礙黃金時代的發展。此外，我認為是蒙古人的入侵導致了保守勢力的復興，而這反過來又支援了偶然主義。蒙古入侵的後果使古代中國果斷地轉向了內向型和孤立主義。
Religions are not static， they evolve as our understanding of the universe progresses。 Religious institutions are not static， they evolve when faced challenges。
The Roman Catholic Church was not kind when its own interpretation of the universe was challenged。 There were Copernicus， Galileo and Bruno。 However， the highly fragmented feudal system under the Holy Roman Empire gave rise to the Reformation， and SURVIVED and PROSPERED。 This is the “healthy competition” I highlighted in my previous comment。
I do not agree with your argument that “Certainly the Muslim mathematicians developed algebra。 But they never found the connection between philosophy and mathematics， science and mathematics and engineering and mathematics。 They remained as separate spheres。 That is one of the pre-requisites again for the scientific method。” If you study the Islamic Golden Age more carefully， you should see it as a Renaissance of the Near East。 The Islamic Golden Age was NOT indigenous， but a free exchange of ideas on the extension of all thoughts in its geographical vicinity。 They spent a hundred years translating different scxtures into Syriac and Arabic。 They borrowed heavily from Greek and Roman and Persian and Indian philosophers。 They clearly understood the connection between philosophy and mathematics and physics and astronomy。 Scientific method is often credited to Ibn al-Haytham， and Islamic Golden Age scholar。 For that duration of the world history， the Near East was the best environment for scholars and polymaths。 In fact， some of their works made to ancient China along the Silk Road。
宗教不是靜止的，它們隨著我們對宇宙的理解而發展。宗教機構不是靜止不動的，當面臨挑戰時，它們會進化。當羅馬天主教會自己對宇宙的解釋受到挑戰時，它並不友善。出現了哥白尼，伽利略和布魯諾。然而，神聖羅馬帝國下高度碎片化的封建制度引發了宗教改革，並存活下來且繁榮起來。這就是我在前面的評論中強調的“健康競爭”。
我不同意你的論點——“穆斯林數學家當然發展了代數。但他們從未發現哲學和數學，科學和數學，工程和數學之間的聯絡。它們仍然是分開的領域。這也是科學方法的先決條件之一。”
如果你更仔細地研究伊斯蘭的黃金時代，你應該把它看作近東的文藝復興。伊斯蘭的黃金時代不是本土的，而是一個思想的自由交流，在它的地理範圍內擴充套件所有的思想。他們花了一百年的時間把不同的經文翻譯成敘利亞語和阿拉伯語。他們大量借鑑了希臘、羅馬、波斯和印度的哲學家。他們清楚地瞭解哲學、數學、物理學和天文學之間的聯絡。科學方法常常被認為是伊本·海瑟姆（Ibn al-Haytham）的功勞，他是伊斯蘭黃金時代的學者。在世界歷史的那段時間裡，近東是學者的最佳環境。事實上，他們的一些作品是沿著絲綢之路傳到古代中國的。
The Renaissance later in Italy， in turned， borrowed heavily from the Islamic scholars。 Knowledge is shared and propagated。
The question goes back to why innovations stagnated everywhere else besides Europe？ Hence， my theory of a “healthy competition”。
I tend to believe that the rise of the Ottomans led to a “bad competition” in the Near East， and later secured “no competition” after they sacked Constantinople and consolidated power in the wider region。
The Autumn and Spring Period was a “healthy competition”， but the Warring State Period was a “bad competition”。 An unified ancient China had no peers in its corner of the world， and its nearest equals were ancient India across the Himalayas and ancient Persia across the deserts and mountains。
隨後，義大利的文藝復興也大量借鑑了伊斯蘭學者的觀點，知識被分享和傳播開來。問題又回到了為什麼除了歐洲，其他地方的創新都停滯不前？因此，我提出了“健康競爭”的理論。
我傾向於認為，奧斯曼帝國的崛起導致了近東地區的“惡性競爭”，後來他們洗劫了君士坦丁堡，並在更廣泛的地區鞏固了權力，從而確保了“無競爭”。
春秋時期是“良性競爭”，戰國時期是“惡性競爭”。 一個統一的古代中國在它的角落裡沒有對手，與它最接近的是跨越喜馬拉雅山脈的古印度和跨越沙漠和山脈的古波斯。
