A Facebook friend, Gavin Kanowitz, compiled a list of the “25 Greatest Ideas/Developments in the History of Civilization.” Here, I explore the interrelationship of these steps and their role in shaping modern society, focusing on what drives success. Talent and innovation depend on a specific cultural and political climate—one that has been uniquely fostered by Western culture.

Western Dominance in Science and Technology

For the past 300 years, nearly every major technological and scientific advancement has been a product of Western culture. From 1901 to 2024, 82% of Nobel Prizes in Physics, 79% in Chemistry, and 85% in Medicine were awarded to Western researchers, with the U.S. alone accounting for 41% of all science Nobels. In 2024, the U.S. led global patent filings with 149,900 utility patents granted, compared to China’s 94,400 (WIPO). Recent Western innovations—like mRNA vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech, 2020) and AI advancements such as GPT models (OpenAI, 2023)—continue this legacy.

Even today, non-Western nations struggle to innovate at scale. The Global Innovation Index 2024 ranks Switzerland, the U.S., and Sweden in the top three, while Muslim-majority nations like Iran (66th) and Egypt (87th) lag far behind. China, ranked 11th, often resorts to technology theft, with the U.S. Trade Representative noting in 2024 that Chinese firms continue to steal intellectual property. Japan, a free Western-aligned nation, innovates consistently, while communist China’s eastern coast masks a vast, underdeveloped interior. Compare China to Taiwan, or North Korea to South Korea, to see the stark contrast between freedom and oppression.

Non-Western Struggles: Cultural and Systemic Barriers

Muslim nations produce little in the way of technical or scientific advancement. Tribalism, lack of freedom, and religious fundamentalism stifle innovation. Iran, for example, remains technologically backward under its theocratic regime, focusing on weapons acquisition rather than domestic innovation. Most Muslim nations desire Western technology—particularly weapons and medicine—but reject the cultural foundations that enable such advancements.

Latin America fares little better. Argentina, despite being predominantly White, suffers constant economic chaos, with a 50% inflation rate in 2025 (IMF). The region’s issues stem from a culture of socialism, crony capitalism, and political instability. Latin American nations have resources and talent, yet remain dysfunctional, with low living standards, oppressive governments, and widespread crime. There’s no reason they couldn’t achieve living standards akin to Portugal or Spain, but cultural barriers prevent it.

Africa faces similar challenges. Violence, tribalism, socialism, and Islamic fundamentalism in various regions perpetuate poverty and instability. The Democratic Republic of Congo, for instance, remains one of the world’s poorest nations despite vast mineral wealth, due to corruption and conflict (World Bank, 2025). These issues are not racial but cultural and systemic—Argentina’s struggles disprove any racial narrative.

The Left erupted when President Trump allegedly called such nations “shitholes.” He was correct. The 19th and early 20th centuries saw parts of Europe and the U.S. in similar conditions, but Western cultural evolution lifted them out of dysfunction. Today, many citizens of struggling nations seek to migrate to the West, drawn by the prosperity enabled by its cultural framework.

Foundations of Western Success: Cultural and Political Climate

Below, I regroup and expand on Gavin’s 25 ideas, adding a few of my own. The process leading to Western success hinges on the culmination of its cultural parts. If any are missing, the system falters—as seen in non-Western societies.

Universal Foundations

1. Development of Language
2. Agricultural Revolution
3. Development of Writing
4. Birth of Mathematics
5. Invention of the Wheel – Transportation Revolution

These first five are universal, their origins lost in history. They laid the foundation for all further advancements. The Agricultural Revolution enabled cities, which in turn created complex needs. Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece pioneered mathematics in the West, while India and China did so in the East.

The Western Cultural Synthesis

6. Greek Logic-Based Philosophy
7. Judeo-Christian Ethics Revolution
8. Human Rights

These three are closely interrelated. Greek philosophy introduced reason and logic. The fusion of Greek thought with Judaism gave rise to Judeo-Christian ethics, which in turn birthed the concept of universal human rights. However, early implementations were flawed. Greek democracy excluded women, non-citizens, and slaves. Christian rights didn’t extend to Jews, pagans, or other groups, and Muslim rights excluded Christians and Jews. Collective rights often clashed with individual rights, fueling religious violence and identity politics.

9. Age of Reason
10. Development of the Printing Press

The Age of Reason (1600s), Renaissance, and Protestant Reformation broke the power of authoritarian religion in the West. The printing press, a Western invention, spread knowledge by making books widely available, undermining religious tyranny and monarchies. The Bible, translated into local languages, empowered the masses and reduced the clergy’s control. Calvinism and Judaism emphasized universal education to ensure scriptural literacy, spreading learning further. Judeo-Christian ethics demystified nature, paving the way for reason to triumph over pantheistic mysticism.

Political and Economic Pillars

11. Representative Government
12. Rule of Law
13. Individual Rights and Liberty
14. Free Enterprise

These four evolved together in the West, led by nations like America, Britain, and Holland—all predominantly Protestant. The Protestant ethic, rooted in Judeo-Christian values, emphasized hard work, individual responsibility, and innovation. These pillars are absent or weak in Latin America, Muslim nations, Africa, and communist states. Latin America, for example, suffers from crony capitalism, corruption, and a lack of rule of law, undermining individual rights and free enterprise. They say that rich people can buy power, but in dysfunctional systems, power is used to get rich—devastating society.

Scientific Revolution

15. Birth of Modern Applied Mathematics
16. Discovery of the Scientific Method – Empiricism
17. Newtonian Mechanics

With rational governance and individual liberty, the scientific revolution blossomed. Greek philosophy, particularly Aristotle, and Judeo-Christian demystification of nature laid the groundwork for modern science. Empiricism—testing claims through observation and mathematics—separated science from speculation. Computer models cannot replace real-world data, a principle under assault by modern anti-science movements.

Intelligence and Cultural Climate

Western success also ties to intelligence variations, as discussed in How Intelligence Variations Shape Economic and Social Outcomes. Logical-mathematical and spatial intelligences, which underpin scientific innovation, thrive in environments that value individual liberty and free exchange of ideas. Western culture’s emphasis on reason and education nurtures these intelligences, while non-Western systems often stifle them through authoritarianism and superstition.

Modern Technological Milestones

18. Mechanization
19. Harnessing of Electrical Energy
20. Atomic Theory
21. Science of Germ Theory/Modern Medicine
22. Evolutionary Theory
23. Heavier-than-Air Flight
24. Harnessing of Nuclear Energy
25. Development of the Transistor
26. Invention of Fiber Optics
27. Internet

These milestones, predominantly Western, built on the cultural foundations above. The 18th-century Enlightenment prioritized human reason, enabling these advancements. Today’s technology—from the internet to nuclear energy—would be impossible without individual liberty, free enterprise, and the scientific method.

Modern Challenges: Anti-Reason and Politicization of Science

Yet, Western progress faces threats. Postmodernism directly attacks reason, while nature-centered spiritualism and socialism reject science, liberty, and free enterprise. This is epitomized by the Gaia hypothesis—the idea that Earth is a self-regulating, living system—which is a myth, not science. Proposed by James Lovelock in the 1970s, Gaia lacks empirical evidence and is rooted in nature worship rather than testable, reason-based inquiry, as critics like Richard Dawkins have noted. Such thinking fuels broader anti-science trends, like vaccine hesitancy, which has surged with 24% of U.S. adults refusing COVID-19 vaccines by 2024 (CDC). Organic food sales hit $63 billion in 2024 (OTA), despite “organic” being a loosely defined marketing term rather than a scientifically rigorous standard, with no proven nutritional superiority over non-organic (USDA). Meanwhile, millions fear bioengineering and GMOs, despite GMOs being proven safe by major scientific bodies like the National Academy of Sciences and the World Health Organization after decades of research. Similarly, nuclear power—a proven anti-CO2 energy source that emits no carbon during operation and could significantly reduce global emissions—is demonized as an assault on nature or a tool of “greedy capitalists.” The International Energy Agency (2024) notes that nuclear power provides 10% of global electricity with near-zero emissions, yet activists often oppose it, revealing their motives as political change rather than genuine climate concern. This fear-driven rejection of science undermines the empirical foundation of Western progress.

The politicization of climate science further exemplifies this anti-reason trend. Climate naturally varies—historical records show cycles like the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age—but today’s alarmist predictions often ignore this context. While CO2 impacts climate, the hysterical forecasts of catastrophic change, coupled with a refusal to consider past climate outcomes, reek of politics, not science. True scientific inquiry, rooted in empiricism and reason, demands testable claims and real-world data, not computer models driven by ideological agendas.

This anti-reason mindset mirrors the educational failures in diversity-driven systems like Baltimore, where 13 high schools had zero students proficient in math in 2023, and Oroville, where a 94% graduation rate masks 25% math proficiency. These systems prioritize ideology over rigor, undermining the cultural conditions that enabled Western scientific dominance. To preserve progress, we must reject these trends and uphold reason, merit, and individual liberty.

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