# Science Brittanica



## Sukerkin (Sep 26, 2013)

It's being reminded by short articles like this just *how* influential and formative my country has been over the centuries that my pride in being born British remains undiminished even as we wilt into our post-Empire dotage:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/0/24206119


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## arnisador (Sep 26, 2013)

Very true! But France and Germany could make similar claims.


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## Sukerkin (Sep 26, 2013)

But they would be liars, hanging off our coat tails, just the sort of duplicity as you'd expect from foreigners .


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## K-man (Sep 26, 2013)

Sukerkin said:


> It's being reminded by short articles like this just *how* influential and formative my country has been over the centuries that my pride in being born British remains undiminished even as we wilt into our post-Empire dotage:
> 
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/0/24206119


Bravo! Well done those boys! 
:s45:


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## ballen0351 (Sep 26, 2013)

yeah but what have you done for us lately?


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## Makalakumu (Sep 27, 2013)

Sukerkin said:


> It's being reminded by short articles like this just *how* influential and formative my country has been over the centuries that my pride in being born British remains undiminished even as we wilt into our post-Empire dotage:
> 
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/0/24206119



How do you know you were born British?


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## Makalakumu (Sep 27, 2013)

Makalakumu said:


> How do you know you were born British?



Think about the idea of feeling pride for the accomplishments of others within the imaginary lines of your country. Doesn't it strike you as strange?


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## Sukerkin (Sep 27, 2013)

Go away; I do not wish to buy what you are selling.  Because I am British and believe in fair play, I give you the opportunity to leave this thread peacefully and come back when you have something good to say about the role of the British in the complete creation from whole cloth of the modern world.


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## K-man (Sep 27, 2013)

Sukerkin said:


> Go away; I do not wish to buy what you are selling.  Because I am British and believe in fair play, I give you the opportunity to leave this thread peacefully and come back when you have something good to say about the role of the British in the complete creation from whole cloth of the modern world.


Hey, hang on *Suk*! I'm on your side. I appreciate what the Poms have done. I mean, they produced all of my great, great grandparents for a start! 
But for me, the greatest contribution has nothing to do with science. It is the Westminster system of Government. Something our American friends have totally ignored.
:asian:


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## Makalakumu (Sep 27, 2013)

"Nationalism is an infantile disease.  It is the measles of mankind." Albert Einstein.



Sukerkin said:


> Go away; I do not wish to buy what you are selling.  Because I am British and believe in fair play, I give you the opportunity to leave this thread peacefully and come back when you have something good to say about the role of the British in the complete creation from whole cloth of the modern world.



This seems like an extreme reaction to a line of inquiry don't you think?  The idea that we can take nationalistic pride in the accomplishments of other people who happen to belong to our irrational groups is something that many scientists have explicitly challenged.  These scientists recognize that their contributions benefit the totality of the human pool of knowledge are not bragging rights for politicians or other people who would like to boost their particular flavor of irrational group over an other.

In the end, you were born a human...as are we all.  Science is for all of us, not flags that some of us worship.


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## arnisador (Sep 27, 2013)

Archimedes, Newton, Gauss: The 3 great mathematicians, and from all over Europe!


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## ballen0351 (Sep 27, 2013)

And again Kate Upton for the win


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## Makalakumu (Sep 27, 2013)

arnisador said:


> Archimedes, Newton, Gauss: The 3 great mathematicians, and from all over Europe!



All humans if I'm not mistaken.


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## ballen0351 (Sep 27, 2013)

Makalakumu said:


> All humans if I'm not mistaken.


Yes we know you live in fantasy land with no rules, or borders, where kids cant be forced to do chores, and everyone should be free to smoke as much crack as they want, and there is no need for violence, or laws, or courts, or the Constitution however the rest of us live in reality land and are having a nice thread here and Im still winning Kate Upton beats science any day of the week


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## arnisador (Sep 27, 2013)

Can we bring this discussion back to math.?


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## ballen0351 (Sep 27, 2013)

arnisador said:


> Can we bring this discussion back to math.?


no way who likes math?:barf:


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## Sukerkin (Sep 28, 2013)

Makalakumu said:


> This seems like an extreme reaction to a line of inquiry don't you think?



It was indeed.  Things out in the real 3D world sometimes make themselves felt here in Webland at the most inappropriate of moments :bows:.

I knew what you were getting at and I don't entirely disagree ... but it still has no place in this thread which is about showing a little pride in the fact that my small island home has had an effect on the history of the world vastly out of proportion to it's size or population.  Even today we still do science and engineering far beyond what such a limited resource pool would suggest.


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## arnisador (Sep 28, 2013)

Cultures differ. It's a fact. People don't differ that much, but their cultures do.


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## Makalakumu (Sep 28, 2013)

arnisador said:


> Cultures differ. It's a fact. People don't differ that much, but their cultures do.



What if culture is an accident of circumstance? Jared Diamond made the case that a number geographic gifts allowed European culture to flourish the way it did. This implies that there isn't necessarily anything special about European culture, making it superior to others.


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## Sukerkin (Sep 28, 2013)

Ahhhh!  I see what you were meaning now a bit more clearly.  That isn't what I was trying to say, Maka.  I'm not saying we are innately superior to anybody else {whispers}tho' we are really {/whispers}, not at the genetic level at any rate ... culturally is a whole different ball game {double  }.  I was being proud of the outcomes we as a nation have achieved, accepting as an uncontrollable given the starting point we had (we can argue how advantageous that was another day).  I am still proud of what we continue to achieve and add to the world even now we are a withered remnant of what we once were.


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## K-man (Sep 28, 2013)

Sukerkin said:


> Ahhhh!  I see what you were meaning now a bit more clearly.  That isn't what I was trying to say, Maka.  I'm not saying we are innately superior to anybody else {whispers}tho' we are really {/whispers}, not at the genetic level at any rate ... culturally is a whole different ball game {double  }.  I was being proud of the outcomes we as a nation have achieved, accepting as an uncontrollable given the starting point we had (we can argue how advantageous that was another day).  I am still proud of what we continue to achieve and add to the world even now we are a withered remnant of what we once were.


Good point. I see more clearly now how we in Australia got ahead of you guys culturally etc. We started from a great position given us by the British and improved on that while, as you say, the parent plant withered. I suppose we owe you guys a debt ot gratitude.


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