[elfman2]

"Whether invention or rediscovery fueled the great Islamic civilizations in the Middle Ages, there is no question that they reflected a much higher level of mental awareness than is now witnessed in many of the same countries. However, the religion is the same. "

As I understand this, the religion is “not” the same, and that’s the foundation for the author’s claim that culture/religion is the cause of the decline. The vast majority of great Arab achievements preceded Islam, with others coming immediately after its introduction or were actually creations brought to Arab nations.

"the fact that the Mongol conquests resulted in one of the greatest brain drains in history"

That looks like wild speculation rather than fact to me. Probably half the races have undergone similar invasions, and I’m not aware of any respected studies that claim a “brain drain” generally results from conquest. The only exception that I'm aware of is the Khmer Rouge (which my wife survived BTW).

The author is attributing the Muslims poor performance to culture rather than genetics. For instance Jews have arguably achieved the most in the US, along with Asians, and both cultures press their children into deferred gratification and higher education . The author’s belief is not “tunnel vision”. It’s just that he favors an environmental/cultural explanation over an unsupported hypothesis that Arabs lost the contribution of smart people to their gene pool in war a millennium ago and never recovered.

[Ohioan]

The author is attributing the Muslims poor performance to culture rather than genetics. For instance Jews have arguably achieved the most in the US, along with Asians, and both cultures press their children into deferred gratification and higher education.

Jews and 20th Century Asian arrivals are high achievers in Math and Science. But they test very highly on basic aptitude tests for math and science. Parents tend to push children in directions that the parent's appreciate, because of their own level of comprehension. An interesting contrast would be between the Chinese that came to do unskilled work on the railroads in the middle decades of the 19th Century--who came from a poorer class of Chinese--and the more recent arrivals. As one would expect, the work done in this area, shows a marked advantage (in so far as academics are concerned) for the more recent arrivals. Genes over environment (the older Chinese, having obviously had longer to benefit from our freer environment).

The author’s belief is not “tunnel vision”. It’s just that he favors an environmental/cultural explanation over an unsupported hypothesis that Arabs lost the contribution of smart people to their gene pool in war a millennium ago and never recovered.

Are you seriously denying the genocidal practices in the Near East under Tamerlane & Co., around 1400? It is hardly an unsupported hypothesis!

William Flax