American schools math

[billvon 2,996]

2 hours ago, markharju said:

Bill, you are misinformed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Arabic_numerals

Eastern Arabia is the area around the Persian Gulf.  (Which was named for . . . wait for it . . . . wait for it . . .)

You can call them Eastern Arabic numerals if you like to distinguish them from Arabic numerals.  In which case you have Eastern Arabic numbers on the top, and Arabic numbers on the bottom.

[Guest]

17 minutes ago, billvon said:

Eastern Arabia is the area around the Persian Gulf.  (Which was named for . . . wait for it . . . . wait for it . . .)

You can call them Eastern Arabic numerals if you like to distinguish them from Arabic numerals.  In which case you have Eastern Arabic numbers on the top, and Arabic numbers on the bottom.

Yup.Eastern and Western. I found it very strange when I saw the Eastern set everywhere in Qatar. My first thought was: "Wait: I thought there already was an Arabic numeral system - the one I learned!" Meh, it all originated in India anyway, 500 years  before the Arabs caught on. As you know, the name of the Gulf is also disputed. Those on the West side call it the Arabian Gulf, so it's not surprising that something as significant as a fundamental numeric system would be contested but as in other cultures, Arabs claim credit for things which aren't theirs.

Edited May 16, 2020 by Guest

[murps2000 86]

I sure hope astronomy students are forced to learn arabic star names as well. Globalism, yeah!

[Guest]

2 hours ago, murps2000 said:

I sure hope astronomy students are forced to learn arabic star names as well. Globalism, yeah!

And they'd better not drink any alcohol!

[olofscience 480]

8 hours ago, markharju said:

I. Didn't. Say. That.

How about the second bit -

On 4/27/2020 at 5:44 PM, markharju said:

In  Edinburgh, there are no churches left - they are all  mosques. Edit to add - seen this with my own eyes last October.

So where are the mosque holiday photos?

Edited May 17, 2020 by olofscience

[jakee 1,497]

9 hours ago, markharju said:

I. Didn't. Say. That.

You did say that. The question was whether schools in America should teach Arabic numerals. You said "I take it you mean these...no thanks." and posted a picture of both Eastern and Western Arabic numerals. Therefore, while you may not have meant to, you absolutely did say that schools in America shouldn't teach normal numbers. 

 

You also definitely said that there were no churches left in Edinburgh, only mosques. What was up with that? 

[jakee 1,497]

9 hours ago, markharju said:

Those on the West side call it the Arabian Gulf, so it's not surprising that something as significant as a fundamental numeric system would be contested but as in other cultures, Arabs claim credit for things which aren't theirs.

Europeans started calling them Arabic numerals. The Arabs at the time called them Hindu numerals.

Edited May 17, 2020 by jakee

[kallend 2,027]

4 hours ago, jakee said:

Europeans started calling them Arabic numerals. The Arabs at the time called them Hindu numerals.

But facts are SO boring compared with right wing fantasies.

[sfzombie13 324]

22 hours ago, Coreece said:

And apparently felt that gun duels were an acceptable way of settling disputes. . .

hey, i didn't come up with it, but i do believe that it is high time to do it again.  this time, i suggest we try voting first, but that just seems to make things worse, and we end up with corporations in charge rather than anyone looking out for people.  if gun duels were a thing, folks would be a lot nicer to one another.  only the really good shots are pricks in this instance, and the rule for duels helped mitigate that somewhat.

[kallend 2,027]

9 hours ago, murps2000 said:

I sure hope astronomy students are forced to learn arabic star names as well. Globalism, yeah!

Phhht.  Aldebaran, Rigel, Betelgeuse, Deneb, Altair, Mizar . . . . all good Anglo-American names. 

[billvon 2,996]

 

 

15 hours ago, markharju said:

And they'd better not drink any alcohol!

For shame, Mark, using the Arabic word for ethanol!  What will you want next, Sharia law?

[kallend 2,027]

15 minutes ago, billvon said:

 

 

For shame, Mark, using the Arabic word for ethanol!  What will you want next, Sharia law?

I heard that some schools even teach  al jabr. 

[Guest]

14 hours ago, billvon said:

For shame, Mark, using the Arabic word for ethanol!  What will you want next, Sharia law?

heh Of course I knew the origin. I thought I was being clever - and you knew that I did, but you just wanted to slap me. Yes, Kallend, Algebra too. We all went through this about 15 years ago on this forum, but I'll repeat it here: there was a lot of progress in science and medicine in the islamic world until such progress was deemed "un-islamic" by islamic scholars, and although the Christian world went through something similar (can't have those uppity plebs learning too much), the West came out of it but the islamic world never did. The ME was nothing before the oil wealth and when it's gone, all their shiny buildings will crumble, and the ME will go back to nothing. They (the ME countries) don't build anything, and aside from the oil, their main export is islamo-fascism. They have absolutely nothing that anyone could possibly want (name something, please. Go ahead. I'll wait. Dates, perhaps. Oh, and rugs. Gotta have them rugs). With a few notable exceptions, the ME is a hotbed of ignorance, radicalism, misogyny and misanthropy. Although having spent over five years there, I don't miss it in the slightest (edit to answer your next question: why was I there? If it weren't for the big bucks I was getting, I would never have gone. I'm glad I did because I learned a lot about the Arab/Islamic world from having lived in it for so long, and although some of my long-held ignorant beliefs about the cultures and peoples were blown away, especially by befriending the natives, some of those beliefs [read: biases and prejudices] were strongly reinforced by firsthand experiences which I will not relate here). This thread began over the "gotcha" about Arabic numbers, and although there have been a few notable and important Arab/Islamic scientists in recent times, please tell me, what have they contributed to Mankind since their so-called "golden age", besides misery, poverty and death?

Edited May 18, 2020 by Guest

[jakee 1,497]

6 hours ago, markharju said:

With a few notable exceptions, the ME is a hotbed of ignorance, radicalism, misogyny and misanthropy. 

And you only have to go back on a timescale measured in the decades to find a point where the entirety of the west was the same. We changed (kinda) in a minute amount of time. If you think there's something specific to the Arab world that means they are incapable of similar change it's not just racism but plain denial of reality.

 

Quote

This thread began over the "gotcha" about Arabic numbers, and although there have been a few notable and important Arab/Islamic scientists in recent times, please tell me, what have they contributed to Mankind since their so-called "golden age", besides misery, poverty and death?

Who was responsible for the two biggest conflicts in human history, them or us? Who has brought more death or destruction upon the other in the last hundred years, them or us? It's not even close.

 

And seriously - where are your pictures of all the mosques and the lack of churches in Edinburgh? I want to see what you said we should all be outraged at.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, jakee said:

And seriously - where are your pictures of all the mosques and the lack of churches in Edinburgh? I want to see what you said we should all be outraged at.

Banana pancakes....mmmm....I like banana pancakes, don't you?

[jakee 1,497]

22 minutes ago, markharju said:

Banana pancakes....mmmm....I like banana pancakes, don't you?

Did you have banana pancakes in a mosque in Edinburgh? Can you explain why you said what you said about mosques in Edinburgh?

[Guest]

I'll answer your question with a question: why is it okay for your country to place restrictions on mosques, but not mine? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/29/switzerland-bans-mosque-minarets

[kallend 2,027]

1 hour ago, markharju said:

Banana pancakes....mmmm....I like banana pancakes, don't you?

You were caught in a blatant lie about mosques in Edinburgh.  You should just admit it and move on.  

[Guest]

1 minute ago, kallend said:

You were caught in a blatant lie about mosques in Edinburgh.  You should just admit it and move on.  

Perhaps we both should. Do the brown cows in Switzerland produce chocolate milk?

[olofscience 480]

2 minutes ago, markharju said:

I'll answer your question with a question: why is it okay for your country to place restrictions on mosques, but not mine? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/29/switzerland-bans-mosque-minarets

Because of the US Constitution? Ask your government to change it.

Yes, there is a lot wrong with Islamic countries. But the real reason you hate them, is because you have a LOT in common with them.

7 hours ago, markharju said:

the ME is a hotbed of ignorance, radicalism, misogyny and misanthropy

Trump is accused of all of those. If you don't like it in ME countries, why do you accept it in the US government?

[kallend 2,027]

1 minute ago, markharju said:

Perhaps we both should. Do the brown cows in Switzerland produce chocolate milk?

Why, I didn't make any false claims about mosques in Edinburgh, that was YOU.
(I made no claims about brown cows either).

[olofscience 480]

3 minutes ago, kallend said:

You were caught in a blatant lie about mosques in Edinburgh.  You should just admit it and move on.  

And he's also blatantly lying about how much he knows about the ME. If he had any clue he wouldn't have had linked FGM to the religion.

[Guest]

24 minutes ago, olofscience said:

And he's also blatantly lying about how much he knows about the ME. If he had any clue he wouldn't have had linked FGM to the religion.

It dealt specifically with Somalis, who do practice it.

[olofscience 480]

2 minutes ago, markharju said:

It dealt specifically with Somalis, who do practice it.

Fair.

But ignorance, radicalism, misogyny and misanthropy are only okay if it's white americans doing it.

Lying too, like your lie about mosques in Edinburgh.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, olofscience said:

Fair.

But ignorance, radicalism, misogyny and misanthropy are only okay if it's white americans doing it.

Lying too, like your lie about mosques in Edinburgh.

I took this picture in Djibouti. I doubt you'll see anything like it in Baltimore, but you likely will in Minneapolis soon.

Edited May 18, 2020 by Guest