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Lumifer comments on Is my view contrarian? - Less Wrong
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First of all, it seems like the mechanisms for this happening are different for science. One rarely sees scientific ideas spread by conquest, or by the kind of social pressure brought to bear by religions. Nobody gets told by their mother to believe Newton's Laws every week at college in the way they might be told to go to Mass.
Second, everyone is (according to religion) supposed to believe in and live by religion, whether they are educated or not. I'd have greater expectations that beliefs associated with education are geographically limited.
Except when a more-scientific society kicks the hell out of the less-scientific society and takes it over (or, maybe, just takes over its land and women). Science is very helpful for building weapons.
In those situations, though, the conquering force usually makes a point to avoid letting their core scientific insights spread, lest the tables turn.
Only if the conquered society survives. Often it doesn't -- look at what happened in the Americas.
That seems like a subset, not an exception. A conquered society which doesn't survive is certainly not going to be adopting higher-tech weapons.
Well that didn't stop Japan from getting western advisers to help with it's modernization after Perry opened it.
Interestingly,
Science =/= technology. Profoundly anti scientific movements can make their point using tech. .bought on the open market.