Which kind of combined a little bit believe it or not to hep me reach a conclusion that one could reach from Dr. Tyson's speech. In some Spanish classes, you study not just syntax and vocabulary but culture from a broad overview starting with Spain, and you learn about the Muslim contributions to so much - math, astronomy, architecture, vocabulary, etc. - because Muslims controlled most of the southern portions of Spain (as well as the northern parts of Africa) for a long time, and they were pretty relaxed as a ruling culture compared to Christianity. No ham - that's it (kidding). So with a math background, it made a bigger impression on me than some of my fellow students. And then you look at what the Middle East is today and compare it with Malaysia and Indonesia, whose cultures are heavily Muslim and somewhat stricter than America's, but they also hold education and technology in high regard and are more chillax about things, and the thing that sets them apart is the Middle East got taken over by their brand of fundamentalists.
Fundies ruin everything.
TlalocW