Arab World: Curiosity Rover and Arab Scientific Decay

Following rover Curiosity‘s successful landing on Mars, Arabs on Twitter lamented the miserable state of science in the Arab world: little scientific output and very few patents.

Saudi comedian Fahad Albutairi [ar] tweeted:

@Fahad: الناس راحوا المريخ وحنا للحين نسولف في قضايا أثارت جدلًا في السعودية في العشر سنين الماضية هنا؛ غالبًا لها علاقة بالمرأة.
People went to Mars and we are still discussing subjects that created controversy during the last 10 years her. In general, they are related to women.

One netizen, also from Saudi Arabia, made a gloomy comparison [ar]:

@Riyadh_e3lan: يتزامن خبر هبوط مركبة ناسا لسطح المريخ مع دخول الأردن لموسوعة غينيس للأرقام القياسية بصنع (أكبر قرص فلافل) ولاعزاء لباقي العرب.
The news of NASA's rover landing on Mars coincides with Jordan's entry to the Guinness Book of World Records for making “the biggest falafel” and there is no condolence for the rest of Arabs

Blogger Khaled Khallawi tweeted [ar]:

@Jst5ald: العرب يتحسرون على عدم بلوغهم الفضاء، فضاء مين ياحلوين؟ مشاكلكم يبغالها كم قرن، نصكم كان يحسب إن مارس شوكولاتة.
The Arabs are lamenting for not reaching for the space, what space cuties? Your problems need some centuries [to be solved]. Half of you thought that Mars was a chocolate
Cartoon by Kuwait-based cartoonist Hashimoto about Arab divisions: Two Arabs arguing: One says, "You're Shia" and the other says, "You're Sunni" and the TV screen reads, "Curiosity lands on Mars".

Cartoon by Kuwait-based cartoonist Hashimoto about Arab divisions: Two Arabs arguing: One says, “You're Shia” and the other says, “You're Sunni” and the TV screen reads, “Curiosity lands on Mars”.

Zaki Safar said [ar]:

@zaki_safar: يسير العالم إلى الأمام ونحن نسير بعقولنا إلى الوراء، ولاندري أين سينتهي بنا السير في نهاية المطاف! -الوردي
The world moves forward and we move our minds backwards and we don't know where finally it will lead us!

Entrepreneur Jamal Abu-Hulaigah criticized the Arab societies marked by huge consumption [ar]:

@JamalAbuH: لا يصنعون حضارة من اعتادوا استهلاك حياة صنعها غيرهم
Those who were used to consume a life made by others don't create a civilization

Medina resident Abu Ru'a Aljahni criticized the modernity shaping the Arab Gulf states [ar]:

@JAWSAQ: يرسلون للمريخ مسبار.,.ونحن لا نصنع مسمار..!!!..ونتباهى بناطحات الغبار…وكملوا الباقي…..!!!!
They send a probe to Mars and we don't make a nail and we brag about the skyscrapers of dust… and you complete

Libyan blogger Salah Al-Haddad posted [ar]:

أول ما قفز إلى ذهني سؤال وجودي قديم جديد هو : لماذا تقدموا ولماذا تأخرنا ؟ . كيف لدولة كالولايات المتحدة الأمريكية ، لا يتعدى عمرها المائتين وخمسين عاما ، تنجح في تحقيق كل هذه الانجازات الجبارة ، بينما لم ننجح نحن إلا في التكفير وصنع السيارات المفخخة ؟ الجواب ببساطة يكمن في اسم هذه المركبة الفضائية ، التي لا يتعدى وزنها طن واحد
The first thing that came to my mind was an old-and-new existential problem: Why did they make progress and we did go backwards? How a country like the United States of America that doesn't exceed 250 years old succeeds in making all these huge accomplishments? Meanwhile, we succeed only in atonement and making car bombs? The answer rests simply in the name of this space capsule, whose weight does not exceed one tonne

1 comment

Join the conversation

Authors, please log in »

Guidelines

  • All comments are reviewed by a moderator. Do not submit your comment more than once or it may be identified as spam.
  • Please treat others with respect. Comments containing hate speech, obscenity, and personal attacks will not be approved.