Sunday, July 26, 2009

#5 = ابن خلدون



ADW Quiz

1. Which country (unmentioned of course) had the most sons to which shout-outs were given this week?

2. Which of the celebrity gangstas of our era has served the most jail time (Suge Knight, Tupac, Snoop, or Martha Stewart)?


I love ibns so much. My sons are totally having ibn-something as one of their superfluous middle names. I just gotta think of a cool agnomen for myself of which they can be the ibn. Or maybe me and their mom will have a cool portmanteau like Brangelina. Knox Leon Jolie-Pitt is a pretty stupid name. Had they named him Knox Leon ibn Brangelina Jolie-Pitt, that woulda been way cooler

I promised to diversify the Awesome Dude of the Weeks and think I've done a pretty decent job of it thus far. Here go the first 5 with the places they've impacted. I didn't intentionally insult Inca people or West Africa or 75% of the population of Brazil, so I don't wanna get angry emails berating me for saying they don't have medicine of social sciences there



this video is the first to refer to a future dude of the week. Flashed pics of potential dudes before, but calling out a nameless person with his dates in an official ADW teaser is unprecedented. This also marks the second time that Biruni got himself a picture, making him the most revered person in the history of ADW

there was also a raging debate amongst the staff over which picture would be used for ibn Khaldun's official ADW ID. Initially the young, sexy one was prefered, but it was the wrong size. The old man pic of him fit perfectly, plus his selection as an ADW is due to the Muqaddimah[1], which he wrote during his white-bearded era, so it was more appropriate as well. A small yet vocal minority protested and resized the sexy pic. Even though the dates look cooler when written in white, ultimately the sexy picture was chosen instead of the old man one

not quite sure why I hate alchemy so much. Glad that Paracelsus has been forgotten and am confident that even if someone would look him up they would shake their head and wonder why he was ever taken seriously. Absolutely no question that Robert Boyle won that versus. We had us a Scopes Monkey Trial, but folks still get offended 'bout teaching children science in science class. Glad to see one of the previous millennium's smartest people nonchalantly mention evolution as if it were common sense[2]

was surprised to only find two similar biography things on the youtubes. This one and one in French. The French one also has a part 2. The youtube totally came through though when I typed "ADW" into its search engine. Mine come up if you type in "Awesome Dude of the Week," but I wondered who had dibs on the acronym. Turns out the answer is Dwayne Wayne!!!!!!


notes

[1] here go a translated version: http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ik/Muqaddimah/

[2] here is an excerpt where he explains to Mike Huckabee and all the haters how evolution works (taken from http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ik/Muqaddimah/Chapter1/Ch_1_06.htm). Scroll down 'bout a quarter of the way or just do a Ctrl F for "monkey"


One should then look at the world of creation. It started out from the minerals and progressed, in an ingenious, gradual manner, to plants and animals. The last stage of minerals is connected with the first stage of plants, such as herbs and seedless plants. The last stage of plants, such as palms and vines, is connected with the first stage of animals, such as snails and shellfish which have only the power of touch. The word "connection" with regard to these created things means that the last stage of each group is fully prepared to become the first stage of the next group.

The animal world then widens, its species become numerous, and, in a gradual process of creation, it finally leads to man, who is able to think and to reflect. The higher stage of man is reached from the world of the monkeys, in which both sagacity and perception are found, but which has not reached the stage of actual reflection and thinking. At this point we come to the first stage of man after (the world of monkeys). This is as far as our (physical) observation extends.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

thanks, great intro