23/01/2022
Printing press was invented in 1440 by Gutenberg in Germany. It could print 3600 pages in a workday as compared to 40 pages by hand-printing or a few by hand-copying. Within a few decades, the printing press spread to 200 cities in 12 countries around Europe.
While the Muslims had gathered the wisdom of the ancients in selective places like the House of Wisdom built in the 8th century, it was the printing press that truly democratised knowledge for the first time. Europe had its Renaissance in the 15th century. Leonardo da Vinci drew his Virtuvian Man in 1490. Vasco de Gama found the route to India in 1498.
The printing press came to India 100 years later - in 1556. Not only was India late to the party, India did not adopt the new tool with any kind of zeal either. The Sultans of Delhi had no idea what was coming.The Ottomons actively discouraged the printing press: they felt that it would undermine authority of the Sultans.
So while the average European had access to books and libraries, the average Indian was deprived of the pleasure of reading.
The same was true for the rest of the world. The Europeans were not more intelligent than other nations of the time, but they were well-read. The average European was more aware of human history, geography of the planet, economics and trade than the average non-European.
While we might celebrate Galileo and Newton and Einstein as great scientists, it was the average European who colonised South America and India and elsewhere. The average European beat the average local in organisation, in planning, in choosing better leaders, in trade and in war. �
Pakistan (ancient India) is still suffering from the same disease: below-par average intelligence. And this collective intelligence also determines the type and quality of leaders we choose and how we deal with foreign powers. ��If you care about the future of this nation, invest in books and libraries. Give people an ambition beyond job-seeking: raise your consciousness.
