four suggested explanations are ideological, rather than economic or organizational: {1} Risk-taking behavior, essential for efforts at innovation, is more widespread in some societies than in others. {2} The scientific outlook is a unique feature of post-Renaissance European society that has contributed heavily to its modern technological preeminence. {3} Tolerance of diverse views and of heretics fosters innovation, whereas a strongly traditional outlook {as in China's emphasis on ancient Chinese classics} stifles it. {4} Religions vary greatly in their relation to technological innovation: some branches of Judaism and Christianity are claimed to be especially compatible with it, while some branches of Islam, Hinduism, and Brahmanism may be especially incompatible with it."
( Jared Diamond )
[ Guns, Germs, and Steel ]
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