# do developing countries contribute to the scientific community **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 12, 2003, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-developing-countries-contribute-to-the-scientific-community/187879 "2003-07-12T01:58:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-developing-countries-contribute-to-the-scientific-community/187879/41 "2003-07-14T04:08:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by monstro \* > I don’t see how your analogy applies to the OP at all. 😕 I wasn’t responding to the OP, I was responding to you. Would you find it odd if people in other countries expect Americans to be more familiar with the metric system than they themselves are with the English system? > [@](#): > > English isn’t the main language of science because it’s easier to learn than Spanish or French or Italian–which it isn’t. If Japan suddenly became King Shit of the science world, there’s nothing stopping Japanese from being the new _lingua franca_. Three alphabet systems or not. Those who have all the power ($$)dictate what’s spoken. Uh… at least one of us is being whooshed. I has making another analogy, this time between you thinking that I was saying that English is as easy to learn as the metric system, and me thinking that you were saying that Japanese is as easy to learn as English. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Calculus_of_Logic)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-developing-countries-contribute-to-the-scientific-community/187879/42 "2003-07-14T05:15:45Z")
if anyone cares to know, i stopped paying attention 32 posts ago. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-developing-countries-contribute-to-the-scientific-community/187879/43 "2003-07-14T13:18:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Would you find it odd if people in other countries expect Americans to be more familiar with the metric system than they themselves are with the English system? I’ve never said I thought it was odd that English is the language of science. Nor have I said that I thought this was unfair or illogical. So your analogy still makes no sense to the discussion at hand. Of course if students from other countries want to succeed they _should_ learn English. I just find it odd that someone would expect people from poorer countries to be able donate time and money to this task in ADDITION to doing science when American universities don’t even have such a strict requirement anymore. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-developing-countries-contribute-to-the-scientific-community/187879/44 "2003-07-14T21:24:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by monstro \* > I’ve never said I thought it was odd that English is the language of science. Nor have I said that I thought this was unfair or illogical. So your analogy still makes no sense to the discussion at hand. But that’s not what I’m saying. I did not ask if you would find it odd if people in other countries expect Americans to be familiar with the metric system. I asked if you would find it odd if people in other countries expect Americans to be **more** familiar with the metric system than they themselves are with the English system. Which is a quite valid analogy: you are saying that it is odd that someone would expect people from other countries to spend more effort learning English than Americans spend learning languages of other countries. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-developing-countries-contribute-to-the-scientific-community/187879/45 "2003-07-14T22:14:22Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by The Ryan_ > …you are saying that it is odd that someone would expect people from other countries to spend more effort learning English than Americans spend learning languages of other countries. **The Ryan** , I don’t know how I can make my point any clearer, but I’ll try. If Spanish became the _lingua franca_ of science, most Americans would be able to afford to take Spanish lessons. Someone in a **poor** country most likely would not be able to afford Spanish lessons. That’s why I’m finding it odd that you would expect **poor** universities and rich universities to have the same educational standards. The rich universities can donate more $$ to language instruction, while not sacrificing research. **Poor** universities do not have this luxury. Their **poverty** puts them at a disadvantage. I would raise my eyebrows at a rich university in a non-English speaking country that did not emphasis English instruction. But I can understand why a **poor** university would not. In a place with very limited resources, maybe the choice is between a science program and a English program. But you can’t have both. If you don’t agree with me, do you at least understand how you misunderstood my point? ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-developing-countries-contribute-to-the-scientific-community/187879/46 "2003-07-15T00:15:34Z")
hey, **Calculus** ya know, if you’re going to start a thread, and then loose interest in it after some desultory participation, that’s fine. But _what_ was the point of > [@](#): > > if anyone cares to know, i stopped paying attention 32 posts ago. I mean, except to be rude and/or insulting? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-developing-countries-contribute-to-the-scientific-community/187879.md?page=2)