40 harmful effects of Christianity.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

41. I know lots of people with plenty of leisure time...

... with no interest in science or mathematics.

Meanwhile, there's examples of scientific geniuses like Isaac Newton (born to a poor farming family and whose father died before his birth), Michael Faraday (born to a poor family and provided with little formal education), George Washington Carver (born into slavery and denied an education in his early years) and many others.

The main obstacle is outright opposition to science. In places where people in authority value science, it's more likely to flourish.

My parents strongly discouraged me from pursuing college, but I overcame it and earned degrees in math and physics. I fortunately had teachers and others to encourage me or it would have likely been impossible.

I'm aware that some people throughout history have been dissuaded from intellectual pursuits from everyone, or nearly everyone, in their lives.

My parents were correct in a way. Other than part-time work as a statistician during graduate school at my university's medical school, I've never applied my education anywhere in the work world. I've been in factory jobs most of my life, on my feet in hot conditions and never earning more than $30,000 a year. Thanks to your post, I suppose that I can at least take some pride that my manual labor is helping others to pursue scientific advancements.

EDIT: I'm 48 years old now.