How the Middle East was erased from Renaissance history | Koert Debeuf | TEDxKULeuvenBrussels

Koert Debeuf Koert Debeuf is a distinguished adjunct professor of Middle East at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and a senior political consultant at Avisa Partners. Through educating the youth and guiding a firm on economic intelligence, global advocacy, and cybersecurity, Koert’s influence has shaped and impacted the lives of both young and old. From 2016-2019, Koert was also the director of the Tahir Institute for Middle East Policy in Europe, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness of democratic transitions in the Middle East where he gained major insights into Middle East life and culture.
A former editor-in-chief of the EUObserver, Koert has spent most of his life uncovering the hidden stories of the past and the present. His expertise in international politics and communications alongside his passion for Middle East history and culture allowed him to expose the greatest story of all, how the Renaissance actually originated in Baghdad. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@gulcinsayg1711]

Hello form Turkiye! I can’t thank u enough for your this sensitive and informative video.I was impressed by your evaluation about Bagdad’s contributions on science and culture.

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thank you very much!

[@vinifrss]

This is potentially the most seminal TEDx talk I’ve ever seen. Timely relevant, even urgent. The chronological sequence & geographical itinerary of the newest ideas in mathematics, philosophy and science is outstanding!

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thank you so much! Much appreciated!

[@markpiessens847]

Wow, Koert Debeuf has just given me a serious reality check. This should be a mandatory video for everyone who is convinced that the West is the best. Thanks for putting my feet back on the ground 👍👏

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thank you, Mark, for your positive comment! All ideas to make the video mandatory are welcome 🙂

[@Shahla.shahab]

Thank you for speaking the truth and for your bravery

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thank you - my pleasure!

[@robertusaugustus2003]

I really hope this video receives a wide audience, too many in the West ignore or flat out deny the innumerable contributions of our siblings.

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thank you. I hope so too 🙂

[@mdtaifurrahman2020]

A brilliant talk

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thanks a lot!

[@MsMarissaJeanette]

So informative and so much truth spoken! ! Thank you!

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thank you!

[@umarsalisu113]

Amazing speech

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thank you 🙂

[@nenajukes]

Perfect. We need to know this ❤

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thank you!

[@HMBRTOABLE]

It’s great he applies this perspective towards his personal life. USA really needs this advice. A lot of old school mentalities that think they still need to be afraid of one another. It’ll only change when you begin to want to change it. Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen within a snap of a finger. It takes time. This was a good talk.

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thank you. It will time indeed, but I do believe in the power of ideas. Let's try to get the message heard.

[@thephilosopher59]

Oh I'm loving this! When the human experience is tracked on a journey through history, art, philosophy and truth . Each page can be claimed, changed and explained. Wonderful, wonderful work! I long for the land of place and peace.

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thank you so much for your positive comment!

[@liza-zotova]

It's inspiring to learn about the interconnectedness of cultures and how they've influenced each other throughout time!

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thank you very much!

[@mennaayman5461]

This is one of the most important and impact full episodes of Tedx ever ❤❤❤ Congratulations and thanks to everyone who contributed in this great work 👏

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thank you very much for your reaction! Much appreciated!

[@ttam2051]

The world would be a better place if we cherish our collective diversity and credit each other for the development of humanity. Simply put, there neither would’ve been a renaissance without the golden age nor a golden age without Ancient Greek philosophy. We build on the contributions of our predecessors Period

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Indeed. I fully agree.

[@johnjjgravely]

This talk reminded me of the importance of questioning our assumptions and biases. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking one culture is superior to others, but history proves otherwise.

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thank you. I agree it is important indeed.

[@anndibsdale]

As someone who loves studying history, this talk was a breath of fresh air, thank you 💜💜

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

I am happy to hear that!

[@saturnsrings3608]

I'm so grateful for people like this who want to challenge the status quo and shine a light on forgotten histories.

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thank you very much!

[@md.nurujjamanjubayer3368]

outstanding speech with lots of information. Thank you.

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thank you very much

[@karimeldaly1007]

It's interesting how civilizations rise and fall throughout history. Leaders belonging to one civilization might think that their power will last forever. They don't know that it's like a young man who might think that he will live forever. That's why those leaders must be fair and good to be remembered in a positive light, just as a good man would be remembered after he dies. Thank you for the amazing speech!

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thanks! You might want to check out Ibn Khaldun. This 14th century thinker had some very interesting theories about the rise and fall of civilizations.

[@mennaayman5461]

As a middle eastern I feel glad that this lesson exists ❤❤

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thanks and my pleasure!

[@affiliatemarketingwithbrye]

Thank you...

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

😊

[@rongigz]

I've never thought about how history gets written! This is really making me question a lot of those narratives that we just accept

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Absolutely. Our view of history, and thus quite many narratives, are the result of ideological choices centuries ago. In case you are interested, a book of mine on this topic will be published in December.

[@MediaMediums]

I'm really glad someone's out here with content like this. The "middle east" was so much more advanced than what we know and the real setbacks are the years of it being bombed into the ground and colonization before that

[@mightyFaris]

Beautiful speech. God bless you.

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thank you very much!

[@advaakashbhurgri]

It's really amazing

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thank you very much!

[@savannahdiego]

This talk reminded me of the importance of inclusivity in education. We need to ensure that all cultures are represented accurately in our history books, so future generations can have a more nuanced understanding of the world.

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

I entirely agree. This is very important.

[@yahiaeldardery2825]

Thank you, From Egypt

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thank you and greetings from Brussels to Egypt, the country where I lived 5 years!

[@SixtySecondsOrLess]

Honestly, I never thought about the origins of algebra and how it shaped our modern world. This talk challenges the Eurocentric view I've grown up with.

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

I am happy to hear that. Thank you!

[@PinkyPinkness]

I appreciate how he challenges the Eurocentric view of history. It's important to acknowledge the contributions of other cultures and the more we do it maybe the closer we'll get to actually understanding how everything started

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thank you very much for your positive comment!

[@ailamacdonald]

Damn okay, I had no idea there was so much history and contributions from the Islamic world! Feeling pretty inspired to learn about the interconnectedness of cultures throughout history.

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thank you. I can guarantee you your search for interconnectedness of cultures throughout history will be fascinating.

[@ivania321]

La unión hace la fuerza ❤ togetherness makes us stronger ❤

[@EdoardoDeLarge]

I’m from Milan and Italian school system totally embrace foreign cultures and discoveries.

[@stephaneboisjoli1320]

They speak of the contributions of Arabs to science and mathematics?

[@EdoardoDeLarge]

@@stephaneboisjoli1320 Absolutely yes. Starting from Elementary School, first step after nursery schools. I’m curious to know if in Arab Countries they do the same about European studies and so on.

[@sarahrefky600]

@@EdoardoDeLarge I’m Egyptian and I can tell you, yes we do in the Arab world embrace all other civilizations and their contributions to history and humanity . I studied since middle school history subject where we studied all the ancient civilizations Egyptian of course which is ours, Greeks, Roman, Persian in the 1st year. Then in 2nd year we studied middle ages, the Islamic Civilization, the ottoman empire, the Mogul empire and The indian empire, also European dark age. Then in the 3rd year, we studied the renaissance in Europe, the colonization of north and South America, the Steam revolution in England up to the modern era. I’m glad to hear that in Italy they teach the influence of other civilizations and cultures.

[@EdoardoDeLarge]

@@sarahrefky600 Thanks a lot for your message! I’m sure that reality isn’t the one exposed by Debeuf.

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

@@EdoardoDeLarge It isn't indeed. This is part of a much larger discussion...

[@josiemartaine4743]

This is so mind-blowing, and also the stuff about algebra coming from Indian numbers? I guess we just assume the ancient world was so isolated from one another but they really weren't.

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

The ancient world was very related indeed. Thanks for your comment!

[@valeriedijkstra]

Change starts with acknowledging the contributions of all cultures and I can't help but wonder how much of other cultures history/contributions has been erased?

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Indeed, it is a enormous work to try to find out the contributions of all cultures. Working on it :)

[@raulascaso]

As a history buff, I appreciate the deep dive into the Islamic Golden Age. It's a shame some of this knowledge got buried over time. We need more presentations like this to bridge cultural understanding.

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thank you very much. I wish I could give more TEDx talks on this topic! 🙂

[@RiazulIslam-no1gi]

Nice video ❤❤❤

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thank you :)

[@keithmlawrence]

It's so sad to think that all the beauty and art from such a rich culture can be erased and ignored because of how they're portrayed now just to fit political agendas.

[@johnbradey]

Okay I knew a lot of stuff about how a lot of mathematics is actually Arabic but all the philosophy stuff is really cool!

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thanks!

[@IAmTheRealMagicMan]

The thing he keeps coming back to about how religious truth is for the masses and scientific truth is for the philosophers, that's honestly pretty interesting to me, I feel like it's the other way around nowadays.

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

I am not sure I understand what you mean. How is it different nowadays?

[@IAmTheRealMagicMan]

@@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux Maybe it's just a western thing but I see more and more people abandoning any kind of religious faith and putting more stock in science

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

@@IAmTheRealMagicMan Thank you for clarifying. You are right, certainly in the West. In other parts of the world it seems to be more complicated.

[@varunl6948]

👏👏👏

[@user-fb5xk8pg9w]

GOOD

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thanks!

[@user-hm1gc1vb9b]

❤❤❤❤

[@henryichu]

Yeah it's unbelievable how euro-centric the majority perspective is in terms of how society has developed.

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Indeed. I was actually pretty shocked how widespread this was.

[@Earning001]

I love my country India 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳

[@gabekilljoy]

I've always found it interesting (and heart-breaking) how it seems a common theme for invaders back then to destroy all the books and the knowledge. I'm sure there's a tactical reason they did that but it seems such a waste.

[@SabrenMontaser]

❤❤❤❤❤

[@janetpannel]

So what I'm hearing is that immigrants have been helping boost both the scientific and philosophical aspects of a culture for literal centuries and we _still_ haven't learnt to embrace them?

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

You make a very good point indeed.

[@ecophobiabob1669]

Yeah I knew there was going to be a part of the story that was a bummer. The 7:00 mark was definitely it for me. Why do invaders always want to take out the knowledge first?

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Interesting point. I assure you the destruction of the House of Wisdom is one of the biggest "bummers" of history. However, no all invaders destroyed knowledge luckily. If not, not much knowledge would have been left!

[@pamcampbell3920]

I was surprised to hear him say he was a historian and a philosopher and hadn't known about how beautiful Islamic culture is. Sure I get the whitewashing of basic history but I assumed anyone who studied ancient history in school would know

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Well, I share your surprise. Btw, in many schools that is still not the case, unfortunately.

[@thomasdequincey5811]

My response to this talk - so what?

[@keithpotter7366]

To be fair most "western" countries were colonized by Europeans so to me it makes a lot of sense that all the history we'd be taught is Eurocentric. The more globalization comes into effect though the more this will be corrected, hopefully.

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

True. That's why indeed it is our mission to correct this Eurocentric view. All help is welcome!

[@chrokamal3877]

Thank you, you'r the first weastern can understand islam. anothers without understand us intriduce us as terorist.😊

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

I don't think I am the first, but thank you for your comment! ;-)

[@rafhermans3956]

Koert says at 2:44 "what I learned was that our real history looks very differently." Waw! Koert is rewriting history. Koert is a genius. What Koert should know is that history is a set of lies agreed upon. Koert should have said: "I think that the real history looks very differently." Koert should have said: "propaganda changes the course of history." It is very painful to hear politicians talk about history. Nevertheless: the Umayyad mosque is wonderful. Koert sure knows how to lure us into his propaganda. Koert never mentions how the US bombed Bagdad. Koert never mentions how Islam in Europe now differs from homeland Islam. Warmongers will always recover history. I'm very interested on Koert's historical views regarding Russian culture in these dark days. What I think I really want to say is how ridiculously lighthearted and pretentious this "exposé" is.

[@thisisarchiegraves]

I don't agree that science says our soul is mortal/dies with the body. Science acknowledges that energy can't be destroyed, and what is our soul if not the energy of us?

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

For all clarity, I am not giving my opinion on the soul. I only try to explain how ideas about the soul travelled through history. You have the absolute right to disagree.

[@thisisarchiegraves]

@@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux we agree to disagree then, all cool

[@mohammedshoib60]

24/02/2024

[@user-yi7ru4uw1v]

Al xarazmiy and avitsenna not persian. They was born in uzbekistan.

[@user-tw2nq2cg9w]

Their new found religious beliefs helped to put them aside. Most of the inventions were made by non-religious philosophers.

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

That's an interesting remark on which there is a lot of debate

[@mdnooruddin5065]

Fake views

[@armandocastillorodriguez1731]

El huesos

[@zmix]

The intro music is 100 x louder than the presentation..

[@rig4365]

I am in the west. I felt like i was being sooken to in a condescending manner and really i learned nothing new.

[@ttam2051]

It’s because you choose to perceive his message in that way. He is narrating history as it was. Facts dont care about your feelings

[@rig4365]

@@ttam2051 lol... you seem upset by my comment. Read again. I never questioned the history. I did say he was condescending. Anyway, my facts don't care about your feelings

[@stephaneboisjoli1320]

You learned nothing new because your mind was closed to it, because you thought it was personal. It was not.

[@ttam2051]

@@rig4365 Whatever makes you sleep at night

[@rig4365]

@@stephaneboisjoli1320 riiiight

[@theasalsera]

Middle of where and East of what/who?

[@mennaayman5461]

The world

[@mennaayman5461]

Bfr

[@googll1]

The video is not working anymore

[@scotttube]

I am going to relisten to this, i apologize

[@ghostfifth]

Maybe because it was an Italian phenomenon that happened with the backing of super rich elite...

[@mennaayman5461]

Yeah and supernaturals just not Middle Easterns or Muslims 😂

[@mennaayman5461]

Seriously?

[@Yor1908]

Another nice explication from a white European male. Thanks my Belgium friend. Not really sure your fellow countrymen would agree with your vision, especially those who are from Molenbeek. We all need to embrace and respect history, everybody knows the about the fantastic things the Persians and Egyptians have done for the worlds history. I do not back your claim on this subject. At the same time we are made to feel ashamed of our own white European history and many people feel this should be erased from memory. Nobody dares to stand up against this movement, all the European leaders bow their heads in guilt and apologize for things they have no influence on. We all need to look at history and learn from it, not twist it and leave things out. Learn from eachother, there is only one history and that is of the world. Be honest and learn.

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thanks for your comment. There is still a lot to be researched and this goes slowly. We will get there some day, but we have to challenge 300 years of history writing.

[@fteichmann86]

I think people are well aware that a lot of algebra and medicine is based on Arab science. The reason why Arab culture doesn’t play a role in our view of the renaissance is because of the religious development in Arab/islamic countries like sharia law. It’s not because of war a major city was destroyed in the past it’s because of their religious views inhibit scientific growth. (To an extent like all religions but Islam seems to be extrem)

[@mightyFaris]

All monotheistic religions had a Shariah but Jews and Christians chose to ignore it while Muslims stuck to it. It's that simple.

[@nimmir7099]

Waiting for Ashwini Govindarajus tedx talk & speech

[@nadil2631]

he still didn't explain the vanishing of middle-east from rennaissance, just the contribution

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

That's true. If you only have 15 minutes, you have to make choices. I would love to do another talk about the vanishing part.

[@adrianparamanov4306]

So fun it will be when we will be asked to rewrite also our laws to correspond Shariah...😂

[@mightyFaris]

And I thought people who watch Ted where intellectuals. Jews had a Shariah brought by Moses and the many prophets sent to them. Christians had a Sharia brought by Jesus. And Muslims have a Sharia brought by Muhammad. Jews and Christians corrupted their Sharia while Muslims didn't. Google 'Sharia' and see what it translates to in Arabic and what it actually means in Arabic.

[@entlasaiteja7419]

Lol, you guys need to educate yourself on the ancient history and culture of India 😂

[@entlasaiteja7419]

In present day context to give you a picture: Indians were dealing with AI when your western ancestors were thinking earth is flat and sun revolves around the earth 😂

[@rig4365]

Right. 🙄

[@bigirlgayah3589]

Ohhhh the naivity Europe is doomed😢

[@KrunoslavStifter]

Using history to promote contemporary political ambitions is low blow dude. What do you think Islamic Golden age was doing? lol Where do you think their ideas came from?

[@olli3686]

This guy is so boring. I’m interested in the subject, but wow

[@slavacroates]

Loved hearing about this, great talk

[@KoertDebeuf-mi4ux]

Thank you very much!