Well, first of all, #3 isn't actually a theory, since it MUST be true that Islamic societies play a significant role in Islamic societies' low rate of scientific publishing. You are not actually staking a falsifiable claim here.

What you are probably trying to say with #3 is actually: "Islam (or Islamic governance) (or Islamic influence) plays a significant role in Islamic societies' low rate of scientific publishing." If this is actually what you are claiming, your theory is not backed up by #1 or #2 in the slightest because you are not providing evidence of any causation.

>> ^chilaxe:

@<a rel="nofollow" href="http://videosift.com/member/rembar" title="member since September 28th, 2006" class="profilelink">rembar,
Sure. Here are the 3 claims with #3 reworded.
1. Factual claim: A large portion of the population is Muslim living in Islamic societies.
2. Factual claim: Those societies publish ~1% of scientific papers.
3. Theory based on the above claims: Islamic societies play a significant role in their low rate of scientific publishing.
These all seem to be scientifically reasonable statements. Is there an error somewhere that would disqualify this as legitimate discussion?

@rembar,

Sure. Here are the 3 claims with #3 reworded.

1. Factual claim: A large portion of the population is Muslim living in Islamic societies.
2. Factual claim: Those societies publish ~1% of scientific papers.
3. Theory based on the above claims: Islamic societies play a significant role in their low rate of scientific publishing.

These all seem to be scientifically reasonable statements. Is there an error somewhere that would disqualify this as legitimate discussion?