History 2D: Science, Magic, and Religion, Lecture 3, UCLA 

Thank you so much for putting these up. American lectures aren't very interactive, but this makes them great for educating the public on RU-vid. It's a great public service, if only by letting me maintain my mental faculties despite no longer using them for work or school.

This lecture series needs to be a book. Please tell me Prof. Raia is writing a book!

I sincerely appreciate your wisdom

Thank you, for allowing these gems to be shared!

The idea of prima materia becomes very interesting when you think about how everything is created by stars...

Enjoyable so far. Very happy this history course is available online. Thank you.

Wonderful video. We are in a time when this history is so valuable. Thank you for sharing with us.

totally love being able to tune into this !! THANK YOU

administrative issues to 5:09 ie, how to get an A, What parts of course are compulsory, how the mid term test is structured and run.

Good course..I can't beleive a course at a major university starts out with grade explanation

Thank you for this presentation. A lot of criticism in the comments from people who didn't listen to the actual content, most if not all of the criticism was addressed.

This is an such an interesting lecture! Does anyone know if that syllabus/study guide she's talking about in the beginning of the lecture is available online somewhere?

great lecture I think I will watch the entire series. Unfortunately nothing is perfect the main problem in this series is it speaks about the western culture ONLY. For example she did speak about philosophy in China or India or Egypt and their influence in science and mathematics even magic. In addition when she speaks about religions she only speaks about Christianity ! there are many religions in the world some of these religions had no problem with science and philosophy. For instance, ...

What is the big deal with images? Is it copyright infringement? Is it blurred out for the class also?

Buddhism and Hinduism may not have problems with science, but hardcore materialism has problem with Buddhism and Hinduism - therefore, tension arises.

Based on [her] theory, Professor Courtenay Raia describes what is meant by “magical thinking” in her book THE NEW PROMETHEANS, (2019). All in all, [perhaps] she demonstrates (through her book and in her introductory lectures) that we do indeed engage in magical thinking, and that alone demonstrates nothing less than her genius in this area of research. [Perhaps] We use magical thinking and don't even realize it. Promoting [touting] magical thinking as a practical perspective at an American university is likely to get any professor into serious trouble. The pragmatic orientation of this country does not allow for a teaching model that promotes magical thinking! Business, technology and science have nothing to do with magical thinking.

@leconfidant No she's talking about science from a religious perspective. Just watch the whole vid.

So is there anyway to skip an introductory course on history in college? I'm only a high school sophomore, but quite frankly, I've already heard all of this stuff before. Listening to it again would be boring.

Not a mention of spiritual alchemy. Those interested in physical gold were the scammers that ended the days of alchemy.

18:24 - Please explain how you can make such a statement as knowing how people cannot live without "some kind of faith". Are you playing fast and loose with defined terms?

The presentation of history in this lecture series is infuriatingly imprecise: early medieval thought was a synthesis of early Christian thought and Greek pagan philosophy, but it only incorporated Platonism. Aristotelean thought disappeared, until the emerging Muslim community undertook a very concerted effort to reclaim Greek thinking and through contact with Christian communities reintroduced those ideas in European, Christian society. A lot of heretics were burned at the stake in early medieval times, but that number is dwarfed by the number of heretics burned at the stake during the high and late medieval period, when theological arguments got coopted in political strategies of the emergent empires and states of Europe. The early medieval period may have been a period of decline for Southern and Central Europe, but at the same time society around the North Sea coast was thriving. Professor Raia presents a vision of European history that would've been the dominant academic view of history up until about the 1960's. We've come quite a way since then. At the same time, when it comes to pre-historic thinking, professor Raia asserts a whole lot about the beliefs of pre-historic people and the origins of those beliefs, but she never justifies those assertions or qualifies the ways in which those assertions are uncertain. I get the impression that professor Raia doesn't want to get bogged down in details in an introductory course, and all these details are pretty unimportant for her central thesis, but she is reinforcing some bad habits in her students, and it will be up to their educators in subjects like philosophy of science, research methodology, medievistics, archaeology and anthropology to undo the damage.

@Neueregel she's talking about religion as a historical phenomenon in a HISTORY class, how is that nutty? Religion IS a historical phenomenon, I can't see any argument against that fact.

Free Education! Love it.

She reminds me of Sandra Bullock

I'm wondering if she ended up with a line outside of he office.

Because you missed the first two lectures - that's why,

No she's not. Read the title out loud.

What´s with her pronunciation of MODERNITY?

she's smart!

can't focus on the lecture

yes thanks

If her thesis is that knowledge was preserved and refined by passing through the realms of religion and magic to arrive at science, then I agree with her. However, if the believes that this is still a useful process, as opposed to having been a evolutionary one, then I can't agree with her.

it nice , but why you Ignore the far east like china & africa like nubian civilizations interaction throghout the human history i

yes miss, whatever you say

I like and dislike simultaneously how most of the comments here are about how hot she is. Yes, she is really hot, but to me what makes her so hot is that she is physically attractive and also very charismatic and funny, but SO passionate for something SO fascinating and mysterious which she can illuminate for so many others in a way that is accessible yet titillating. GRRROWLL! She reminds me of Julia Roberts too, anyone else getting that?

remeinds me of my speach teacher from jwu miami

Closest to Hogwarts I'll ever get.

she's very pleasing to the eyes

She actually says (29: 30-30:12) that Muslims were destroying Latin and Greek wisdom while burning the Christian monasteries....They were the preservers; we would not have any of these texts if it had not been for the Muslim scholars. She is a brilliant scholar but she's prejudiced and historically incorrect. Something is off with her chronology.

cool

what a pretty face. what a great lecture. this is rare.

So many assumptions and a Christo-centeic view of the world and nature. I would have thought we'd see a more objective lecture.

👍👏👍👏👍

I wonder if her husband has noticed that.

Science had been improved in Islamic countries in the mid-ages.

hot for teacher! damn, i would never miss that class

People do claim to have religious experiences here on youtube. You can see what she's talking about by watching religious youtubers talk about religion and try to fit it into a modern world: watch?v=zahFKGVpQGg

interesting, i like how she talks of these things, something i haven t seen in toronto universities,almost well,looking at mystical,subjective...[i may also say she is attractive] thanks

goddamn!

Tesla referenced human energy 🌪👻jesus christ referenced living waters 💎🤍science described water memory 🌊👨‍🎓existence reflecting psychologically,psalms16:24 k,j 💎🤍👨‍🎓historical fact jesus christ 🗽💞🌪

kind of a distraction. she has a fantastic body and outfit there.

I wonder if her husband ever noticed? Whaddya think, Bozo?

Is she allergic to the word Philosophy?

she is a hot teacher lol :) ahhahahah

So this is how kids get indoctrinated today huh.....

Soooooooo HOT!!

Jesus! This is the longest RU-vid vid ive seen! I wont be watching till the end lol.

boooorriiing