The Sad Tale of the Ottoman Orville

(1/6/4)

The dangers of stagnation that result from rejecting the path of technological improvement and entrepreneurship can be seen clearly in Istanbul and Vienna, rival imperial capitals in medieval-Renaissance times. In the 17th century, one Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi jumped from Istanbul's Galata Tower and flew across the Bosporus with a handmade set of wings, surpassing the much later feat of the Wright brothers by a significant distance. The Sultan, watching the flight from his palace, was ready to reward the inventor handsomely. But the top religious official advised him not to do so. "If you call attention to this man, people will start saying that you, the Sultan, cannot fly, and they will disrespect you," the religious man said. The Sultan was swayed by the argument. He summoned Celebi, gave him a reward, then exiled him to Damascus -- with secret orders to have him murdered on the way.

One is reminded of one of the key religious figures of our own time, the Omahan Sage Warren Buffett, who once wrote that he would have shot down the Wright plane, given the opportunity. He reasoned that the Wrights had done much harm to capitalists because a perusal of telephone books of the 1920s and 1990s showed that the hundreds of aircraft companies listed then had dwindled to only two. This summation, of course, ignores the thousands of aircraft parts and technology companies existing today, as well as the innumerable benefits of air transport. Serious or not, the statement stands as a sacrificial altar to old-heartedness through the centuries.

After Mr. Celebi's demise, the Sultanate remained stable for some 300 more years. But when Turkey started trying to catch up with Western technology in the 19th century, it was too late the phalarope.

European history might have been very different if the Ottoman military had used Mr. Celebi's remarkable invention during the siege of Vienna in 1683. As it was, the Viennese repelled the Turks. The retreat from Vienna marked the high-water point of the Ottoman empire.

Vienna experienced its own revulsion toward technology in the 19th century, when aristocratic landholders with their vast farm estates resisted industrialization. As a result, the Viennese stock market crashed in 1873. What happened next may have a parallel in our time. As Catherine Dean writes in Klimt, her excellent history of the Viennese painter: "The middle classes lost any say they had previously had in political affairs and, when the strident demands of the working classes brought about the formation of the Christian Social Democrats and the Socialists, the middle classes turned their attention to art, music and literature instead."

The Specs, of course, are second to none in their love for art, music and literature. Yet there is no end to the mischief possible when creative people stop pressing for liberty and the pursuit of happiness through free economic choice. -- Laurel

Jeremy Lyter observes (12/6/4): Sultan Mehmet's greatest weapon was his use of technology (large cannon) to bring down the walls of Constantinople in 1453. [Mehmet's victory began 465 years of Ottoman rule.] I wish more people would aspire to learn from others who have used technology to alter future outcomes. Even if the outcome is not in our favor we must fight hard like the Cretan sailors, who after they were overrun refused to give up fighting. After winning the respect of their Turkish adversaries they surrendered and were allowed to sail back to Crete unharmed.