&gt; SV was the product of a culture which rewarded individualism and free thinking, which is the antithesis of Islamic culture.<p>Its may be the antithesis of the reactionary Islamism which is currently ascendant in much of the Islamic world, but that&#x27;s something of contrary to the historical culture of many parts of the Islamic world (whether there is such a thing as a historical &quot;Islamic culture&quot; rather than the very diverse cultures of various regions where Islam has been found is a different debate.)<p>Not that Silicon Valley was really the product of a culture that rewarded individualism and free thinking. Its the product of a focus on defense and related national prestige investments, and a culture that reward <i>success</i>. Neither of which is foreign to any part of the Islamic world. (To the extent that a culture of individualism that rewarded free thinking <i>evolved</i> in the region, it was a <i>product</i> of the focus on success as the tech hub developed, not the reason the tech hub developed.)<p>&gt; There&#x27;s a reason SV is located in California, and not Alabama or Mississippi, let alone the middle east.<p>Yeah, and its mostly because of the military-industrial complex, not local culture (the technology firms gathered around the nucleus of Moffet Field NAS, which, when certain naval operations moved out, made it an attractive place for NACA -- which became NASA -- to locate operations, which continued attracting tech firms.)