by Brian Shilhavy, Health Impact News:

Western culture, and in particular American culture, can trace its origins back to Europe and the time period known as the “Age of Enlightenment” in the 17th and 18th centuries, which placed a high value on concepts such as “rationalism” and “empiricism”, which shaped academics and the development of the field of modern-day “science.”

In short, this period of western culture placed more value on the academic studies of the physical sciences over the study of philosophy, along with the humanities and arts.

Parallel to this time period was the development of Reformed Theology in Europe and America that broke away from many of the religious teachings of the Catholic Church.