On a crisp early morning in Mexico City, I stare at a sobering caption on page 11 of Reforma, far enough from the front page to lose most readers: "Mexico Ranks Last in R&D Spending". With only 1.4% of the total world spend in technology, Mexico continues last among OECD nations.

Considering that Mexico is currently the 12th most populous country on earth with the 13th largest economy, it may seem alarming that it ranks between 60th and 70th in tech spending. 

Yet few Mexicans seem alarmed.

In Mexico, the government (not its private sector) is on the high-tech "cutting edge". The UNAM, Mexico's leading public university, owns nearly 95% of all patents issued to Mexican nationals. Together, Mexican corporations and private citizens don't even own 2%.

Why?

Is it just about economics? Mexico is home to the richest man on earth. In many parts of the country - especially the north - high schools are better equipped and staffed than their counterparts in the US.

And data doesn't lie: Mexico ranks last among nearly every other major poor developing nation. In terms of tech production and tech investment, it can't even compete with Brazil, much less Russia, China or India.

Ironically, Mexicans rank as among the world's most avid consumers of digital media. And they share a border with perhaps the most tech-obsessed nation on earth.

Yet... business owners here, both big and small, year after year, rank technology as among their least important priorities.

The picture is complex but... the facts speak for themselves. Based on a recent poll conducted by IDC, over 60% of Mexican executives claim that they've NEVER considered the use of cloud services. Many of them don't even know what "the cloud" means.

Think about that. Cloud services are one of the most cost-effective tech investments available to small and medium-size businesses. Yet only 12% of Mexican business leaders have ever even considered using it! Compare this with execs in Indonesia, South Korea, China, India... the list goes on.

Adolfo Becerril, a consultant with IDC remarked that "Mexican companies need a transformation at some level in their infrastructure because they are simply not willing to adopt new technologies".

Perhaps what's needed is a cultural transformation. Ask any economist why so few Mexicans are interested in science, technology or mathematics. They'll say lack of jobs, or income scarcity, or inadequate education. But aren't these so-called causes also effects?

To answer why so few Mexicans study science or think about technology, one has to consider history, culture and politics. Here are some clues:

1. Orientation toward ancestry and the past, perhaps derived (in part) from the "static" cosmovision of the indigenous peoples.

2. Immediate sense of time (live now or lose it) drawn from deep religious / existential tendencies in both Spanish and pre-Hispanic cultures.

3. Conformity - strong disincentives to experiment or think differently.

4. Inadequate emphasis on delayed gratification.

5. Strong emphasis on humanities, arts and "soft" academics.

6. Subjectivity ("taste") considered the true mark of education and culture.

7. Emphasis on understanding and "enlightenment" over intellectual rigor.

8. Folk influence of magic, spirits and non-rational forces.

True scientists anywhere are considered idiosyncratic, often struggling to fit in. In Mexico, they may as well be Martians; people with different codes, references, temperaments and values.

Curiously, Mexico was once home to the Maya, a sophisticated star-obsessed people who invented the concept of zero. But history seems to have been flipped on its head; nowadays, Mexicans don't regard science or math as real culture. Culture is painting, literature, music... 

Research and technology have been relegated to the gringos and the Japanese, and Mexicans are happy simply to consume its byproducts.

The fact is that most Mexicans prefer intuition over deduction; and spirituality outweighs science. Whether this is a RESULT or CAUSE of scarce economic opportunity is what you may call "meta" science; something prior to the actual thing. For example:

Although the shroud of the Virgin may have been disaccredited by NASA investigators, few Mexicans take rocket science - or any other science - seriously.

Natural laws, after all, are closer to God than man. 

Although the Virgin's (or any other) claim to divinity may be "disproven", it's more likely a gringo plot to disavow the most marvelous feature of this "miraculous" nation: FAITH.

Perhaps that's it (in a nutshell): faith over science.