Everything that made the Greeks civilized, they learned from Semites, aside from participatory democracy. Musical instruments, writing, mathematics, all of that, was a Mesopotamian or Egyptian invention. Even some of the Greek gods were of Semitic origin. The Adonis myth is derived from the legend of Inana and Tammuz, exchanging places in hell at each solstice. The first Indo-European people encountered by the Egyptians and Hebrews were barbarians called "Philistines."
I find that all very interesting and no doubt true, one thing escapes me though. A true sign of intelligence is the ability to overcome a problem, not just live with it. I myself rather look at the individual not the group, the individual especially when given the opportunity and resources will advance.
There are problems that cannot be overcome without adequate resources. Certainly, outside interference, such as Mali has faced since the Moroccan invasion that brought down Tombouctou and the subsequent European oppression and the collapse of the eccosystem certainly put Mali at a disadvantage. Their culture was rebounding before this un pleasantness in the northeast of the country. The music was central to that, a great source of pride for the Malian people. As for the chronic social adjustment problems that African Americans face, centuries of abuse are not easily overcome. Add to that the fact that white nationalists have, since the Civil War, attempted to put them "back in their place." That sort of racism, plus the sub-concious racism that always festers just below the surface of our society shall, for at least another generration, continue to be a problem.
Not really , many of the stuff my ancestors did are of Indian origin since we came from there , for example our language is not Semitic but Indian , many of the gods had either Indian or "native" origin, for example old gods Kaviroi are Pelasgian while Dias and Kronos war reflects the struggle between the natives and the newcomers, our cosmogony is also of Pelasgian origin and we had our own alphabet (Linear B). Barbarian is actually a word of Sanscritic origin and it has a linguistic value , those not speaking proper Greek are barbarians because their language sounds like "bar bar" . Mathematics is a strange thing because we advanced them with Pythagorians and the first walled settlement goes back more than 7000 years (Dimini / Sesklo) . The cultural exchanges of the old era go deeper than the average nationalist mind can understand, the center of "mystic" worship in Greece was Elefsina and it was built by Oros (Egyptian) and so did Thebes, at the other hand Alexandria and Heliopolis were Greek colonies in Egypt . It was never a pissing contest about who is best , each had to learn from the other . Thing is that everyone in the region contributed to the advancement of civilisation with the difference that while we and the Italians were cosmopolitan looking to share , exchange and spread knowledge Semites were mysticopaths and valued their secrets more than everything (yeah think of Judaism) so their contribution to mankind is very limited . For example the name of ancient Egypt was Kem but nobody uses it , you all use a name that translates as "southern Greece" .
I love our people from other places get to decide what is real African and what is not. Whenever proof is given going against their set believes, they just chop a part of Africa. South Africa is not real Africa, Libya, Egypt, the pieces of Africa is just flying off! AH - - - Updated - - - I love our people from other places get to decide what is real African and what is not. Whenever proof is given going against their set believes, they just chop a part of Africa. South Africa is not real Africa, Libya, Egypt, the pieces of Africa is just flying off! AH
I have never been to Africa but I base my opinions on what I have experienced , I live next door to a black family and there is a mixed family across the street, I have lived with these folks over 15 years watched the kids grow up and they all work and have been good neighbors, they are raising nice kids . I just can't get them to vote libertarian lol
Sorry, everything is in degrees. Perseverance, intelligence, even desperation all aid in achieving ones goals. To say something ''cannot'' be overcome is way to general and implies nobody could have done better. Somebody can ALWAYS do better, if not then there would be no great men/women. I do not claim to know the reason and surely a lack of certain resources would be one, but as I said it's the ability to overcome these problems that measures a peoples success. It's the same reason ''Problem solvers'' are held in such high regard in our own society. Off hand I would say the ability of a people to come together as one would have much to do with a peoples advancement. As I said I do not claim to know the answer and would never suggest a lower intelligence [because I just do not believe that], but there had to be much more than what you suggest, all civilizations have faced problems, and some have handled them better than others.
I had one of my offices in a very poor area, I made that office my home office. I was there over 30 yrs and knew my clients very well, one thing always seemed true. The closer the family, the tighter the family, the more of an interest the parents took the better the children did. They were more respectful toward others, they listened and understood better, and in almost all cases were better educated. This is no coincidence, it's not a Fluke.
Africa is a large continent and not all parts look so plain as illustrated in the picture. Look, how luxurious Zimbabwe's leader lives... http://www.snopes.com/photos/architecture/mugabe.asp
North Africa is new test for U.S. on terrorist front... North Africa Is a New Test January 20, 2013 WASHINGTON The bloody resolution of the hostage crisis in Algeria has brought into focus the broader challenges the United States and its allies face in confronting terrorist cells that have taken up sanctuary across northern Africa.
Skin color isn't a very big indicator of genetic variation though. It is a bit of a scientific fallacy to group humans according to skin color. Africa has more genetic diversity within it than any other continent.
A couple of things here I think: some problems, like endemic malaria are bigger than others (a simple lack of iron ore), and also, overcoming problems in parts requires a certain population density and the economic capabilities of communities to dedicate workers to functions other than base survival tasks.
Yes, but that's the problems,,it's the overcoming of problems that moves a people forward. This is what intelligence is. I dare say many a people were entrenched in their own situations and problems, they over come. Now exactly how severe of course is another matter all together. However knowing the problem is half the battle. Remember the Irish?, kept farming potatoes, and kept ruining their land. Now, would another people have figured that out sooner? I don't know but it's a good example. These people were starving to death..., why did it take so long to figure this out?
The reality is known by anthropologists, educators, and Washington "insiders". Black IQ average is 85. Immediate handicap in world wired in technology. At one time such persons earned good wages in steel, shipbuilding, etc. Now they are essentially obsolete! Africa? Google "IQ and wealth of nations". Harsh reality.
Low population density mixed with isolation. Same as many societies when subjected to the same conditions.
I'm an economist, and as such I do a lot of econometric regression modeling. I also do a lot of developmental work with Africa and have run into the "studies" that you are referring to on multiple occasions. As a professional opinion: they are crap. Poor data reference points, poor data collection, poor math, horribly non-robust models, no dummy variables or controls. They look as though they were constructed by undergrad poly sci majors with no mathematical backgrounds. In short: they aren't very compelling in their assertions.
. I disagree, that is what innovation through human capital accumulation is which is highly dependent on a couple of factors. The first is an economy that is wealthy enough to support larger scale non-subsistence economic production; next is food security (essentially tied to the last point), then lower disease burdens (things like Malaria can be detrimental to cognitive development, as can low nutrition and early childhood illness), next is population density. You need enough people aggregated into one area in order to share ideas. Intellectual division of labor if you will. Finally: connectivity; you need to be able to be in contact with and in competition with other groups. Competition drives innovation, and contact produces spillover effects.
Strangely enough, this makes sense. Although I am scratching my head as to why other africans would really want to get to know each other past their initial tribe. The africans' most dangerous enemy is themselves half the time. Constant warfare really stifles technological development in a primitive region, whereas historically the opposite is true with more advanced nations - improvements in technology seemingly go hand in hand with warfare.
Africa has historically been very thinly populated. They didn't have the right food stuffs and climate to produce said food stuffs for some time so they were behind the game in terms of being capable of establishing large urban centers. Tsetse fly populations have long been (and still are) detrimental to cattle. The introduction of the camel made outside contact a little easier by allowing travel north through the Sahara, but the introduction of the Yam and Casava where the big things in terms of being able to establish large scale food crops that could sustain larger sedentary populations, this was also aided by the banana in some parts, and of course later on with the introduction of maize and wheat.
as is race. barring immigration, the Afrikaners will be the same skin color as their neighbors in a few thousand years, as will Somalis living in Sweden.
These are all problems other people have conquered, famine, disease, etc. I think one major problem they could not seem to rid themselves of was all the fighting among themselves, there was no huge build up of like minded people. Food, other items, and advancement ideas were not shared. Lets not forget they believed in slavery as well. Raiding and destroying villages, kidnapping and such all these things would hold back progress. Of course that's just an opinion. Now it could be in a land so brutal that survival alone was the key, thus making it difficult to concentrate on much else. This would also explain the brutality toward one another, tribes had to hold on to what they had. What they did not have they stole from each other, survival of the fittest...
Right. Because of their geography and proximity to one another. If you'd care to notice Africa is no longer dominated by hunter gatherer societies either. they didn't have the food items needed for large scale agricultural production to sustain large populations. They scavenged, hunted, and herded cattle (which were often devastated by sleeping sickness). Large food crops didn't arrive to Africa until later (Casava, Yams, and Bananas). Europeans believed in slavery as well (in fact we get the word slave from the slavs of eastern Europe, and were just as warlike (if not more so). Africa had its large stable empires, it just didn't have the proximity to other world regions and population density that places like Europe had.
