Guns Germs and Steel

[Strike For The South]

ITs very good I am getting father into it. Foodstuffs and writing and demostacation oh my

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

I found the arguement persuasive but he stops the idea of natural selection with the conclusion that primative peoples are generally more quick witted and industrialised peoples are more robust.

He never explores the idea that Europeans might be genetically more techically minded. You get some European or Asian Engineers who can look at something and see how it works and some Africans and Aborigines (sp?) that have trouble understanding 3-D space.

It doesn't make one smarter than the other but it makes one more gifted in acertain area, conversly I don't know of very many European sprinters, or many who can learn as fast as "primatives"

Different racial groups look different because they are adapted to different environments, why can't they have differently adapted minds as well? If Africans actually are less "intelligant" than Europeans its because the talents we value the most are the ones most useful in our environment.

In the middle of the jungle no one looks more stupid than a white PhD.

If this offends anyone I apologise and of course there is no evidence either way because no-one will do the tests.

[CBR]

He never explores the idea that Europeans might be genetically more techically minded. You get some European or Asian Engineers who can look at something and see how it works and some Africans and Aborigines (sp?) that have trouble understanding 3-D space.

*snip*

Different racial groups look different because they are adapted to different environments, why can't they have differently adapted minds as well? If Africans actually are less "intelligant" than Europeans its because the talents we value the most are the ones most useful in our environment.

As most Europeans or Asians were simple farmers just a couple of centuries ago I dont see how they could could have developed brains that somehow were more technically minded than others. Most of these peasants managed to have lots of babies so natural selection isnt a possible answer.

IIRC Jared mentions how the people he had been visiting showed a great ability to learn and remember all the stuff that was important in their enviroment. Higher education and technical skills would need an ability to learn and remember things and it doesnt appear Europeans/Asians have an advantage in that area.


CBR

[Avicenna]

A couple of milllenia ago.

[CBR]

A couple of milllenia ago.

Most people lived in rural areas until the 19th century. Higher education for the masses is something from the later 20th century. I would say the level of skill/training required to make a good quality stone tool is higher than when doing menial work in a late 19th century factory.


CBR

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

Its not higher than forging a pattern welded sword, tempering a cutting edge, weaving complex cloth, tapestry, making a four poster bed.

I'm not talking about higher education, I'm talking about all the highly complex things Europeans have been building for millenia, the ancient Greeks had clockword for crying out load.

200 years ago people were doing more than just farming, there was a whole class of tradespeople that created things for our society and higher education was popular in Persia, Greece and Rome.

Thats why I said more technical, more mechanical, if you will. You seem to be rejecting the idea out of hand because you're uncomfortable with it.

Question: Why did the native Americans take to the plains when they discovered horses, why didn't their society develope technologically to the same level ours did. Stone tools can be used to do most of the things iron tools can, not all, but most. Given that we now know there is iron on most continents why did the Europeans take advantage of it and none of the Americans get past copper.

Why did they never invent the wheel? You don't need iron for that.

The explanation seems to me to be that these things were invented once, by the Chinese or Mesopotamians and we copied them and developed them.

So they must have been smarter than we are.

Why don't we find developed writing on every continent.

I'm not saying the Chinese are smarter I'm saying no one asks these questions.

What if I said that China and India have, until a couple of hundred years ago, outsripped everyone else in everything. Couldn't it just be that they're more inventive, more inquisitive?

[CBR]

Thats why I said more technical, more mechanical, if you will. You seem to be rejecting the idea out of hand because you're uncomfortable with it.

No I rejected the idea because I have read his book and thinks his arguments are very good. Its been a few months since I read it though, but IIRC most of your questions are discussed in the book. I havent watched the dvd so I dont know if something was left out or not.


CBR