The following is not a racist question

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Agggghhh no, your quot is only in there because it was part of my post that got removed.

Don't worry about it.

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank makuranososhi for his help and guidance in regard to my son TOG.

I would also like to apologize for saying that he doesn't have a good enough understanding of Aspergers and people in general to be a moderator. This is most definitely not the case and my statement was completely wrong and insulting.

Makuranososhi has not used his power as moderator without thought nor has he been opposed to listening to my side of the argument as I inferred. I regret my hasty judgement and apologize unreservedly.

All good things to you M.

Thanks to TimsMom and TheOddGoat for taking the time to work through the situation, and for educating me along the way. Things like this are very encouraging to me, and greatly appreciated.


M.

Click here for Black Inventors

Africa was geologically isolated from trade routes by deserts, so it missed on Greek/Roman culture.

There are also issues of population density.
The parts of the old world that are now rich are also the parts that had
high population densities very early on. This meant that they could
have a significant part of the population that where not occupied making
food. It also meant that there where various necessities that arose:
housing, agriculture, government, warfare etc. And necessity is the
mother of invention. With education and writing things snowballed very
quickly and continue to do so.

Ever heard of Egypt (which is in Africa). Julius Ceasar, Cleopatra, Alexandria? All in Africa. What about Carthage (which is now Tunisia)? You are confusing sub-Sahara Africa with the whole continent.

ruveyn

Well, ruveyn, the OP did, IIRC, eventually narrow down his question to sub-Saharan Africa (probably after someone pointed out the whole Egypt thing to him).

Note that sub-Saharan African inventions include the spear, the bow, the shield, personal armor (carved of wood), and hunting technologies such that a weak hairless ape could become the continent's apex predator, hunting lions and gorillas. There may well have been other technological innovations of which we are unaware, because the Europeans who "discovered" various parts of the world had a tendency to discount the developments of the locals as "primitive".

I believe that the reason the region never evolved a terribly high level of technology was because it was unnecessary - in comparison with, say, northern Europe, life in sub-Saharan Africa was easy. Foodstuffs grew wild in the jungle, there was always plenty of meat, and temperatures never fell to the point that much in the way of housebuilding was required. (One impetus for all those imposing castles in Europe, besides defense against marauding enemies, was an effort to keep the household servants warm enough to be of use to the nobility.) In the northern reaches, as in the Far East, technology was driven by scarcity of certain resources - others had to be made to serve in their place. Certain societal adaptations common in Europe, the Asian steppes, and parts of the Americas had to do with the fact that in a scarcity situation it's often easier to take resources from others than to exploit them yourself...

I have heard that too, they did not have to come up with the inventions that we had to, to survive in cold weather.

First of all, you need to distinguish between North-Africa and Sub-Saharan. North-Africa (with countries like Morocco and Egypt) is inhabited by mostly Arabs and berbers with an Islamic and largely Arab culture. While not as advanced as Western or East-Asian culture, Arab culture has bloomed in the past and Egypt was the crib of one of the worlds greatest ancient cultures. So let's not underestimate the potential North-Africa has.

Sub-Saharan Africa is a different story. It is inhabited by numerous of different black tribes and makes up the majority of Africa. They seem to have little culture of their own beyond primitive tribal culture and the general living standard for black people in many black African countries actually dropped significantly since the end of colonisation.



Evolutionary scientists suggest that black Africans have evolved differently from eg. East-Asians or Europeans due to different climatic and cultural conditions. Because of the plenty of a tropical forest African tribes did not need to develop cultures beyond primitive tribal culture as it had for thousands of years prospered with little threats other than wars with another tribe. In Northern-Europe or the harsh climate of the Himalayah, on the other hand, more complicated hunting techniques and warm clothing had to come up with just to ensure the survival of the clan. Those not clever enough to survive such harsh conditions didn't make it, and as culture became more complicated so did it continuously have its effect on biological evolution because a changing environment often implies traits formerly considered less valuable to become more valueble and vice versa.

Climate differences, evolution and hundreds of millennia of relative isolation are the key to all major differences between humans.

Ummm... see: Great Zimbabwe - as an example of just one culture, with extensive northern trade. All things run in cycles.


M.

Not a big invention, but rather creative way of using natural resources, i've read that in the Democratic Republic of Congo, termite mounds are a very good source of income because 1) you can eat the insects themselves (i know that doesn't appeal to many of you but the caloric value of those insects is among the highest in their world) 2) you can make bricks from their mounds, which has been known to have isothermal properties and 3) Termite mounds are usually a good indicator of soil fertility, which in turn is good for agriculture. (Termite mounds also change the composition of the soil, making it basic through their activity)

Speaking of which, how could anyone forget about Ancient Egypt, Merowe, and Punt(Somalia)?



People in Africa made their greatest advancements SO FAR in ancient and medieval times.
It is only within the last 500 years that Africa has experienced such a tragic decline. A lot of this has to with the climate, which plays a pivotal role in the sustainence of civilization.
If a drought destroys your ability to grow crops, civilization collapses.

With all the billions of dollars that African countries get in aid each year.. how does that factor in? I've heard people say it doesn't help.