Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 10 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 26 years, 1 month ago by
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Although I don’t feel there are inherent differences in intelligence levels among various races, there are vast differences in the way various races and cultures have developed thoughout history. Most European and Northern Asian countries developed sophisticated technological societies, while indigenous cultures from other parts of the globe remain largely undeveloped. Yet, when African Americans are given true equal opportunity in this country, they do equally well as Caucasians. Why the apparent disparity otherwise?
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Name : Ambopat, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 47, City : Brooklyn, State : NY, Country : United States, Occupation : Manager, Education level : Technical School, Social class : Middle class,It isn’t because those people do not have the ability. Simply speaking, people in many of the areas you refer to have more important things to worry about. When you live in a country where there is not enough food and/or your countrymen are fighting amongst themselves, advancing technologically is the least of your concerns. Until the wars end and the hunger and poverty go away, these people will always be ‘behind’ technologically.
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Name : Eliza, City : cincinnati, State : OH, Country : United States,I think the reason many “Third World” countries are technologically under-developed has a lot to do with the political histories of those countries. Much of Africa and South America were colonies of European countries for centuries. Colonization has stunted the growth of many of these countries, resulting in poor economic situations. When people are struggling for daily necessities, technological advancement is not a priority.
One thing to remember, though: Before the Europeans got involved in Africa, the Americas and other places around the world, things were very different in these areas. Ancient, very technologically advanced societies flourished, while Europeans were still living in the stone age.
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Name : Lucy H, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Age : 24, City : San Jose, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,There is a fascinating book called Guns, Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond that addresses this question. Diamond shows that the beginnings of the technological disparity go way, way back into pre-history. Some of the factors have to do with the availability of domesticatable plants and animals and even the physical geography of the Eurasian landmass. An example of the latter: Eurasia runs roughly east-west (not north-south like the Americas). This means that Eurasia has a greater amount of land in temperate, arable latitudes than the Americas do. It is also easier for agriculture to spread east-west than it is north-south, since plants such as wheat or rye can only grow in temperate latitudes.
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Name : Ninkasi, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, City : Houston, State : TX, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Another theory that can help to account for the phenomenon you describe has to do with geography. Generally, technological advances occur in areas where many different cultures mix and interact because the interaction introduces and spreads new ideas, brings different viewpoints together, lets people see various solutions to the same problem and combine and improve upon them, etc. This kind of interaction historically occurs in places like the crossroads of several trading routes. Geographic features, like navigable rivers, mountain passes, good natural harbors and the like are big factors in where trading routes go, and trading routes used by many different cultures result in cultural mixing. Europe has abundant navigable rivers, many good harbors, etc., whereas much of Africa does not. Therefore, European peoples had a geographic advantage that made the necessary cultural mixing more likely than it was in Africa, where travel was more difficult. Thus, to some extent technological advancement or otherwise can be a factor of geographic location. I wish I could say these were my ideas, but I read them in some books by Thomas Sowell. I recommend his work highly because it explores many different ways in which things like geography and culture can influence technological advancement while maintaining what seems to me a fair and balanced viewpoint of humanity in general.
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Name : Jean-M, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 38, City : Plano, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : Writer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,I don’t consider “Colonialism” to be an answer. However politically correct, it doesn’t explain why (for example) the Africans didn’t colonize Europe instead of the other way around. It certainly doesn’t explain why Europe was at about the same level, technologically, as China before the Renaissance but then pulled ahead. If it hadn’t, Europe certainly could not have colonized China (assuming that one believes it did). Personally, I’m inclined to believe that it was in some measure dumb luck. The ferment (and conflict) of European politics and trade led to strong competition, and innovations gave nations a sought-after edge. At times, this constant competition led to collapse, as during the decline of the Roman Empire; that’s why I think it was just luck that got us where we are today. Arguably, we’re in for another collapse.
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Name : JerryS, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 52, City : New Britain, State : CT, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Perhaps, despite what we want to believe, there is a difference in IQ, not only between blacks and whites, but between whites and Jews, Jews and Chinese, Eskimos and and Europeans, etc. We happen to live in a time that demands the celebration of certain diversity: Sexual, skin color, culture, etc. But we do not acknowledge other types of diversity: Differences in group IQs, differences between men and women that make men better suited for combat and differences in moral codes leading to superior cultures.
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Name : Normand-O-L19940, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 50, City : Alameda, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Mechanic, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Not to be rude, but you are way off base. There are genetic differences (mental and physical) between the races – this has been proven in hundreds of different studies. These studies haven’t been widely talked about because they go against Politically Correctness. Contact me via email if you wish to discuss this further.
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Name : Mike, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : European American, Religion : Atheist, Age : 21, City : Pawtucket, State : RI, Country : United States, Occupation : Installer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Anyone who desires a good explanation to questions such as this should read Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond. It contains excellent explanations for the disparity between the developments of human populations worldwide.
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Name : ED25482, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 43, City : Kansas City, State : MO, Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Although we are generally taught that Europeans had superior civilizations, many recent findings have shown that many present-day Third World countries were far advanced while Europeans still lived in caves. Indian Ayurvedic medicine is thousands of years old, and the Indians, Egyptians and Chinese had mapped the stars and found the value of pi and discovered the Pythagorean theorem long before Europeans.
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Name : Priya, Gender : F, Age : 19, City : Berkeley, State : CA, Country : United States,Some minds reason that the white race’s need to travel to other lands and colonize (control) is due to its beginnings in the Ice Ages, which created a nomadic sensibility and in turn destroyed any real appreciation and connection to the earth and other people. The result is an almost extinct Native-American race, a mostly barren Africa, the ravages of Hiroshima, global warming, Columbine, etc. So the question is not why non-whites never felt the need to traverse to other lands and claim them in the name of civilization and God and then ravage them. The question to me is why the white race did and still does.
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Name : Briggs, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Lutheran, Age : 34, City : Chicago, State : IL, Country : United States, Occupation : Technology analyst, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,
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