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Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by alienYOUTH(m): 1:06am On May 10, 2012 |
ROSSIKE: Ahem... Ogbeni Rasque or wetin be ur name; i was thinkin of not dignifying ur tirade wit a retort cos u r obviously more educated @ googling stuff than i am, but it baffles me how someone who is so learned can be so low in morals as to vehemently attack my person when clearly we r deliberating on an issue here, abi did u see me abuse anyone on this 3 page long topic? It's obvious u lack skills in effective communication, or why else would u descend to unnecessary insults and violence...this trait i believe is one of the main reasons Africa is backward and constantly at war. I never for once disputed the fact that Africa is the origin of life and civilization, thats wat even makes it more painful. Unlike you tho, i choose not to hold on to past achievement when clearly the present (where we are) and future (where we need to be) are clearly what matter. My theory still stands tho, that the smart ones (the ones u say invented writing and all u listed) migrated from here cos of sorry-a.s.s hostile narcissists like you who wouldn't let them know peace. Oya sidon there dey chop ur papa past achievements while i go out to conquer the world...then come back and "colonize" ur lazy brain. By the way do u stutter or somethin, cos i'm wondering why u had to repost ur tired piece severally in a bid to get someone to read it. |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by Beaf: 1:27am On May 10, 2012 |
^ Your problem is that you are not objective about what led to our past failures and you seem to be overcome by the low self-esteem we have identified as a pillar of the problems present day Africa is bedevilled with. You believe that you are inferior, we don't. |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by ektbear: 2:51am On May 10, 2012 |
lmao alienYOUTH...a deeply cynical and critical man. A man after my own heart Look dude, like I said. Rather than dwelling on our failures of the past, let's spend the next 1000 years kicking azz and taking names. Bad stuff happened. But forget about it and don't let the past be a burden. Human beings will be on this planet for a very long time (well, assuming we don't do something dumb like nuclear war ). Just because you are behind now doesn't mean you will always be behind. 1 Like |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by Master6(m): 1:32pm On May 10, 2012 |
I hope that d author of d post could read all I will write. There are quite a lot of problems all which must be tackled sufficiently! I am not talking abt Africa, I am regarding only Nigeria. Even so, I can only speak for d south west, of which I am a proud citizen. 1. Culture: I shall disagree with d poster dat referred to 'respect' as an obstacle. I believe respect is serving a really important function in d society. What I stand against is dat aspect of d culture dat solidly opposes all scientific innovations nd reinforces d believe in d unknown and supposedly dangerous spiritual realm. Any innovation must stand against strong disaproval because it will b considered blasphemous! Dis can also be seen in European cultures as there are frquent examples of their barbaric origins(e.g witch burning, sentencing of many gr8 philosophers nd scientists to unwaranted death). What must be noted here is dat d Europeans overcame their fear of the unknown nd truly invented 'science' nd made It their leader. Nigerians r stuck in d past, we cannot overcome our morbid fear of d 'unknown' nature_nd govern nd explore it! 2. Religion: this is a mere continuation of my argument on culture. We need to stop letting d church nd oda religious entities dictate our daily life activities and a significant aspect of the society. We need to make science d leader,only den can we make improvements technology wise nd only then can we build a truely gr8 nation. 3. D last is just 'luck'. We just avnt been lucky enough to av good leaders who will guide d people with our interests at heart. Some might want to argue dat there are some deeply religious countries that r considered successful by today's standards. They are able to govern themselves because in such states abt 95 per cent of d nation would abide by d religion! Nigeria is unmistably diverse. A state ruled by religion can compound issues nd create unwanted frictions, dis can be seen in d form of religious riots, boko haram amng odas. Before goin too far, I believe dat is anoda strng point against religion nd its harmful tentacles wc it has spread throughout d nation. I hope it will be better on day, hopefully in my lifetime. |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by Nobody: 2:23pm On May 10, 2012 |
logic101: Ross ike I admire your. Would you recommend some books for me to read With all pleasure logic101 The Destruction of Black Civilization By Dr Chancellor Williams http://www.amazon.co.uk/Destruction-Black-Civilization-Issues-4500BC/dp/0883780305/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336656017&sr=8-1 The African Origin of Civilization: Myth or Reality? By Cheikh Anta Diop http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-African-Origin-Civilization-Reality/dp/1556520727/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b The Mis-education of the Negro By Carter G. Woodson http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Mis-education-Negro-Carter-Woodson/dp/0913543705/ref=pd_sim_b_3 (I would especially recommend the last book for people like alienyouth and nduchuks) |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by Nobody: 2:36pm On May 10, 2012 |
One more thing. Can people please stop this nonsense about Africa being ''so far behind the world'' etc etc? Fact is Africa IS catching up. Rapidly. The Africa of 2012 is far more developed than the Africa of the 1950s under colonialism. In terms of everything you care to mention, we have moved forward. Infrastructure, education, health, nutrition. Even politics. How many military dictatorships now exist in Africa? Almost none. 20 years ago probably half of Africa was ruled by military tyrants. So there is growing political sophistication on the continent. The result? Better governance. Today, 6 of the world's ten fastest growing economies are in Africa. The continent has become a beehive of investment and economic activity in the last decade, which has seen its middle class jump to 300 million, or 1/3rd the African population, from under 50 million in the 1980s. The future is bright. The future is African. Instead of dreaming up stup.id theories of negativity, GET WITH THE PROGRAM, and use your time and brains to think of ways to contribute to the African Renaissance, like your peers across the continent. |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by logic101: 8:42pm On May 10, 2012 |
ROSSIKE: Bro Thanks for your booklist but i have read all books above.I want something more. |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by kingkoboko: 11:02pm On May 10, 2012 |
Africa is backward because we're still being colonized till dis day. We'r still chained down inside d arbitrary boundaries created by Europeans at d 1884 Berlin Conference. How do we move forward? AFRICANS MUST SEEK SELF-DETERMINATION! Dis is d century of FREE NATIONS! South Sudan is free. Azawad is free. Biafra shall b free. Oduduwa, Arewa, Niger-Delta, Cyrenaica, Oromo, Acholiland & other African nations shall b free. |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by jbrodaly(m): 7:54am On May 11, 2012 |
alienYOUTH:I didn't know that there are some people who also have these thought like i do.It's like the black man has a black /dark heart.The excessive wickedness displayed by him is another thing that has kept Africa back.The irony of it all is that he is so religious.I Heard a white man spoke on BBC saying that-having spent more than 30 years in Africa he never saw any atheist black man.Until the day the black man show love to his neighbour,I'm afraid things will not change. If one should keep writing there might not be enough space for that. |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by porka: 11:10am On May 11, 2012 |
shymmex: [/s] The government in Italy today was not elected by anybody sir. The decision was taken in Brussels as well. India, Brazil, Indonesia, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United States of America were all colonized. Everything bad that has happened to Africa has happened elsewhere, China for instance. Paranoia, superstition, myopic inclinations, lack of planning etc are responsible for Africa's backwardness in my view. |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by Dyamante(f): 11:37am On May 11, 2012 |
It is the divide and rule method employed by the Europeans that set us on the destruction path that we are in today.The fact that the colonialists considered certain tribes to be superior to others has contributed immensely to the current state of affairs. But they are not solely to be blamed for this because we Africans have condemned ourselves to this kind of mentality and unless we change we are doomed. Also neo colonialism is a contributing factor..most of the African nations lean towards their former colonial masters who shove their policies and ideas down our throats that are detrimental for our growth in exchange for loans and grants. I salute Gaddafi because he proved that an african country can do without the western nations and prosper even more without them. I can go on and on but until the day Africans take iniative and decide that WE are in charge of our own destiny is when things will get better for us |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by porka: 11:37am On May 11, 2012 |
ROSSIKE: One more thing. Can people please stop this nonsense about Africa being ''so far behind the world'' etc etc? I agree with you sir. Some of the new young African leaders are brushing off any emotional attachment to the past. They seem like saying the past is past and we are here now. Nevertheless, the new African leaders must begin to look at the bigger picture. They should start planning big, 8 lane road instead of a single lane. 75000 megawatts of electricity instead of planning for 20 mw. 500 modern universities. 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th Mainland Bridges. High-speed ultramodern railroads. There's still room for more boldness and courage to take on the big challenge. 1 Like |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by porka: 12:03pm On May 11, 2012 |
Dyamante: It is the divide and rule method employed by the Europeans that set us on the destruction path that we are in today.The fact that the colonialists considered certain tribes to be superior to others has contributed immensely to the current state of affairs. But they are not solely to be blamed for this because we Africans have condemned ourselves to this kind of mentality and unless we change we are doomed. Oga, go to India and see tribes, super tribes and super super tribes in their socio-economic and political life. Even Africans themselves considered (still considering) each other inferior. It's our mind set we need to change bro. |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by porka: 12:18pm On May 11, 2012 |
Master_1: I hope that d author of d post could read all I will write. There are quite a lot of problems all which must be tackled sufficiently! I am not talking abt Africa, I am regarding only Nigeria. Even so, I can only speak for d south west, of which I am a proud citizen. Could you explain the luck aspect please? Yes, Japan is deeply religious, same for USA, UAE, Saudi Arabia etc. Ok, it's good to wish good things in one's lifetime, however, great countries are built with future generations in mind. |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by porka: 12:32pm On May 11, 2012 |
Arosa: Sir, what about Somalia? |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by porka: 12:34pm On May 11, 2012 |
gegee: other people get sense pass africans simple and short No sir, other people use their senses more. |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by porka: 1:12pm On May 11, 2012 |
MsDarkSkin: @ neuronin We can write our own textbooks based on our own accounts. |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by OzReal(m): 1:56pm On May 11, 2012 |
Master_1: I hope that d author of d post could read all I will write. There are quite a lot of problems all which must be tackled sufficiently! I am not talking abt Africa, I am regarding only Nigeria. Even so, I can only speak for d south west, of which I am a proud citizen. 1. In the interest of clarity, I've always said that respect is an admirable and good trait in we Africans; but it has also played a part in our stagnancy in the sense that it has made us very docile in our political climate because if we challenge or criticize the government, which is still dominated by the elderly in the society, we are or will be accused of being disrespectful of lacking in manners. Do not misinterpret this as me saying that our culture of respect is a bad thing that should be discarded. 2. I beg to differ that we have been unlucky with regards to our leaders. Luck has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with this. A people deserve the leaders they get. If we continue to wait for mother luck to have good leaders,instead of holding our leaders accountable, we would wait till eternity. |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by OzReal(m): 2:12pm On May 11, 2012 |
Here are some suggestions that i think we should focus on to move our nation forward: The first step would be to revisit the 1999 constitution, in order to amend some errors by the Military men who drew it up for their personal gains. Personally, I think a parliamentary system of government would be better for us to operate because it would be less expensive compared to the presidential system we currently operate. Furthermore, what I think would be the most important step towards progress in our country would be a vigorous reformation and strengthening of our democratic institutions, especially the judiciary. Currently, what we have as the judiciary is an embarrassment to any democracy in the world; the magnitude of corruption in the judiciary is staggering to say the least. This is the same judiciary that dismissed all charges against one of the greatest looters/criminals this nation, perhaps the continent(Africa) has ever known. This is the same judiciary that would sentence a man who has stolen a tuber of yam to about ten years in jail, while gangsters and rogues like Bode George and Tafa Balogun were sentenced to a few months in jail. If we are to progress as a nation, there is no question that the judiciary must be reformed because it is our last hope in checking the excesses of men of questionable characters in governance. These suggestion are based on the premise that a revolution cannot happen in Nigeria, therefore a gradual evolution would be the only way to reverse the current political trend. |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by Arosa(m): 4:24pm On May 11, 2012 |
porka: Somalia is liken to Shite and Sunni Muslims fighting each other. there is no homogeneity there. |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by Master6(m): 5:22pm On May 11, 2012 |
Yes sir. I agree about the respect issue to a certain extent....but its effects are not as grave as those I mentioned regarding d effects of culture... Luck is also a factor.....after independence we made d wrong choices and chose the wrong leaders. |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by VALIDATOR: 10:03am On May 16, 2012 |
The reason for the backward state of Africa is embedded in this thread.The same approach Africans use for problem solving is what is going on on this thread. Everybody just talks believing his opinion is the best thing that has ever happened to mankind even to the extend of ridiculing (and if possible,punishing) those who dare to think otherwise. If we are serious about obtaining something tangible from this thread I believe we should adopt a scientific approach examining each opinion and not be ROSSIKEish in our attitudes. The method I am suggesting is that we find a time in history when black Africa was at par with(or even ahead of) other parts of the world.We then genuinely examine what others did from that point forward that we didn't. |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by TerryCarr(m): 2:35pm On Sep 07, 2012 |
https://www.nairaland.com/1036197/how-africans-under-develop-africa [center]“HOW AFRICANS UNDER DEVELOP AFRICA ”[/center] |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by Rossikk(m): 3:18pm On Sep 07, 2012 |
^^^This is the typical combination of blind Afro-pessimism, hopelessness and bare-faced self denigrating lies that we need to do away with in order to prosper. This conditioned wastrel of a human being cannot think rationally or intelligently, but rather, is inclined to start and end all analysis of Africa from the point of absolute negativity, despite the numerous strides made by the continent since independence, including such strides as led to his own modern education where the British would normally have ignored such 'unnecessary pursuits' (see our 7% literacy rate at independence compared to 74% today courtesy of African rule). These are the sort of people we need to start to IGNORE, as we move forward. They bring absolutely nothing to the table except self-loathing, depression, negativity and hopelessness. |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by TerryCarr(m): 3:25pm On Sep 07, 2012 |
Rossikk: ^^^This is the typical combination of blind Afro-pessimism, hopelessness and bare-faced self denigrating lies that we need to do away with in order to prosper. This conditioned wastrel of a human being cannot think rationally or intelligently, but rather, is inclined to start and end all analysis of Africa from the point of absolute negativity, despite the numerous strides made by the continent since independence, including such strides as led to his own modern education where the British would normally have ignored such 'unnecessary pursuits' (see our 7% literacy rate at independence compared to 74% today courtesy of African rule). These are the sort of people we need to start to IGNORE, as we move forward. They bring absolutely nothing to the table except self-loathing, depression, negativity and hopelessness.a lot of people agree with that article https://www.nairaland.com/1036197/how-africans-under-develop-africa |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by deley71: 6:34pm On May 01, 2013 |
A persistent question that many people have asked and continue to ask is why Africa is so backward technologically. This article seeks to address the issue of why Africa is backward technologically though there is some relationship also with why Africa is backward politically as well but that will not be addressed in this article Is it a problem with IQ? Theories abound, though controversial that the problem with Africans is low IQ. This is based on controversial research that the average IQ of Africans is lower than the average IQ of other races. For the purpose of this document it will be assumed – and shown to be irrelevant to the argument- that Africans have a lower average IQ than other races. If in fact this statement is true it still does not account for the very little contribution that Africa has made to global technological growth. The major reason being that inventions and discoveries are not a product of average IQs. Usually they are the product of one highly intelligent individual or a group of highly intelligent individuals working together to make discoveries. It stands to reason therefore that if any African can be found who has the same IQ as any of the many great inventors found all over the world then such an African could easily have been an inventor as well. Without providing any empirical evidence to support it, intuitively one can deduce that there are many Africans with a sufficiently high IQ like their counterparts in other parts of the world to be able to come up with inventions in spite of the fact that they are surrounded by many with low IQs bringing down the value of the average IQ. If it is possible to determine the minimum IQ that is required within the scientific community for one to be a potential inventor, then the ratio of Africans who lie above that line compared to the ratio of other races who lie above that line should also reflect somewhat linearly the ratio of inventions from Africans relative to other races in spite of figures showing relatively low average IQs from Africans. Obviously there must be other factors at play that have skewed inventions in far greater numbers for other races than for Africans Society rejects innovators One dominant factor that has kept Africans backward is the fact that societies throughout history have always rejected innovators. It is perilous to be an innovator, to buck the trend, to do things differently from the norm and that which is socially acceptable. Innovators must work surreptitiously and with great care in introducing their inventions to society in order not to incur the wrath of their communities. This was more so in ancient times than it is today. However, we live in a world where innovators are still viewed with some degree of suspicion but society has come to accept them a lot more than in earlier times So what happened to innovators in Africa – Migrating rejects They simply left. Innovators who were bold enough to challenge conventionally thinking typically ended up silenced and cowed, killed or fled. Fleeing from their communities means they were exposed to dangers and usually had to relocate to more hostile areas or had to survive alone without the support of belonging to larger societies. Those who survived such exile usually also had to tap into their innovative potentials in order to survive. They would build new societies/communities and these would in turn reject the new generation of innovators in their midst leading them to flee further outwards and survive on their innovative skills. The genetic transfer Innovative parents are more likely to produce innovative offspring than their counterparts. Newly created communities therefore have a higher likely hood of having a greater percentage of innovators in their midst than the societies that they left behind. As societies migrated outwards from Africa genetic influences resulted in societies having greater percentages of innovators in their midst. The exponential factor of higher relative numbers of innovators in newer societies over many centuries accounts predominantly for the large variation in innovation from Africa compared to other races. Compounded also by the fact that inventions lead to other inventions The social evolution factor As societies create inventions that impact positively on people’s lives the members of that society also become more receptive to inventions and innovations. Being innovative becomes more rewarding and less perilous. A society that has socially evolved to become tolerant of innovation is also more likely have more innovators coming forward. Africa is still largely stuck in the perilous state of resistance to innovation Is innovation a function of IQ – Africans as replicators While a correlation can be drawn between innovation and IQ, having a high IQ does not necessarily guarantee being an innovator. I have categorized Human intelligence into two very broad categories. The innovators and the replicators. Both categories of intelligence cut across the spectrum of both low and high IQ. Replicators have a tendency to capture information or knowledge and to replicate it in a similar context. Generally they are able to recognize and are strongly attracted to what works while replicating it in the similar context whenever they encounter similar situations. They rarely try to delve too deeply into why it works but they recognize that it works and the higher the intelligence of the particular individual the better they are at replicating it in the proper context. I will not delve too deeply into the dynamics of how replicators process information except to recognize that they have a high capacity to replicate either correctly or incorrectly in context depending on the level of intelligence. Highly intelligent replicators are more likely to be leaders and they generally have higher emotional intelligence than innovators of equivalent IQ Innovators are more likely to delve into underlying cause and effect in processing information and they generally are not very good at replicating in the proper context unless the underlying cause has been properly understood. The main template for human intelligence is replication intelligence and those who are classified as innovators are actually weak replicators with a greater bias for innovation than other replicators. Innovators also represent a small slice of the general population. Innovators are more likely to perform better on IQ tests because IQ tests are more biased towards testing the intelligence of innovators, however, replicators are quite capable of arriving at answers that innovators obtain on IQ tests though arriving at those answers through different brain processing mechanisms from innovators. The implication is that there are talents available to replicators that will not correlate properly with IQ tests because IQ tests are not designed to determine those kinds of talents. Highly intelligent replicators can very quickly acquire the skills that innovators created or invented and replicating it in the proper context. However, if there are substantial variations in underlying parameters replicators are more prone to misapply knowledge in the new context than innovators who have a grasp of the underlying cause/premise of the knowledge. While two individual may score equally on an IQ test one may be a replicator while the other is an innovator. It is proposed therefore, that races that have produced more inventions have a higher number of innovators in their midst even where average IQ is the same with other societies having fewer inventions but with more replicators. It is proposed that Africans have a disproportionately high number of replicators even where those individuals have high IQs The Homogenous factor While the dynamics that lead to the formation of large populations of homogeneous societies i.e one with a common language will not be discussed here, the impact on innovation is such that homogeneous societies represent a knowledge pool from which innovations lead to other innovations. Africa is made up of very small populations of many splinter groups of homogeneous societies leading to relatively small pools of knowledge bases and a lower exponential factor on the growth of innovations These five points are the dominant factors that have led to Africans having the least contribution to global technological growth, innovations and inventions irrespective of IQ 1. Migrating rejects 2. Genetic transfer 3. Social evolution 4. Africans as replicators 5. Homogeneous factor |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by thafanboy: 10:18am On Aug 13, 2014 |
Ok, quick history lesson so get comfortable... The true reason why Africa is backwards is not IQ, but because firstly, Africans have never really been motivated socially to progress or advance. They're not technoligically inclined either. The generally nomadic lifestlye suited them, and they didn't have a reason to change. Africans didn't start to be motivated to progress until they came into contact with other cultures--the first of which were the Arabs. History shows that diversity (and to an extent competition) is what fuels progression. Because coming into contact with other groups stimulates growth. For a simple example of this, look at the level of advancement between Greeks compared to the advancement of Vandals and Vikings. Scandinavians were uncivilized and savage precisely because they weren't diverse and came into contact with no one other than un-advanced tribes, and perhaps Celtic tribes (the Celts were more advanced in terms of metal-working) to the South. Meanwhile, while Northern European tribes were considered backwards by the Greeks, the Greeks were building cities, their artisans made statues, and they created the Olympics, and they theorized about the atom, democracy, and the Republic. Why was this? Because Greeks were not only naturally industrious, but they had access via trade with the premier empires of the world and the cradle of civilization. Unlike Africa, there was a free flow of ideas into Europe from Asia. Ideas traveled from Persia and Egypt to Greece. And Persia, Greece, and Egypt all benefited mutually from their interractions. Because the competition stimulated growth. No real competition existed in Africa to stimulate such growth, because Africans as a people were nomadic and hadn't made cities until within the past 2000 years. While Babylon, Sumeria, and Akkadia had established cities all over the Cradle of Civilization: Mesopotamia. The Greeks have much that they owe to the Sumerians and Akkadians, who invented farming and civilization. This meme quickly spread from Mesopotamia, reaching Egypt, the Indus valley (Mohenjo Daro), and then Greece. Meanwhile, Chinese were establishing a civilization in the Yangtzee river valley. But Africa just was too isolated. As before stated, isolationism stagnates growth. It was Babylonian and Sumerian ideas which made Greece great--thus Greece benefited from this free-flow of ideas. In fact, Greek knowledge of astronomy and science doesn't even touch Sumeria, who famously depicted the Sun being orbited by the various planets. Rome, likewise, would have never become great if not for the exchange of ideas. Rome was, as some of you may know, initially a trading port established by Phoenicia. Phoenicia was located in modern-day Palestine and Lebanon. And Greece and Phoenicia colonized much of the Mediterranean. Not only did the Phoenicians establish Rome, they established trading points all along North Africa. Which was the precursor to the Carthaginian empire. After Phoenicia fell, Carthage and Rome emerged from the remnants of their civilization. Romans were highly uncivilized and took most of their culture from the Etruscans who lived nearby. However, as Rome became larger, they recieved an influx of Greek culture. By the time Rome controlled the entire Italian peninsula, Alexander the Great had already conquered the known word, bringing in new ideas from Persia, Egypt and even India. But Greece was eventually conquered by Romans. The Greeks viewed Romans as savages with no culture, and the Romans were in awe of Greek culture, thus they adopted not only words from the Greek language into Latin, but they adopted the Greek pantheon, Zodiac, astrology, and all Greek science. Thus we can see an unbroken archeological line where ideas moved from Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) and made it to Phoenicia (Palestine/Lebanon) and from there to the warring city-states in Greece. After the Vandals and other tribes invaded Rome from Northern Europe and Scandinavia they knocked Europe back intellectually perhaps a 1000 years. And Europe experienced a Dark Age and became more isolated than it was during the days of Rome. Thus, there is a correlation between isolationism and lack of intellectualism. Coupled with anti-scientific Church suppression, Europe languished as a continent of warring Christian kingdoms and factions. They had virtually abandoned the legacy laid down to them from Greece, Sumeria, Babylon, and others. Meanwhile, the Islamic conquest was taking hold in the Middle East. After Northern European tribes had defeated Rome, leaving Constantinople behind, Arab conquests took control of North Africa, Egypt, and Mesopotamia. While Europe languished in the Dark Ages, the Islamic Empire created the greatest civilization of the time. It imported the ideas from Rome and Greece and the old Persian culture. It didn't have to start from scratch, just like Rome and Athens never started from scratch. There is a reason Mali is often cited as one of the few examples of Sub-Saharan civilization - the adoption of Islam, brought there by Muslim Berber and Tuareg merchants. Islam also spread in the region by the founders of Sufi brotherhoods. Even then, because of the (sub-saharan) African lack of emphasis on the written word, events were recorded only by outside muslims introducing the religion. With this came Islamic manuscripts. However, while the North, West and East coasts (esp the Horn of Africa) benefitted from contact with muslim traders (mostly Arabs), the interior's population were still largely nomadic and isolated, with no real need/motivation to advance themselves. Meanwhile, Alexandria was arguably the greatest center of intellectual thought. The Byzantines had the rest of the Great Library effectively destroyed, previously (because the church in Constantinople viewed science as heretical to Christianity). Thus Alexandria passed to yet another culture. This sparked intellectual growth in the Arabic Empire. Among other things, Al Gebra was invented there. "Algebra" as it's known today still possesses its Arabic name. The modern checking and banking system was established there, whereby Islamic traders would establish their presence in Africa and China. The number system was also established there. The numbers we use today "1, 2, 3, 4..." are called "Arabic numerals" as they were invented and used by Arabic traders. Why was the Arabic Empire so successful? Because it was diverse and open. It connected with other cultures. Paper money was invented by the Chinese and the Arabs quickly imported this concept. The word "Check" comes from the Arabic word "cheque/cheq" since Arabic traders couldn't afford to bring gold with them on trading excursions, since they might be robbed. After Europe opened itself back up to diversity and knowledge, after the Arabs had been defeated by Ottomans, who brought guns and cannons to Europe, the resulting period became known as the "Renaissance." The Renaissance (And you can read the work of historian Gavin Menzies on this) was largely funded by Chinese and Arabic capital. The Arabs had economic interests in Venice. However, the Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese tried to find new routes of trade to China because. But the Arabic empire controlled a monopoly on most of the trade routes, so they could sell their products to Europe for higher prices because they viewed Europe as a new market for profit. In the process, European explorers "discovered" the Americas. Once the Europeans started to colonize these areas, they brought in more capital--and the "Cold War" between the Arabic Empire and the European kingdoms was broken because the Arabs couldn't compete financially as Europeans had reached new markets. Thus, civilization started to return to Europe as the Middle East slunk into a Dark Age (that lasts today) and the Middle East and Europe traded places. And that's the best summary as any that can be given for why Africans were always behind. They just weren't subject to the factors that made Indo-Europe and the Middle East great. As you can see, in the Old World, knowledge was shared and passed between peoples. This was all thanks to the Phoenician, Sumerian, and Babylonian writing systems. The modern writing system we use today comes from Phoenician. Greeks developed their writing system centuries later to model the Phoenician system, and from the Greek and Phoenician alphabets emerged today's "Latin Alphabet" of the characters "A, B, C, D,..." and so on. But no such writing system existed in Africa. Africans couldn't trade or exchange ideas because there was no writing system. Thus, if you don't have the time to read the above summary, it boils down to six things. SUMMARY: Trade, proximity, free-thought, diversity, trade routes, and written "PHONETIC" language from the Middle east helped the Old World become great. Africans only had themselves, while Mesopotamia, being conveniently located in a "fertile crescent" surpassed them on all counts. Mesopotamia was also conveniently located within proximity to the Nile culture, as well as the Indus river valley (the Harappan civilization and Mohenjo Daro). Though, the Nile culture wouldn't exist for sometime after. Anyway, thanks for your time. I realize this board isn't scientifically or intellectually inclined, and is instead nationalistically inclined, but I hopefully wasn't hurting anyone by stating facts. Hopefully, there will be sensible responses. |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by TerryCarr(m): 12:27am On Aug 14, 2014 |
thafanboy: Ok, quick history lesson so get comfortable...most of what you wrote was pure bull$hit, most of Africa is/was agriculturalist not nomads. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FllyEu-QPTE |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by angela992: 7:02am On Oct 11, 2017 |
Imperialism: The Bane of Africa’s Underdevelopment Imperialism as could be seen is economic domination, subordination and exploitation of weak economies by the developed nations. Lenin V.1 made an interesting contribution of imperialism where he described imperialism as the highest stage in the development of capitalism. http://www.scharticles.com/imperialism-the-bane-of-africas-underdevelopment/ |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by Nobody: 7:23am On Oct 11, 2017 |
Abeg Africa mumu too much. APC alone is enough evidence. Do we also blame Western imperialism for the glaring incompetence of the APC led govt ? No long grammar is needed here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s32eInxqubw |
Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by Nobody: 7:26am On Oct 11, 2017 |
angela992:African mumu-ism summarized in a proverb: "Onye kpọọ nkata ya nkịrịka nkata, agbatobi ejiri ya kpoo ahịhịa" "If you regard your basket as a useless basket, your neighbors will convert your basket into a trashcan"
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Re: Theories To Explain The Backward State Of Africa by Beloveth4: 2:19pm On Mar 27, 2018 |
I believe that our culture culture like you painted is actually true and Principally the FEAR factor is affecting. Other culture seems unbordered with SECURITy but SUCCESS and RELATIONSHIP. As pointed out in www.ipeakpowermine@.com.ng.The drive for Honour is prevalent in Developed countries than in others focusing on Respect. |
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