Whistling Past The Graveyard?

[steve white]

It’s not the development of the brain. It is what you use it for to survive in your environment and your exposure to other outside ideas. If more isolated, you don’t learn from other cultures and they don’t learn from you but the brain is fully capable. That’s why today, with global transportation and education, anyone is capable of great things, if they apply themselves.

There HAVE been cultural contacts--they just haven't "taken." For example, in west Africa, someone showed the native personnel how to make intricate lost wax castings in sculptures. The problem is, the truly intricate ones are the ANCIENT ones, the more contemporary they become, the cruder is the implementation. The art has been largely lost, NOT IMPROVED. Togas were once worn, indicating perhaps a Roman contact? The ruins in Zimbabwe contain porcelain plates embedded in the walls....from China! But where is the contemporary building movement? The "jungle" seems to swallow every vestige of advancement! It is maddening to see regression over and over--all the gains made by the Belgians gone to waste, machinery and buildings crumbling. NGO's investments laying idle, no maintenance or upkeep. Little local manufacturing entrepreneurship. A chalkboard up at an airport because the electronic display is in disrepair. Mercedes discarded by the "Wabenzi" converted to ox pulled carts! Sure, nothing goes to waste--even discarded paper is chased down to roll cigarettes, and any metal repurposed. But why is the utilization always downward? A conundrum....AWA.

BTW, my favorite on this topic: a college educated SA lady wanted me, as a hunter, to shoot a vulture for her--drum roll--so she could let the witch doctor examine its entrails and portend the winner of a horse race she wished to bet on...

 

[Gemsbok45]

A vultures head is big Muti. We found one dead on the shores of Lake Kariba. My guy’s desperately wanted me to stop and cut it off. I drove another 2 k’s and the smell was so bad I could not bear it. It was that bad. I lit a Madison and drove as fast as I could back to camp. Telling them to throw it out was not an option. Big Muti!!! Indeed.

 

[steve white]

Well, hush my mouth! Was just reading Pondoro this morning....one of the last chapters contains "the africans view of himself and the world" Taylor belabored the point that English "civilization" was in his opinion what had corrupted the average African and introduced greed, theft, duplicity, and corruption. He was there to see the before and after and lamented it. Also said that Karamojo Bell in Wanderings of an Elephant Hunter" ended his book with the same observation, listing the French model as best, and the English influence so bad that he advised "better for them to leave, give someone else a chance at it"

I usually do not ascribe to the notion of "the noble native" but could it be that some supposed "traits" of the African were a good bit introduced?

 

[Mopani]

Absolutely. Brains are brains but they develop in a way that suits humans needs and requirements

I am sure that if whites were living in isolated prehistoric Africa, they would have similar brain development

Take a black baby to a country like Germany, let it grow up there and it will just become a black German. Keep it in Africa and it will just be like any other black African. Hope you‘ll know what I‘m trying to say.

As a university student in Germany, I earned quite some good money by working at hospitals doing night watch. At the dental clinic there was an extremely intelligent and successful black doctor from Nigeria, he has had TWO doctoral degrees. Most patients wanted to be treated by him.

 

[Wheels]

@Red Leg Thanks for sharing the article. It shares what we have all seen and some here on AH have unfortunately lived through.

As a youth in Tanzania living on the Great North Road, we watched post independence Kenyan's with their Land Rovers and Bedfords loaded to the gills driving to Rhodesia and South Africa. To the lands of milk and honey. My father said they were making a mistake and should be shipping out for Australia, NZ or Canada, if they didn't want to be forced into another move. Time has proved him wiser than I realized in those years.

My first time in South Africa was 55 years ago. It was an amazing place. Pretoria was beautiful. The aquarium with the dolphin and seal shows along with parrots that would eat out of your hands in PE still brings back found memories. Christiaan Barnard was the toast of the worlds medical community.

It is sad to see the changes. Especially of the last 20 years. The creeds that gave birth to western civilization are under attack and on self destruct mode. Unfortunately, South Africa seems to be a glimpse into the future of western civilization in general.

​

 

[steve white]

@Red Leg Thanks for sharing the article. It shares what we have all seen and some here on AH have unfortunately lived through.

As a youth in Tanzania living on the Great North Road, we watched post independence Kenyan's with their Land Rovers and Bedfords loaded to the gills driving to Rhodesia and South Africa. To the lands of milk and honey. My father said they were making a mistake and should be shipping out for Australia, NZ or Canada, if they didn't want to be forced into another move. Time has proved him wiser than I realized in those years.

My first time in South Africa was 55 years ago. It was an amazing place. Pretoria was beautiful. The aquarium with the dolphin and seal shows along with parrots that would eat out of your hands in PE still brings back found memories. Christiaan Barnard was the toast of the worlds medical community.

It is sad to see the changes. Especially of the last 20 years. The creeds that gave birth to western civilization are under attack and on self destruct mode. Unfortunately, South Africa seems to be a glimpse into the future of western civilization in general.

​

Well, it's worth fighting for!