Carthago delanda est

Post #397,661 by rcareaga 12/29/14 9:23:14 PM Reply	Carthago delanda est What would Africa be like today if Carthage had defeated Rome? Jared Diamond makes a persuasive case that North Africa is and has been an utterly separate demographic, geographic and cultural entity from sub-Saharan Africa. cordially,
Post #397,665 by Another Scott 12/29/14 10:31:48 PM Reply	Ok, but the general point stands, doesn't it? Luck and small twists of fate could have resulted in a very different distribution of power and "civilization" and all the other things we hold dear. L3 leaving Africa compared to L2 or L1 might have been one of those twists of fate. Instead of indicating some proof of better fitness (or whatever), it may simply be a variation on the Anthropic Principle - to wit: We're here, and we're powerful, and we're related to L3, therefore L3 is an essential part of the process... But maybe L3 was somehow associated with the development of language or something. It seems unlikely that it was directly related though - mitochondrial DNA is involved in energy conversion, not encoding things like language centers in the brain. I'm obviously no expert on this stuff. But, like you, I am most uncomfortable thinking that there's some genetic basis in the distribution of power in the world... I'm reminded of a US News story I saw in the late '80s that was about changes in body sizes in Olympic sprinters. Future sprinters were going to look like Ben Johnson because, well, that's what champion sprinters looked like then. Of course, the fact that he got to be so muscle-bound through taking steroids didn't come out until a little later... I'm rambling. I'll quit now. Thanks. Cheers, Scott.
Post #397,666 by boxley 12/29/14 10:48:44 PM Reply	maybe another note that maybe I am missing Since most american folks of african dissent have presumably lots of L3 thru mingling with whites forced or not, trying to attribute color to behavior via dna doesnt seem to work too well to me. Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free American and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 59 years. meep
Post #397,667 by Another Scott 12/29/14 11:30:15 PM Reply	That too. :-)
Post #397,671 by rcareaga 12/30/14 12:22:47 AM Reply	Re: maybe another note that maybe I am missing I did allude, in the parent post, to that. cordially,
Post #397,677 by Ashton 12/30/14 7:13:54 AM Reply	Perhaps 'corroboration bias' manifests the most in this area (?) (I try to remind self--when I think of it--of the wisdom in the doggerel, much/most?? of what We Know is wrong (-ish, fershure.) Gravitation graduated from Theory to Law early-on; Newton seemed to have covered It-all! and then.. But we are still taking toddlers' steps in anything connecting our autonomic processes to anything going-on in the cerebrum, etc. Psych. remains as evanescent a discipline/hardly science, as is all of Econ, which never can deserve the conceit of an add-on -science. (And few make any use at all of the idea of The Psyche, in this kultur.) Go figure. Someday we may.. decipher some palpable, testable hypotheses relating--especially re the human defectives/axe-murderers et al--some causalities, but they will have to be more granular/specific than ... faux-colors of brain electron-activity, I'd think. Meanwhile, I place the Race Question firmly in the category of Below-substantiated, for any theory even to coalesce. Working against clarity there (also) are the combined manufactured-biases, courtesy of politico- religio- fuel for demagogues, along with homosexuality: There.. I can't be 'objective' about an impetus? yearning? I've not ever had, so h.t.f. could I empathize? (but I need not 'decide' anything about the matter, beyond noticing mainly its Utility for denigrating by the Certain, aka more boring xenophobia.) tl;dr: had I an opinion on this topic, I hope I'd recognize that collective ignorance would nullify it, even were I 'on to something'. Algorithms are really handy for machine designers, and while some imagine 'decoding' our jelloware real-soon-now: I think that idea is so Cosmically-fucked as can be imagined: ('Materialism' is not just about $$ and stuff) especially as 'motivation': but it is about reducing the ineffable to some sort of funnel-sort. Y'know? There be a whole pile of Questions I see I be too iggerant even to contemplate; 'I can live with that shame' (no Brownie points for origin.) I can't even deal with, Is America yet ready for self-government? because I think I already know the answer :-/ Cheers,

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