21–30 of 42 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find the "cure" (endless threads about things not being hacker news) much worse than the disease.
I did it because I saw some comment http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=280676 mentioning it. My poor attempt at humour, heh. I forgot some exclamation marks too!
I think the answer is somewhat more obvious. Look at the facilities, coaches and funding available for athletes in the USA, Jamaica, and Britain compared to West Africa.
The reason for this: The best sprinters in the world come from West Africa. Say what you want, this is simply true. I'm going to go through a series of logical steps, and I would like you to see if I can get you to agree with my conclusion The biggest time survival of the fittest comes into play is during a war. When a war happens, the people unfit to fight in the war get pruned out of the gene pool. West Africa has…
This is a stupid theory, mostly because your facts are false and imaginary. "West Africa" is huge and diverse. What part of west africa are you talking about? Most of west africa does not have the geography you describe. Most west african warfare was not waged with machetes. Can you give ONE example or reference for this? There are plenty of african history books which talk about west african archers, spears, shields…
- West Africa maybe huge, but it's not diverse. The entire western coast of Africa is one of the few places in the world where a major ocean runs on the east-west line and not on the north-south line. What this means geographically is that the coast has almost the same temperature and almost the same geography. Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, they all have almost identical landscape.
- West African warfare has always been with machetes. West Africans use bows and arrows, but the arrows are very small, and the bows have a different form from the european bows. The bows are smaller and lot more arched. The arrows have also been traditionally poisoned tipped.
- You can't fight a war using a canoe in a West African river. The vegetation is too thick for this to make any sense.
- Calvary? Are you kidding me? Horses are the worst form of transportation in a rain forest.
- Shields? No. Maybe light shields, but I'd find that a bit suprisng, because I've never seen any evidence of shield use in West Africa in all my travels. Think about it - what use is a shield? A shield is useful against sword-fighters or javelin throwsers, but it's pointless in very close range. And jungle warfare is either sneak-attack (like shooting poison arrows) or it's close range fighting
- Machetes have long been the weapon of choice in West Africa for as long as I know, there is a long tradition of sheath making, there are many rituals involving machetes. Now, IF you can prove that the weapon of choice for West Africans is not the machete, then back it up with links
- The people sold into slavery were from a wide variety of places, but usually from the rain forest. If you wish to read some anectdodes about this, then please read the book by Mungo Park
West Africa is a special interest of mine, so if you really feel that you are in posession of facts that are more accurate than mine, then please do back it up.
If I am wrong, I will gratefully admit it, because it will give me the opportunity to learn something new.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is a stupid theory, mostly because your facts are false and imaginary. "West Africa" is huge and diverse. What part of west africa are you talking about? Most of west africa does not have the geography you describe. Most west african warfare was not waged with machetes. Can you give ONE example or reference for this? There are plenty of african history books which talk about west african archers, spears, shields…
Well, I lived in West Africa for many years, so I believe my opinion is based on fact. Let me address some of things you bring up: - West Africa maybe huge, but it's not diverse. The entire western coast of Africa is one of the few places in the world where a major ocean runs on the east-west line and not on the north-south line. What this means geographically is that the coast has almost the same temperature and alm…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, I lived in West Africa for many years, so I believe my opinion is based on fact. Let me address some of things you bring up: - West Africa maybe huge, but it's not diverse. The entire western coast of Africa is one of the few places in the world where a major ocean runs on the east-west line and not on the north-south line. What this means geographically is that the coast has almost the same temperature and alm…
On a related thought: Why are there no black Olympic swimmers?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, I lived in West Africa for many years, so I believe my opinion is based on fact. Let me address some of things you bring up: - West Africa maybe huge, but it's not diverse. The entire western coast of Africa is one of the few places in the world where a major ocean runs on the east-west line and not on the north-south line. What this means geographically is that the coast has almost the same temperature and alm…
On a related thought: Why are there no black Olympic swimmers?
The reason for this: The best sprinters in the world come from West Africa. Say what you want, this is simply true. I'm going to go through a series of logical steps, and I would like you to see if I can get you to agree with my conclusion The biggest time survival of the fittest comes into play is during a war. When a war happens, the people unfit to fight in the war get pruned out of the gene pool. West Africa has…
This is a stupid theory, mostly because your facts are false and imaginary. "West Africa" is huge and diverse. What part of west africa are you talking about? Most of west africa does not have the geography you describe. Most west african warfare was not waged with machetes. Can you give ONE example or reference for this? There are plenty of african history books which talk about west african archers, spears, shields…
Not cool.
The reason for this: The best sprinters in the world come from West Africa. Say what you want, this is simply true. I'm going to go through a series of logical steps, and I would like you to see if I can get you to agree with my conclusion The biggest time survival of the fittest comes into play is during a war. When a war happens, the people unfit to fight in the war get pruned out of the gene pool. West Africa has…
Faulty reasoning and crap evidence. If what you say is true why is the tiny island of Jamaica vastly dominant instead of any of the MILLIONS more west Africans in west Africa? Further more natural selection is rarely as neat and tidy as described. Why didn't west Africans evolve superb night vision, to see the men painted black? Why didn't they evolve supreme hearing, to hear the sneaky approach? While it may be poss…
Keep it civil.