>>14334831I have a class called integrative biology. It's basically just a bunch of students and an evolutionary biology prof talking about things only partially related to biology.
Last class was on war and history, and how europeans managed to beat everyone.
It was a really interesting class. The americas didn't have large animals or any iron close to the
surface.So they jad fewer farm animals and therefore fewer infections from animals, and so they had weaker immune systems and ended up being mosrtly wiped out by europenas diseases. And ofcourse they had no easely accessable iron and no horses, so we had steel armoured horse riding sword wielding people against people who at most had bronze swords.
Australians didn't even have tin or copper, so they never leaft the stone age. As for asians, they did quite well, when it comes to asia and europe it's mostl down to chance, but they also had less iron and a worse climate.
And then we got to africa and here is what the prof said: "Africa perplexes me. They had easely accesable metals inclouding iron, they had good climate in the south, plenty of plants to be domesticated, and plenty of large animals to domesticate. But they didn't. Why that happened... i can't say"
I was weird. I mean i think we all know. He is an evolutionary biologist, he knows why.
