This is what is spoiling my old age

[Vern Humphrey]

According to Jared Diamond, it was the cold weather that made certain groups smart. He says the people in New Guinea could be just as smart as us but never had the need. More or less.

That may well be true -- or it maybe that the need to scrabble for a living in a harsh environment produced problem-solving skills. People who lived easy had less need of their wits.

[blackhawknj]

The Version I Heard was that incident occurred at a college in North Jersey in an after class discussion in the corridor.
The student who asked the question was white.
The professor was a genuine African, and from one of those tribes that nobody ever conquered.
Many of the African countries have acknowledged that slavery WAS a trade, the victorious tribes sold their captives-and their own trouble makers for things they wanted-often metal
goods, those countries all lacking in ore deposits.

[kj47]

No freebees for whites back then, not so much now.

[dryheat]

That may well be true -- or it maybe that the need to scrabble for a living in a harsh environment produced problem-solving skills. People who lived easy had less need of their wits.

In a nutshell. I tried to read Diamond(and should have finished it) and Yuval Noah Harari's- Sapiens. One or the other has used known information. They both say agriculture was the ruination of humanity. That's when people started busting their ass to get nice things. We were happy and healthier(less back ache) savages when when we were hunters and gatherers.

[Vern Humphrey]

In a nutshell. I tried to read Diamond(and should have finished it) and Yuval Noah Harari's- Sapiens. One or the other has used known information. They both say agriculture was the ruination of humanity. That's when people started busting their ass to get nice things. We were happy and healthier(less back ache) savages when when we were hunters and gatherers.

Personal story. My dad had ranch, 3,500 acres, not far from here. I rode and hiked all over that place and discovered a complex of caves -- these are called "bluff shelters" and there were Indians, Ozark Bluff Dwellers, living in them in the old days. The land is all sold off now, but I guided a professor from the University of Central Arkansas University to the caves so they could be properly located, registered and protected. I had a long talk with her.

I mentioned the Bluff Dwellers were "hillbilly Indians." She set me straight -- the Bluff Dwellers were healthy and pretty comfortable. They ate anything they could catch.

The agricultural Indians, who lived in the river valleys, were anemic and sickly -- their straight corn diet leached the iron out of their systems.

[Allen]

I love animals and would like to be a vegan but have always realized that vegs have no protein. Beans have some but who can stomach beans? Anything that produces so much gas has to be questionable as to whether or not it should even be considered a food or just a non-toxic filler.

[Vern Humphrey]

I love animals and would like to be a vegan but have always realized that vegs have no protein. Beans have some but who can stomach beans? Anything that produces so much gas has to be questionable as to whether or not it should even be considered a food or just a non-toxic filler.

I always say there's a place for all God's creatures -- right next to the potatoes and gravy.

[kj47]

Rightfully said, Vern