Comments by "Thump Er the Sweaty Fat Guy" (@SweatyFatGuy) on "How is it that Europeans invented everything, rather than Africans or indigenous Australians?" video.

  1. Chicken and the egg thing if its genetic or geographical. It seems rather simple to me though, it stems from survival pressure in harsh environments. Where food is abundant all year, there is no need to store it, no problem solving is needed beyond the most simplistic solutions to minor issues. In the winter people who were incapable of planning ahead, storing food, and building shelter to stay warm, simply died off. Those who were planners, who thought about how to survive until the next crop is harvested a year away survived. When survival is not a given like it is today, merit and competence matter. If you have minimal need to stay warm and food is abundant, people don't need to be very smart. If you live in a place where the weather tries to snuff you, the terrain tries to end you, and wildlife tries to eat you, the smart ones will solve the problems and endure. Evolution isn't so much about one thing changing into another thing, its organisms that adapt to the environment because some are better suited than others. Where does the lack of melanin come from? Needing vitamin D which is produced by our bodies in response to sunlight. There is far less sunlight in Norway, Siberia, and Canada than there is in Congo or Ivory Coast. Even during the long days of summer the sun doesn't have nearly the direct shot that equatorial regions enjoy. People with lighter complexions survived because they were able to produce more D with limited sunlight. This is a big thing for those of us who live in the north, I don't get enough sunlight on the shore of Lake Superior. Everyone who lives here that is not pale needs supplements to survive and thrive. So is it genetic? Eventually, the genes that enable some people to adapt better than others would survive and endure. Those that don't adapt as readily will not. Over 100,000 years people can change a lot... to understate it. Geography plays some part of it, but society does as well. China warred with themselves for centuries, never caring to go farther or take the next step when they invented something. Native Americans never saw a horse until Cortez brought horses to the continent, before that they walked everywhere. For some reason Europeans want to explore, to find out what is over the hill, probably because of the scarcity of food and shelter in prehistorical Europe. Polynesians did something similar, they managed to find remote islands in a vast expanse of ocean with small rafts and boats. Food was plentiful, real estate was not, so they had to move to survive. I don't see all of this as someone is better or whatever, more that we are the product of our environment. Accept who you are, where you come from, and make the most of what you were born with. Why feel superior to others when there is almost definitely something they know or can do that you cannot. I know some people need to feel like they are special or superior to others... I see them as insecure and resentful they aren't someone else.
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