re: African woman explains why the future doesn't exist in their culture

So you think there's no similarities between African blacks and American ones?

For thousands of years, Europeans would bake in the hot sun cutting wood so they wouldnt freeze to death.

Have to ration food even when there's an over abundance. Unsure how long the winter will be.

Got to build the shelter strong to prevent the winter from blowing it over. Don't want to die from exposure.

The northern Europeans couldn't walk a little north or south to avoid the winter, the European had to plan for it.

No future, no progress.

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While I believe that 99% of the problems within the black population is related to the black culture (not dna or skin color) it's a huge stretch to suggest that this explains some of it

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You're correct on the culture front. I believe DNA effects emotions. Most feel guilt if they're not contributing to the tribe and fear ostracization if their not "pulling their weight"

With government assistance programs there is currently no need to plan for the future.

Act like a jackass, contribute nothing to your tribe, yet somehow still recieve all the benefits provided by those that work hard and plan ahead.

What's the motivation to change?

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the evidence that somehow one African person's view represents the entirety of African history is extremely stupid.

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first off, the view is not that of “some lady on the internet” as you incorrectly stated earlier in the thread, but that of a man who was called "the father of modern African theology" who gathered reasearch from >300 African tribes over several years (which the lady in the OP mentioned in the YouTube video - did you actually watch it?)

John Mbiti

oh, and he received a PhD from Cambridge for his work

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Why you want to cling on to what one person has said is a weird line of belief, but if that is what you want to believe, good for you. You would still be wrong to use it as an explanation for things that are happening currently.

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Africans who are being judged through a Eurocentric lens, the whole idea of social failure doesn’t make much sense to them. Not because they’re inept but because in the grand scheme of a world whose future is inevitable extinction, how one society conceptualizes time only matters for how well they can live a life.

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I mean, they’re being judged through more than just a European lens. There are successful cultures all over the globe that do the opposite of whatever the philosophy is in that video.

I think what annoys most people is that we’re told that particular philosophy is just as valid as the ones that created ornate cathedrals, sailed across oceans, and harnessed the power of nature. It’s not. We’re also told that the people that adhere to this philosophy are some of the all time great civilizations of the world who apparently invented everything. Again, they are not. While their culture can be appreciated, it certainly isn’t something to be revered or emulated unless you plan on being left behind.

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I think what annoys most people is that we’re told that particular philosophy is just as valid as the ones that created ornate cathedrals, sailed across oceans, and harnessed the power of nature. It’s not. We’re also told that the people that adhere to this philosophy are some of the all time great civilizations of the world who apparently invented everything. Again, they are not. While their culture can be appreciated, it certainly isn’t something to be revered or emulated unless you plan on being left behind.

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Those examples are only accomplishments using a humanistic framework. With the West and even some Eastern societies, there has also come widespread death and destruction of ecosystems, a degenerated family/tribal unit, and significant oppression of entire groups of people. It’s not like we’ve built a pure utopia that is to be admired by anyone who observes it.

However, we could make the argument that a Western approach to the world has led to the potential for less suffering. In some cases, I would say it’s caused greater unnecessary suffering. But our technological and epistemological developments have certainly improved medical practices to extend lifespan and optimized quality of life for those with access.

Still though, for someone from an indigenous tribe, they might not see life extension, happiness, and comfort and convenience as moral goals. Sitting under a tree waiting for the rain to come is just as if not more valid for them than building an ornate cathedral. The framework we use to judge is based on a particular worldview.

If you want to invoke God, then we can start building an argument for what is actually “progress” but without it, we’re just meatsacks on a spinning rock with heat death as our only future.

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Should they be treated differently than other people who don't fit in? And if so, how so?



We should stop lowering standards for certain jobs, college admissions, etc.
Government help should be administered in ways that acknowledge people’s limitations, without the goal of promoting “equity” and with the goal of promoting behavior that benefits society.
Violent individuals have to be taken out of the population.
We have a problem of our own creation, but it’s solvable.

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I agree. But that didn't answer my question.

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And are we to consider this "progress?"


What? No! We are pissing everything away.

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Again, I agree. So it's rather elitist of us to deem our situation 'progress' while criticizing their 8,000-year-old (and counting) civilization for not 'progressing' like us.

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I believe DNA effects emotions

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Does it affect spelling and grammar?

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You realize there are more than 3,000 tribes in Africa and the continent by itself is extremely large, right? The argument that it is an explanation for any part of modern Africa or even post-colonial Africa is a massive stretch. Is it a sufficient explanation for areas of Africa that don't have the same tribal dynamics, such as the Rift Valley or the Niger Delta? Also, did you even read the posts in this thread, where people were trying to use it as an explanation for current dynamics for Black Americans? Do you understand how retarded that is? Maybe you don't, you poor thing.

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yes, how deluded of me to think a native African who was awarded a doctorate for his work on the topic of African culture and belief systems by the university that produced Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon, John Maynard Keynes and Stephen Hawking would have the understanding of the subject possessed by ‘some guy on the internet’