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Yes, much closer to one. Somewhere on a scale between what it currently is and a prehistoric society. Why do you think it wouldn't be? Africans wouldn't just ma
by a3voices 11y ago
Yes, much closer to one. Somewhere on a scale between what it currently is and a prehistoric society. Why do you think it wouldn't be? Africans wouldn't just magically absorb Western culture without exposure. I'm not sure if 1% were even aware of Western civilization, trade, and such until colonization happened. Do you think Africans would learn how to read and write if the Europeans didn't alter things?
- cup 11y agoI don't really know what to say to that. The depth of your ignorance is new to me, regarding the history of African societies. Can I suggest a few books for you to read?
- a3voices 11y agoOr perhaps you're the ignorant one? Are you saying Africa was having economic growth and technological development before the Europeans came? On the contrary, most of it was in a permanent state of poverty.
- dang 11y ago> The depth of your ignorance is new to me Please don't be personally rude, even when someone else is ignorant.
- afarrell 11y agoI'm not the person you are replying to, but do you have a recommendation for a book on the Songhai Empire?
- puredemo 11y agoI wish you would just post the books you have in mind, rather than writing a snarky response like this.
- dadakuada 11y agoI wish some of these could be translated to English. Would probably help clarify some huge misunderstandings. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbuktu_Manuscripts https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbuktu_Manuscripts
- wfn 11y ago> Do you think Africans would learn how to read and write if the Europeans didn't alter things? That seems like a point the arguments for which would not stand well under scrutiny. Can you decompress your thoughts in this regard, because it seems like the obvious answer is "yes" (for starters)...
- a3voices 11y agoAnd who would teach them? If a society lives in extreme poverty for all of history, with zero economic and technological growth, what would make them become more developed and educated without external influences? “That one can survey the length and breadth of sub-Sahara Africa and find not even one work of visual or written art worthy of the name” - David Hume, 18th century historian
- TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago> And who would teach them? The Arab world?
- puredemo 11y agoThrough colonization?
- oblio 11y agoReally? Using 18th century arguments about art? Would Hume have approved dadaism or postmodernism?
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- oblio 11y agoI can't give you an exact number, but when Europeans were starting the Industrial Revolution, most Europeans couldn't read or write.
- a3voices 11y agoReally? "The literacy rate in England in the 1640s was around 30 percent for males, rising to 60 percent in the mid-18th century." - Wikipedia
- ceejayoz 11y agoThere's more to Europe than England, and if England's rate was 60% at the beginning of it, I'd suspect the more feudal parts of Europe were a lot lower.
- ceejayoz 11y ago> Do you think Africans would learn how to read and write if the Europeans didn't alter things? Uh... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing_systems_of_Africa#Indigenous_writing_systems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing_systems_of_Africa#Indi...
- a3voices 11y agoAnd what do you think the adult literacy rate was in Africa before the Europeans arrived? It most likely started with 0.00....%
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- dadakuada 11y agoFaulty and weak. The vast majority of Afroasiatic languages are spoken in Africa. In fact, one of the largest members of this group is spoken in West Africa (Hausa). Although, I suspect saying "North Africa" and indeed, "Afro-Asiatic" is to imply or ascribe non-blackness. The influence of the "Ajami" scripts are also not being mentioned: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajami_script https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajami_script This was used to write several major African languages in the precolonial era: Swahili, Hausa, Somali, Yoruba, Mandinka, Wolof, and others.
- serge2k 11y agoColonization isn't required for that, trade works well.
- puredemo 11y agoThat's usually how colonization begins, a series of trading posts.