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And 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 mor

And 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 ago
  Through colonization?
oblio 11y ago
Really? Using 18th century arguments about art? Would Hume have approved dadaism or postmodernism?
- serge2k 11y ago
  I think the bigger problem is using 18th century opinions of Africa.
  - a3voices 11y ago
    So your position is that 18th century intellectuals didn't have an accurate perspective of 18th century Africa?
    - dang 11y ago
      Please stop.
ceejayoz 11y ago
> “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 Somehow, I suspect you'd find a lot of inaccuracies in the writings of 1700s historians. This particular one is demonstrably false. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_art https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_art https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_literature#Precolonial_literature https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_literature#Precolonial... > African masks were an influence on European Modernist art, which was inspired by their lack of concern for naturalistic depiction. Since the late 19th century there has been an increasing amount of African art in Western collections, the finest pieces of which are now prominently displayed.
dang 11y ago
That 'quote' sounds bogus to my ear—so much that I'd be shocked if it were real. Like any 18th century thinker, Hume had views that we would now regard as racist, but let's not pin things on the fellow that he didn't say.

TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago

> And who would teach them? The Arab world?

puredemo 11y ago
Through colonization?

oblio 11y ago

Really? Using 18th century arguments about art? Would Hume have approved dadaism or postmodernism?

serge2k 11y ago
I think the bigger problem is using 18th century opinions of Africa.
- a3voices 11y ago
  So your position is that 18th century intellectuals didn't have an accurate perspective of 18th century Africa?
  - dang 11y ago
    Please stop.

ceejayoz 11y ago

> “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 Somehow, I suspect you'd find a lot of inaccuracies in the writings of 1700s historians. This particular one is demonstrably false. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_art https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_art https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_literature#Precolonial_literature https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_literature#Precolonial... > African masks were an influence on European Modernist art, which was inspired by their lack of concern for naturalistic depiction. Since the late 19th century there has been an increasing amount of African art in Western collections, the finest pieces of which are now prominently displayed.

dang 11y ago

That 'quote' sounds bogus to my ear—so much that I'd be shocked if it were real. Like any 18th century thinker, Hume had views that we would now regard as racist, but let's not pin things on the fellow that he didn't say.