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Not sure whether it originated there, but this kind of stuff is pretty common on the mapporn subreddit. The author posted and commented on it: https://www.redd

Not sure whether it originated there, but this kind of stuff is pretty common on the mapporn subreddit. The author posted and commented on it: https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/8kf22u/new_version_medieval_trade_networks_of/ https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/8kf22u/new_version... It's probably one of the few places on the net that exists almost purely for curiosity and isn't full of inane arguments. Well worth checking out. You can spend hours on it. Hopefully exposure to stuff like this helps people realize how interconnected we all are and have been.

ItsMe000001 8y ago
I once read a memorable analogy for European explorers "discovering" Africa: It's like (today or 18th century, does not matter) some African dude showing up in the middle of a busy European city center yelling "I discovered Europe!" I fear I've mangled the analogy, in the original it also was pretty clear what was meant, of course the explorer discovered it from a European perspective. The original storyline included the self-important and presumptuous attitude of the Europeans that made it seem like there was nothing there of any consequence or sophistication. Another story was about the African drums [0], ow they actually work, that saying "drums talking" was not a figure of speech, but that that actually was exactly what they were doing! The drumming follows some aspects of how you would actually speak the words (the languages are tonal), "The pitch of the drum is varied to mimic the tone patterns of speech". Since lots of information is lost most words are ambiguous, they compensate by embedding every word in a context, saying (drumming) longer phrases instead of one word for disambiguation. And they could just talk over long distances relaying information faster than anything the Europeans had at the time (like semaphores). [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talking_drum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talking_drum
- xamuel 8y ago
  >It's like (today or 18th century, does not matter) some African dude showing up in the middle of a busy European city center yelling "I discovered Europe!" Imagine you self-fund your own voyage to Mars. You descend into a cave and find a city full of humanoid Martians. Do you think it would be inappropriate for you to exclaim, "I discovered Submartia!"? Go medieval enough, and South Africa is about as remote as Mars.
  - ItsMe000001 8y ago
    Your comment does not seem to have any connection to what I wrote. Please, read it again. It's kind of inane really. Why do you even bother to reply if you don't even care what I wrote? May I suggest not stopping after the second sentence already?
    - freehunter 8y ago
      Maybe you can explain what you meant a little bit better, because I thought the exact same thing as the reply when I read your comment.
      - ItsMe000001 8y ago
        Maybe you could be bothered to read what I wrote, or maybe you need some additional English lessons? Your lack of either education or willingness to contribute constructively it out of my hands. Hint: Don't stop after the second sentence. I know I know, reading is hard in the Twitter age. Sorry for writing more than two sentences.
        ryanx435 8y ago
        Maybe you can stop being an incomprehensible dick. The comment you are angry at is directly related to yours and provides a valid counter example.
        freehunter 8y ago
        It doesn't help that your third sentence starts with "I've completely botched this attempt at communication, so I'm going to go completely off topic for the rest of this comment" which somehow translates into "why can't people understand what I wrote?" You've come across a great way to start a conversation with 'dang though. The mods here really don't like comments like this, trust me. I've been on your side often enough. I would tone it down.
        ItsMe000001 8y ago

ItsMe000001 8y ago

I once read a memorable analogy for European explorers "discovering" Africa: It's like (today or 18th century, does not matter) some African dude showing up in the middle of a busy European city center yelling "I discovered Europe!" I fear I've mangled the analogy, in the original it also was pretty clear what was meant, of course the explorer discovered it from a European perspective. The original storyline included the self-important and presumptuous attitude of the Europeans that made it seem like there was nothing there of any consequence or sophistication. Another story was about the African drums [0], ow they actually work, that saying "drums talking" was not a figure of speech, but that that actually was exactly what they were doing! The drumming follows some aspects of how you would actually speak the words (the languages are tonal), "The pitch of the drum is varied to mimic the tone patterns of speech". Since lots of information is lost most words are ambiguous, they compensate by embedding every word in a context, saying (drumming) longer phrases instead of one word for disambiguation. And they could just talk over long distances relaying information faster than anything the Europeans had at the time (like semaphores). [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talking_drum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talking_drum

xamuel 8y ago
>It's like (today or 18th century, does not matter) some African dude showing up in the middle of a busy European city center yelling "I discovered Europe!" Imagine you self-fund your own voyage to Mars. You descend into a cave and find a city full of humanoid Martians. Do you think it would be inappropriate for you to exclaim, "I discovered Submartia!"? Go medieval enough, and South Africa is about as remote as Mars.
- ItsMe000001 8y ago
  Your comment does not seem to have any connection to what I wrote. Please, read it again. It's kind of inane really. Why do you even bother to reply if you don't even care what I wrote? May I suggest not stopping after the second sentence already?
  - freehunter 8y ago
    Maybe you can explain what you meant a little bit better, because I thought the exact same thing as the reply when I read your comment.
    - ItsMe000001 8y ago
      Maybe you could be bothered to read what I wrote, or maybe you need some additional English lessons? Your lack of either education or willingness to contribute constructively it out of my hands. Hint: Don't stop after the second sentence. I know I know, reading is hard in the Twitter age. Sorry for writing more than two sentences.
      - ryanx435 8y ago
        Maybe you can stop being an incomprehensible dick. The comment you are angry at is directly related to yours and provides a valid counter example.
      - freehunter 8y ago
        It doesn't help that your third sentence starts with "I've completely botched this attempt at communication, so I'm going to go completely off topic for the rest of this comment" which somehow translates into "why can't people understand what I wrote?" You've come across a great way to start a conversation with 'dang though. The mods here really don't like comments like this, trust me. I've been on your side often enough. I would tone it down.
        ItsMe000001 8y ago