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Sure, that makes sense, but not for cassava! The article even says that the natives had no idea why they were getting sick! How did they connect the "can't use

by terryf 5y ago

Sure, that makes sense, but not for cassava! The article even says that the natives had no idea why they were getting sick! How did they connect the "can't use legs" to the cassava they ate? Again, I realize that it must have been the way you describe, but it's still amazing.

throwawayffffas 5y ago
It's truly amazing, especially for cassava or say Hákarl[1]. > How did they connect the "can't use legs" to the cassava they ate? Keep in mind these people are in Africa cassava is native in South America. I am pretty sure people in south America will tell you that cassava is toxic if you don't do all the steps and not just "it's our culture". The it's our culture response might be the case in places where it was introduced and people were told you have to do x,y,z to eat it. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A1karl https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A1karl
- TremendousJudge 5y ago
  What he probably meant is that at some point in the past, South American natives were also facing the same "can't use legs" problem, which resulted in the more complex preparation steps.
  - throwawayffffas 5y ago
    Right, I think we are kind of wired for that though, as the article also mentions we see connections kind of everywhere, "sacrifice goat -> volcano does not explode". I think people will make the connection "eating x -> legs don't work" very fast in a cultural timescale. In a related example it took us now a couple of months to figure out a certain factory had a salmonella problem[1] and this was a couple of hundred cases out of hundreds of thousands maybe millions of chocolates coming out of said factory. [1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61041760 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61041760
Carioca 5y ago
> the natives had no idea why they were getting sick The people getting sick are in eastern Africa, while cassava is native to South America. Stands to reason that the methods of cassava preparation weren't as ingrained to the people who were getting sick.

by terryf 5y ago

throwawayffffas 5y ago

It's truly amazing, especially for cassava or say Hákarl[1]. > How did they connect the "can't use legs" to the cassava they ate? Keep in mind these people are in Africa cassava is native in South America. I am pretty sure people in south America will tell you that cassava is toxic if you don't do all the steps and not just "it's our culture". The it's our culture response might be the case in places where it was introduced and people were told you have to do x,y,z to eat it. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A1karl https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A1karl

TremendousJudge 5y ago
What he probably meant is that at some point in the past, South American natives were also facing the same "can't use legs" problem, which resulted in the more complex preparation steps.
- throwawayffffas 5y ago
  Right, I think we are kind of wired for that though, as the article also mentions we see connections kind of everywhere, "sacrifice goat -> volcano does not explode". I think people will make the connection "eating x -> legs don't work" very fast in a cultural timescale. In a related example it took us now a couple of months to figure out a certain factory had a salmonella problem[1] and this was a couple of hundred cases out of hundreds of thousands maybe millions of chocolates coming out of said factory. [1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61041760 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61041760

Carioca 5y ago

> the natives had no idea why they were getting sick The people getting sick are in eastern Africa, while cassava is native to South America. Stands to reason that the methods of cassava preparation weren't as ingrained to the people who were getting sick.