Yali's Question

“History followed different courses because of differences among peoples’ environments, not because of biological differences among people themselves”
-    Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

This statement made me think. It made me think of the many people I’ve met over the years that feel they are superior (or inferior) because of an inherent belief that they are of the “better” or “worse” race. And then it made me think of the people I’ve met that are touchy about their race, even when used as a describing factor. For example, you could say, “Jimmy is the Asian kid in the black shirt over there” and they would take that as an offense to them or to their race. And finally it made me think of the people I’ve met who don’t care what race you are, they treat everyone the same way. The illusion of racism was born of the Europeans taking over most of the world. Of course, back then it was real. The Europeans really did think they were superior. But as the world shaped itself into what it is today, and everyone became equal, racism became something of an illusion, and by illusion I mean that these days race is a descriptive characteristic, it’s mainly only used to describe a person, like Jimmy the Asian kid, or Joe the White kid. If you’re searching for someone or are new to a school and someone says “Talk to Jimmy, he knows the most about this school” and you ask who Jimmy is, the person will most likely use race to help point out the person to you.
Who would agree with this statement? Honestly, I’m not so sure. Many people who have friends of all races would most likely say that this statement is true. People who were still using stone tools as recently as 200 years ago aren’t necessarily dumber or more intelligent; instead they possess a different kind of intelligence. A type of intelligence necessary for their survival. We could use the example of Africa, which is supposedly an “undeveloped” continent, vs. The U.S. supposedly one of the most “advanced” countries there is. Ok, imagine an African who had never been exposed to the U.S. lifestyle coming to live here, they would adapt quickly, learn the dangers of their environment, and find a way to survive. Now imagine an American who had never seen any hardship like the ones faced daily in Africa. Imagine them going to live in Africa. It would take them much longer to adapt because of the easy lifestyle they lived in the U.S. Where most people live there isn’t the danger of poisonous snakes being in the house, or the danger of Malaria, or the danger of parasites in the water. If you think about it, without help, that American would most likely be dead within a month.
Now think of why this might happen. This would most likely be caused by the change in environment, the American isn’t any “dumber” then the African, but he was brought up in an entirely different environment, and was therefore unprepared for the dangers of another person’s home.
This isn’t always true, and just about everyone possesses a different kind of intelligence then everyone else… that’s why teachers ask if you’re more of a “book learner” or a “hands on learner” etc. It’s because the environments different kids grow up in causes them to think and learn a certain way
    I’m not sure I explained this too well, but I hope you get my point.