Why is American Indian...?

[kv79]

I was wondering why Americans Indians was undeveloped in compare with Europe ?
I mean it on the time about 1500 A.D. , mean on the technology ,
When I said technology mean on guns .
This could lead in deep discussion about who is made a first gunpowder . Like a most of people would answer ( for Example An.. Dra.) .

[jwenting]

low population density led to no pressure for large fixed settlements, which usually are focal points for the development of science and technology.
easy availability of food and other resources meant no pressure to develop such technology to help with things like farming and mining.
long distances meant no large scale warfare, therefore no need to develop effective weapons or defense against them.

The same can be seen in the Amazonian rainforest or Pacific islands even today. Tribes there have no or almost no contact with the outside world, and all the resources they need to survive in (relatively) easy reach so there's no incentive to develop technology.
High incidence of disease causes high mortality rates so the population remains stable (same with the American Indians), so there's no population pressure either to drive the development of technology to increase farm production or hunting efficiency.

Once horses and firearms were introduced into the Americas the Indians were quick to adopt both and start slaughtering each other (and settlers) with a verocity worse than seen anywhere else except maybe during the conquest of China by the emperor of Chin.

[sneekula]

Communicating with smoke signals is kind of slow.

[Lardmeister]

The British used small pox infected blankets against the Indians (Native Americans). The settlers used alcohol, this way they couldn't shoot their arrows very straight.

[Ancient Dragon]

>>This could lead in deep discussion about who is made a first gunpowder
No deep thought needed to answer that -- the Chinese invented gunpower.

[Lardmeister]

One thing is for sure, the native Americans did not invent the nuclear bomb. Does that make them intellectually inferior?

[Ancient Dragon]

One thing is for sure, the native Americans did not invent the nuclear bomb. Does that make them intellectually inferior?

If it did then the Germans are the most intelligent people on earth because they invented nuclear fision. And Einstein was a product of Germany.

[vmanes]

One thing is for sure, the native Americans did not invent the nuclear bomb. Does that make them intellectually inferior?

No. Perhaps morally superior.

[GrimJack]

Lack of domesticated animals. Without cattle, horses, and donkey's, people were limited by their own strength and endurance; w/o pigs and chickens there are no easily transported calories. This also meant that diseases that move back and forth between domestic animals and people leaving their immune systems unstressed by certain diseases. Africa had domesticated animals and beasts of burden but not horses (except for Mediterranean trading zone); South America had domesticated animals including beasts of burden but not horses; SE Asia had beasts of burdens and domestic animals including tamable elephants; North America had no beasts of burden, no domestic animals and no horses.

I think the theory goes that horses and camels allow the spread of small, incremental, local changes in technology that then be caravaned around to other pockets of local technology. There is more to it but there you go.

[kv79]

>>This could lead in deep discussion about who is made a first gunpowder
No deep thought needed to answer that -- the Chinese invented gunpower.

Good Info . I did wrote wrong text but still have a people who understand what I mean .

This Is a correction .
This could lead in deep discussion about made why is China made a first gun .

-- the Chinese invented gunpower.

gunpowder is correct

[jwenting]

The Chinese and Europeans both invented gunpowder independently.
The Chinese did it first, the Europeans didn't know about the Chinese when they discovered it on their own.

[GrimJack]

The Chinese and Europeans both invented gunpowder independently.
The Chinese did it first, the Europeans didn't know about the Chinese when they discovered it on their own.

The Chinese invented gunpowder around 1040CE, Marco Polo returned from China around 1295 CE, and gunpowder was first used in 1346 CE at the Battle of Crecy. They could have independently discovered gp but...

[jwenting]

Marco Polo may have seen it, but he wouldn't have gotten instructions on how to make it.

[Ancient Dragon]

The Chinese invented gunpowder around 1040CE, Marco Polo returned from China around 1295 CE, and gunpowder was first used in 1346 CE at the Battle of Crecy. They could have independently discovered gp but...

For all you older folks that's 1040AD, 1295 AD and 1346 AD. The term CE is not generally accepted anywhere in the world, only by college activists and athesists. Sorry, but we still use the Gregorian calendar.

[Lardmeister]

For all you older folks that's 1040AD, 1295 AD and 1346 AD. The term CE is not generally accepted anywhere in the world, only by college activists and athesists. Sorry, but we still use the Gregorian calendar.

Aren't you glad we don't use absolute years starting at the big bang or the creation of Adam.

[GrimJack]

For all you older folks that's 1040AD, 1295 AD and 1346 AD. The term CE is not generally accepted anywhere in the world, only by college activists and athesists. Sorry, but we still use the Gregorian calendar.

Rather than enumerate I will just note that Jews don't accept JC but find it convenient to use the Gregorian calendar so they use Common Era (or sometimes Christian Era); Jehova's Witnesses use CE/BCE exclusively in their publications.
I offer this quote: The English phrase "common Era" appears at least as early as 1715 in a book on astronomy, used synonymously with Christian Era and Vulgar Era. A 1759 history book uses common æra in a generic sense, to refer to the common era of the Jews. Common era and vulgar era are used as synonyms in 1770, in a translation of a book originally written in German. The 1797 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica uses the terms vulgar era and common era synonymously. In 1835, in his book Living Oracles, Alexander Campbell, wrote: "The vulgar Era, or Anno Domini; the fourth year of Jesus Christ, the first of which was but eight days", and also refers to the common era as a synonym for vulgar era with "the fact that our Lord was born on the 4th year before the vulgar era, called Anno Domini, thus making (for example) the 42d year from his birth to correspond with the 38th of the common era..." The Catholic Encyclopedia uses the sentence: "Foremost among these [various eras] is that which is now adopted by all civilized peoples and known as the Christian, Vulgar or Common Era, in the twentieth century of which we are now living." During the 19th century, "Vulgar Era" came to be contrasted with "Christian Era", and "vulgar" came to mean "crudely indecent", thus no longer a synonym for "common".

It is not necessary to apologize, no one has suggested that we use other than the Gregorian calendar - that was just a misapprehension on your part.

To quote the last paragraph of the article you cited:The widespread use of the Gregorian calendar and the use of BC and AD throughout the world came about thanks to the colonization practices of Europe and economic pressures of a world-wide economy led by Europe and the United States. This is gradually changing as more and more academic writers prefer the use of CE rather than AD.

[kv79]

Is Anno Domini(AD) .
Witch language is that ?

[Nick Evan]

Latin

[jbennet]

CE is the official terminology over here, but most people say BC or AD. Like anything really, e.g metric is the standard but 90% of people know thier height in feet + inches only

If it did then the Germans are the most intelligent people on earth because they invented nuclear fision. And Einstein was a product of Germany.

we owe a lot to world war two. jet engine, nuclear stuff, the computer... too many to name

[GrimJack]

Marco Polo may have seen it, but he wouldn't have gotten instructions on how to make it.

Oh?!

[GrimJack]

we owe a lot to world war two. jet engine, nuclear stuff, the computer... too many to name

And medical advances - we seem to make extreme strides in surgery during times of war (especially if you consider <American> football as a form of war - knee surgery comes immediately to mind).

[Ancient Dragon]

There have been many new advances in artifical limb technology since 9/11 published in both the USA and UK medical journals. The Bionic Man and Woman will be a reality in the new future. Just hope its not a huge flop like the Bionic Woman TV series this year -- yuuk!

[jbennet]

traumatic head injury research was mainly due to vietnam. Nowadays, you can still probably live if half your skull is missing.

[jwenting]

Unlikely James. Those who came back from Vietnam with half a skull missing usually also had half their brain missing due to heroine and pot use, so there was no need for the missing half to put the rest back in ;)

[jbennet]

who can blame them though

[GrimJack]

traumatic head injury research was mainly due to vietnam. Nowadays, you can still probably live if half your skull is missing.

There was this really crazed blasting accident in the 1800s - Phineas Gage had a tamping rod blasted up through his cheek and out the top of his head Story here. The first do it yourself lobotomy.

[jwenting]

who can blame them though

can't blame those docs for having to do their work on dopeheads, I agree.

[Ancient Dragon]

Unlikely James. Those who came back from Vietnam with half a skull missing usually also had half their brain missing due to heroine and pot use, so there was no need for the missing half to put the rest back in ;)

can't blame those docs for having to do their work on dopeheads, I agree.

Don't knock it unless you have walked in their shoes. Seeing the horrors of war has got to drive anyone to drink and/or drug use. Soldiers coming back from Iraq are also having lots of mental problems from their experiences.

[jwenting]

I know, AD. My grandfather fought in WW2 and later against the Indonesian rebels in New Guinea.
And the services available for those who need mental care after returning home are pretty much non-existent.

But IMO NOTHING justifies drugs, and the majority of the drug cases in Vietnam were druggies before they went over. They just replaced pot with easy to get opium and heroine when over there.

[Ancient Dragon]

But IMO NOTHING justifies drugs, and the majority of the drug cases in Vietnam were druggies before they went over. They just replaced pot with easy to get opium and heroine when over there.

Don't believe for one minute that ALL the military in Vietnam were drug addicts -- they weren't. The whole year that I was there I didn't know a single person who used drugs. But then I wasn't in the rice patties and swamps killing people either.

Again, don't knock it until you've been there and done that yourself.