Why was Europe a barbaric backwater for most of human history while China, India, the Middle East, and North Africa were advanced and prosperous, but has dominated in the modern era?
>>349497
>Yet another Jared Diamond thread
We should just have one stickied
I'll take the bait, anon: Europe wasn't a barbaric backwater for most of human history. The two most advanced civilizations have predominantly been European and East Asian civilizations, a trend that continues to this day.
>Minoans
>Mycanaeans
>Greek city states
>Macedonian empire
>Roman empire
"barbaric backwater"
In fact thanks to Minoans and Cycladeans, European civilization is about the same age as Egyptian one.
>>349497
>Europe a barbaric backwater for most of human history
>>349513
I'm not asking about why Aboriginals or Africans didn't have civilizations(obvious, they had no need for it and have little to no intelligent people and the ones who are intelligent aren't as intelligent as Eurasians), I'm asking why Europe has been dominant when it wasn't previously.
>>349544
Indians and Persians had some pretty advanced civilizations.
Traditional Chinese architecture is quite trashy looking IMO, Persian and Indian architecture is far better.
Chinese seemed to be more technical in their contribution(gunpowder, etc) while Indians contributed more theory-wise(did a lot of influential work in Math).
>>349497
>Why was Europe a barbaric backwater for most of human history
You was kings too, right?
>>349590
>literally moving the goalposts
>>349580
>Africans didn't have civilizations
But that's wrong.
>>349580
>Traditional Chinese architecture is quite trashy looking IMO
Plebicus Maximus detected
>>349634
Sub-Saharan Africans, before the Arabs showed up. No written language, domesticated animals, 2-story buildings, mechanical devices, etc.
Pls no we was kangs nonsense.
>>349646
>No written language, domesticated animals, 2-story buildings
Again, all this is wrong. Africans had donkeys, dogs, cattle, etc., different empires like Zimbabwe and Mali had large stone or mudbrick structures, and native written scripts like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nsibidi
You're right in other posts about northern Europe being devoid of civilization for most of ancient history while places like Persia and China prospered, but that's because for most of ancient history the land there couldn't be farmed on large scales and couldn't support large populations.
>>349535
DOMESTICATED
>>349707
BLACKS
>>349715
Nice
>>349646
>No written language, domesticated animals, 2-story buildings, mechanical devices
But they had all of these things
Anyway to answer your question I think Europe dominated because European technology reached "critical mass" for industrialisation and we've been snowballing since then. It could have been someone else at a different time, if the conditions were right.
>What were those conditions
Shitloads of money from colonisation and international trade
Constant evolution of military tech and tactics due to constant warfare.
muh enlightenment
Probably more
Once industrialisation happened it was basically guaranteed that Europe would be on top.
