New Reality Seeds

[Randyman]

Originally Posted by tshiggins

You'd also need to get rid of sleeping sickness (African trypanosomiasis) and wide-spread domestication of elands would probably help, too.

And now we're getting into "Domination of the Draka" territory...

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by Randyman

And now we're getting into "Domination of the Draka" territory...

I disliked that series, because Stirling had to warp human economic, cultural, social and political realities so much, just to make the Draka viable.

Weirdly, I found that rather comforting, too.

[Kymage]

Originally Posted by tshiggins

I disliked that series, because Stirling had to warp human economic, cultural, social and political realities so much, just to make the Draka viable.

Weirdly, I found that rather comforting, too.

I read the first book and wasn't too horribly bothered by it as I treated it as a book about a small unit combat situation with a background thrown in. Then I read the follow up books and so many things had be changed in that timeline (can anyone say Stupid Virus) to get the Draka to win that even ASBs would consider it too far fetched. I found myself on more one occasion thinking up ways to beat the Draka and who could do it.

[Randyman]

Originally Posted by tshiggins

I disliked that series, because Stirling had to warp human economic, cultural, social and political realities so much, just to make the Draka viable.

Weirdly, I found that rather comforting, too.

Exactly my point. Any AH that includes "Africa as a sociopolitical powerhouse" has to warp and twist so hard that any result might as well be set on a terraformed Venus.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Randyman

Exactly my point. Any AH that includes "Africa as a sociopolitical powerhouse" has to warp and twist so hard that any result might as well be set on a terraformed Venus.

It is ironic that Africa had the environment that led directly to our species' evolution, yet also made developing large mid tech societies nearly impossible.

[Randyman]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

It is ironic that Africa had the environment that led directly to our species' evolution, yet also made developing large mid tech societies nearly impossible.

"God is an iron." - Spider Robinson

[dcarson]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

It is ironic that Africa had the environment that led directly to our species' evolution, yet also made developing large mid tech societies nearly impossible.

The disease and animals coevolved with us. They learned the hard way how to deal with us but didn't have to learn it all at once so they didn't get squashed.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by dcarson

The disease and animals coevolved with us. They learned the hard way how to deal with us but didn't have to learn it all at once so they didn't get squashed.

Also very few African plants and animals are very domesticatable like cattle, pigs, chickens, wheat-like grasses, and rice.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by tshiggins

You'd also need to get rid of sleeping sickness (African trypanosomiasis) and wide-spread domestication of elands would probably help, too.

Sleeping sickness is one of the diseases that got lauched by the events Keys talks about.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Randyman

Exactly my point. Any AH that includes "Africa as a sociopolitical powerhouse" has to warp and twist so hard that any result might as well be set on a terraformed Venus.

If the Swahili coast culture had been able to spread inland, Africa would have had a much more important place in world history.

Still, think about the Gulf of Sidra. Change the geography of the gulf and stretch it south to the Sirir Tibasti area. Place a warm shallow arm of the sea deep into the Saharra. The trade links with Sub-Saharran Africa would be vastly better, and the cultural exchange far richer. Africa would be far more important in world history.

I still think high-yield crops getting to Africa earlier would be the easiest path to a powerful Africa in alternitive worlds.