# Another Africa thread hijacked **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 1, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-africa-thread-hijacked/576767 "2011-04-01T13:04:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 22
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-africa-thread-hijacked/576767/22 "2011-04-01T14:51:34Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > It seems to me that it does have to do with the ongoing discussion. If, and I do say if, the race/IQ differences are valid, then they could explain a position that says “Africa would be pretty much the same without white imperialism”. > > I have started [a thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=602950) in ATMB to discuss, if anyone is interested. > > Regards, > Shodan I disagree. The focus of discussion is on what difference an event - imperialism - made on the trajectory of african history, not on the average intelligence of Africans. I suppose one could argue that the average intelligence of a group is the important determinant of every historical “what-if” scenario, but the absurdity of constantly harping on this must surely be evident. It reduces what is different about different questions on Africa to a boring sameness - simply put, _every_ discussion on African historical questions would reduce to the same-old, same-old wearisome discussion about the Bell Curve. Imagine if some group responded to every question like “What if Bismark’s unification of Germany had not happened?” or “what if the German generals had succeeded in assassinating Hitler?” with endless repetition of theories about the inherent intelligence of Germans. It would get annoying, fast. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-africa-thread-hijacked/576767)._