What has Africa, in government and business, failed to learn from the Information Age? A random thought.

“It is a rule in paleontology that ornamentation and complication precede extinction. And our mutation, of which the assembly line, the collective farm, the mechanized army, and the mass production of food are evidence or even symptoms, might well correspond to the thickening armor of the great reptiles—a tendency that can end only in extinction. If this should happen to be true, nothing stemming from thought can interfere with it or bend it. Conscious thought seems to have little effect on the action or direction of our species.” ― John Steinbeck, The Log from the Sea of Cortez
“The baby lizard was praised for its beauty. The mother retorted that the people should hold their praise until she finished beautifying the baby lizard. In the process, she broke the baby lizard’s neck. This is why the lizard keeps shaking its head” – Igbo Proverb.

The great ornamented reptiles became extinct, but the Ostrich, a wingless bird, and the tortoise, a shelled bald creature, survived! Why? Why do widespread irrational and spurious theories survive and thrive, and to some extent become the norm in some cultures, but not in others?

The CEOs in Silicon Valley and top Tech driven enterprises on the planet are perhaps the most famously un-ornamented business leaders on the planet: one wretched black round-necked tee shirt or top and a faded jeans, that's all they care to wear! What can we learn from them?


What happened to the thickly ornamented African empires of old? Why do monarchies and the third world people believe in bogus ornamentation, even in the face of pervading poverty and want? Why did the poor borrow shoes and pay tax to cross the Curacao bridge in 1888 while the rich removed their shoes to avoid taxation? How come the countries of Scandinavia, and bus stop countries like, Singapore and Belgium have the best GDP per Capita, while the so-called largest economies suffer destitution?

What do I know sef?