And the thing is, they can't tell you why, exactly and specifically, you have to soak it for three days They didn't have modern biochemistry, they couldn't isolate the cyanide from manioc and tell you that it's a potent neurotoxin They just knew it's what you're supposed to do
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There's been a lot of papers written about the UN having to go humbly to find old women who remembered the "old ways" so they could train the younger generations on how manioc should be properly prepared It's the original case study of hidden value in "primitive folkways"
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And I mean yeah In the *long* run Western science and our philosophy of asking questions and overturning tradition and inventing new things won, I suppose In the modern era you can just buy tapioca starch made from cassava in a factory with no risk of poisoning yourself
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But a lot of people suffered and died in that transition The long period of time in between in which smart arrogant white people showed up and said "This whole three day soak thing is a huge waste of time and time is money so we're changing it"
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It turns out that ugly cliché of "I'm just telling you how to do it because this is how my mom told me to do it and how her mom told her to do it and scores of generations that survived this long can't be wrong" isn't always a bad thing
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Most people in history who survived a long time didn't do it by being clever and using their brains and figuring things out from scratch at all They survived by taking orders and doing what you're supposed to do
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End of conversation
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