[HN Gopher] The Maya, and the maize that sustained them, had sur... ___________________________________________________________________ The Maya, and the maize that sustained them, had surprising southern roots Author : diodorus Score : 14 points Date : 2022-03-27 19:36 UTC (2 days ago) (HTM) web link (www.science.org) (TXT) w3m dump (www.science.org) | reactspa wrote: | An unexpected thing I learned in a recent dive into learning how | to make Tamales: | | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixtamalization | | This complicated process of preparing maize makes more nutrients | bioavailable. | | The Aztecs figured it out somehow. | | I learned about this when trying to buy maize flour and | discovering that there are 2 types: nixtamalized and non. | | Reminds me of how certain South American indigenous tribes have | this very complicated ritual to prepare Cassava. They didn't know | it, but it removes cyanide and makes Cassava way safer to | consume. | throwawaygh wrote: | _> Reminds me of how certain South American indigenous tribes | have this very complicated ritual to prepare Cassava. They didn | 't know it, but it removes cyanide and makes Cassava way safer | to consume._ | | This is basically how a lot of modern experimental science | still works. Sort of black/grey box scientific reasoning. | | We have better theories, and better instruments for verifying | those theories, but in the end? A bunch of people have high | failure rates, but one guy's thing always works. You go over | and ask that guy why his always works. He shows you his process | and you are hopefully able to ape him. This knowledge is | crystallized and handed down. Perhaps even formalized and | written up if it's important enough, but often not. | | There's a word in tech for people who are good at this sort of | "grey/black box observe the world and make it work without | really knowing why" skillset. That word is hacking. ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2022-03-29 23:00 UTC)