system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why is it that Africa isn't home to the most developed and advanced societies on Earth when humans have been there longer than anywhere else?

Africa is the cradle of humanity. We were adapted by millions of years of evolution to thrive there. Modern humans existed there hundreds of thousands of years before ever leaving for other parts of the world. So why is it that most African countries are so underdeveloped and behind compared to the rest of the world?
gpt
In short, it's because development isn't a straight path forward. A civilization's ability to thrive is highly dependent on its environment, and many civilizations are overtaken by neighbors or eventually collapse--with a loss of knowledge in the process.

In the past few centuries, Europe accelerated ahead of the rest of the world and colonized the globe. When we say that Africa is not "developed," it's in reference to the Western standard, which is the furthest ahead. But there was a time when Europe was inferior in development to the Arab world or the Chinese Empire, too.

The playing field is not level, countries switch positions in the hierarchy all the time, and we only ever look at a snapshot of history produced by the most recent events.