Was God just using a literary device? Or was God just uninterested in the Europeans, Chinese, Indians (Subcontinental and American) and the Polar Bears?
Exactly.
I don't believe Ryan & Pitman are correct. The whole world was flooded and it was sudden (40 days and 40 nights).
It is foolish to try to prove God wrong.
Was God just using a literary device?
The Bible was written down by middle-Eastern types. Even here in USA, not every statement is meant to be taken absolutely literally. In the cultures of the middle east, it's more so. For example, one ME ruler might say to another, "If you do such-and-such, I'm going to raise up an army of a million men and come and kick your backside" -- when *both* already know that there's no way on earth the speaker could come up with a million men.
500,000 man army = p*$$ed.
Million man army = REALLY p*$$ed.
Compare:
USA: "Million Man March."
John 21: "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books which were written."