Life isn’t fair for everyone, where you were born into have a massive influence on your status in life, whether you’re able to enjoy a leisure life in a first world country, or struggling every day in a third world. What if you were told that being born North and South of the equatorial line not only affects you, but the entire human history? We don’t frequently look at the world as a whole to form our ideas, but what we’re exposed to. Jared Diamond, a professor of Geography in UCLA searched for an explanation for the difference in conditions, instead of stopping at Guns, Germs and Steel, the ultimate cause however, was due to the geography, leading to the proximate cause for the food, farming, access to animals and cultures, these factors allow for continue and rapid growth. However, with these blessings also come with complications, with growth come a crowded population, increase in waste and pest, contact with each other, these are factors that allow the facilitation of many diseases. To which, can be said that brought an impact that is equivalent or greater than the effect of guns and steel on the European conquest and colonization. What led Professor Diamond to explore the disparity in the technological and industrial progress of countries in Eurasia, was his encounter in Papa New Guinea, after staying with the people there, it seems that they are capable and hardworking, yet the Westerner had more “cargoes” or things that they do not have. From the nutritious crop of
Jared Diamond discusses the reasons why geographical and environmental factors lead to a more rapid progression of certain civilizations throughout history. The book Guns, Germs and Steel portrays an argument that due to some societies’ access to an area witch contains sufficient amounts of wildlife and climates that are easily inhabitable, these societies developed into more advanced ways of living much easier and also earlier than societies who lacked these geographical attributes. These beneficial geographical attributes promoted the growth of technological improvements in weapons, religion, and farming.
Throughout Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond explains the importance of geography in the ways ancient civilizations grew and spread and how some areas were more advanced than others. He began his research when he was asked a question by a Papua New Guinea residence, Yali. Yali had asked Diamond “[w]hy you white man have so much cargo and we New Guineans have so little?” At that point Diamond had no answer and he was curious to find out why Eurasia had a head start in civilizing people meanwhile the other continents were behind. As a result, several differences were made between countries that did not have the same resources as those who were advanced. Some of the developing countries were poor and they had to rely on whatever was given to them through nature. When Diamond went to Papua New Guinea, he discovered that the residences of the island had the same routine as those in the ancient civilizations of Eurasia. They would often hunt for animals and used stone weapons instead of metal.
In the book Guns, Germs and Steel Jared Diamond who is a biophysics scientist and a psychologist, set out on a journey to find out the reason behind great achievements and conquest of the Europeans. What is the secret of success of Europeans? His hypothesis was very original and at first looked very simple, it was guns, germs and steel. The journey of Diamond took over 30 years and helped him answer the main questions of human history and what is it that separates humans today from "rich and poor" and from "haves and have not’s." To do this he had to go back when everyone was equal.
Many geographers have attempted creating a unified theory explaining why cultures advance much more readily than others. Very few have actually reached mainstream society and even fewer seem reasonable. However, Jared Diamond shines where most do not. His book, Guns, Germs, and Steel, proposes an idea that has long been established called environmental determinism. Most view environmental determinism as a racist theory attributing a peoples’ intelligence only to their oppressive climates and geographical barriers. Diamond instead has created a theory that applies environmental determinism to only a peoples’ technology—not the people themselves. This has given researchers valuable tools that allow them to explain why some nations have
Jared Diamond is a professor at UCLA, a biologist by training, and a specialist in human physiology. He is trying to figure out how the Europeans developed advantages of military power, lethal microbes and advanced technologies in the first place. His quest was to uncover the roots of inequality.
In the novel Guns Germs and Steel, an American biologist named Jared Diamond is attempting to answer a question from a New Guinean politician named Yali, in July 1972. Yali asked him: (1)“Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people hat little cargo of our own?” For over thirty years, Diamond was investigating our inferred history for clues, to answer Yali’s question. He published a scientific opinion that explains how geography is to blame for the dispersal of power, as few societies and civilizations inhabiting in the Middle East had access to resources, such as the seeds of highly nutritious crops alike wheat and barley, and useful livestock such as cow and sheep, which others
“Guns, germs, and steel” refers to the geographical advantages and disadvantages that were present in early civilizations. Although Europeans some may see them as a genetically superior race, their large amounts of success is due to geographical advantages (Source 1)( Diamond, year). It is shown throughout Diamond’s discoveries that because these three continents lay of the same vertical latitude, they are able to keep up with each other when it comes to livestock (Source 1). Geography has played a major key in shaping the current day cultures of Eurasia, South America, and Africa. Jared Diamond stated in episode one of Guns, Germs, and Steel that Europeans were put on this pedestal over the other continents spoken about in the video.
The argument begins with a brief summarization of Diamond’s theory. The main point being that the distribution of wealth or success to countries or continents is decided geographically. And within the geographic category is the importance of farming and domestication of animals. Diamond says Eurasia’s advancement happened because of their
Yali asks Professor Diamond "Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own?" Professor Diamond’s possible interpretation of this statement could be broken down as such: Why do Europeans create so many inventions and manufactured goods to bring elsewhere? This applies the concept that people of Eurasian origin tend to dominate the world in wealth and power.
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond, attempts to explain why history progressed differently for people from various geographical regions. Diamond introduces his book by pointing out that history followed different courses for different people because of differences among peoples’ environments, not because of biological differences among people themselves. Through his convincing explanation for how civilizations were created and evolved throughout the course of history, he argues that environmental factors gave some societies advantages over others, allowing them to conquer the disadvantaged societies. While I agree with Diamond’s argument that the orientation of continental axis, availability of potential
The author, Jared Diamond, is asked a question by a local politician,Yali, while studying birds in New Guinea. His question is, "Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own?". This question leads Diamond to write a book attempting to answer why some humans in certain environments developed faster than others. Food production, writing and government had already started to develop by 11,000 B.C. in many areas around the world such as the Americas, sub-Saharan Africa and Eurasia. Many Native Americans and Africans were still using wood and stone tools while Europeans had steel by A.D. 1500. Many people and historians believe that Europeans are biologically
Jared Diamond's bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel (GG&S) is an attempt to explain why some parts of the world are currently powerful and prosperous while others are poor. Diamond is both a physiologist and a linguist who spends a good deal of his time living with hunter gathers in Papua New Guinea. As a researcher and as a human being, he is convinced that all people have the same potential. Hunter gatherers are just as intelligent, resourceful, and diligent as anybody else. Yet material "success" isn't equally distributed across the globe. Civilization sprung up in relatively few places and spread in a defined pattern. I should emphasize that Diamond doesn't equate material
I first read Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel in the Fall 2003 based on a recommendation from a friend. Many chapters of the book are truly fascinating, but I had criticisms of the book back then and hold even more now. Chief among these is the preponderance of analysis devoted to Papua New Guinea, as opposed to, say, an explanation of the greatly disparate levels of wealth and development among Eurasian nations. I will therefore attempt to confine this review on the "meat and potatoes" of his book: the dramatic Spanish conquest of the Incas; the impact of continental geography on food production; and finally, the origins of the Eurasian development of guns, germs, and steel. In terms of structure, I will first summarize the
Guns, germs, and steel. Three of the main components found in changing civilizations, and three essential factors that must be brought into consideration when discussing how our modern day world came to be. In the critically acclaimed documentary, based off of the book by Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel provides valuable insight into these crucial aspects, showing an in-depth history of world and culture. In the first portion of this three part series, Diamond and other commentators explore the impact of agricultural development and how various societies were affected by either geographical advantages or hindrances. The explanations provided help to clarify reasons behind historical turmoils and wars, along with current economic status of states, and are perhaps more relevant than ever.
Human is one of few creatures of mother earth that can think and decide what is right or wrong. Due to that special characteristic, people are always curious about something and try to find the reason about it. In 1974, Jared Diamond was staying in Papua New Guinea, and one day, a local named Yali asked Diamond a deceptively simple question “Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo, but we black people had little cargo of our own?” (NGO, 2005) Jared thought it was very interesting question and made a research for more than 20 years. As a result, Jared was able to find his own conclusion and wrote a book call “Guns, Germs, and Steel” based on knowledge he gathered from different places of