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The Worst Mistake In The History Of The Human Race Summary

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History of Environmental Problems Part 2: “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race” by Jared Diamond

Society has evolved over the years in a processes called the Neolithic revolution, the transition from food foraging to farming. In this article The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race by Jared Diamond challenges this revolution, illuminating a supported opinion that farming was the worst mistake the human race has made.

In the beginning of the article, Mr. Diamond starts off by addressing the time it takes to gather food vs farming for food, he says “It turns out that these people have plenty of leisure time, sleep a good deal, and work less hard than their farming neighbors. For instance, the average time devoted each …show more content…

Next, Mr. Diamond then goes to challenge the argument that farmers are more nourished then hunter gatherers because of the huge quantity it can produce. He says that although farmers produce a large quantity of goods they produce cheap carbohydrates which don’t have the certain amino acids we need to survive such as corn and wheat however, hunter-gathers with a varied diet have a more mix diet which provides them with more and different nutrients then farmers. Also he goes to say that with the dependency on farms it is easy to starve if there is a diseases that kills all of the crops, such as the Irish potato famine where hundreds of Irish starved to death because they we dependent on their farms. In the ending of his article Mr. Diamond discusses the inequality and class systems that have been brought up in an agricultural system. He discusses how kings who provides no food eats the best food compared to his peasants who are the ones working hard for the food. Also the inequality that has been brought up with women where women are doing a lot more work

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