Nearly that time, the roads of growth of human societies on various continents started to move away in a large scale. (Guns, Germs, and Steel- the Fates of Human Societies: (www.2think.org) During that period, when Stone Age hunter-gatherers comprised the total human population, a big segregation happened in the proportion that the human societies progressed. In Eurasia, several regions of Americas, and Africa, agriculture started to be the existing pattern of livelihood when domestication of aboriginal wild plants and animals were done by the prehistoric planters and herders. Diamond fairly examines the human history on each continent starting from the Ice Age at a proportion that stresses just the widest traversals of people and concepts. However, his assessment is symmetrical: one eye has rather long-term view of the evolutionary biologist, whereas the other eye and his spirit resides in the inhabitants of New Guinea, where he was engaged in field work for more than 30 years. (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize National Bestseller)
With the culmination of the last Ice Age, there remained a region of the universe better gifted with the plants and animals which would result in the progression towards civilization: that valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers which is popularly known as the Fertile Crescent. In that area was available natural stocks which came to be domesticated crops of wheat and barley. For the development of fabrics there was Flax. Also available were an overwhelming number of large mammals which could be domesticated: sheep, goats, cattle. While agriculture took birth and animals were domesticated, a type of encouraging feedback propels the growth in the direction of civilization. Humans started living; excess supply of food can be stocked hence population grows. This results in the division of labor, the surfacing of a privileged category of people, the systemization of rules, and languages. (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize National Bestseller) as is showed intensely by Jared Diamond, the same people who were made initiation in food production will clash with preliterate cultures, forming the present universe by way of invasion, dislocation, and mass killings. Societies which were the initiators in the production of food progressed beyond the hunter-gatherer phase, and thereafter made inroads in religion - as also malicious microbes and powerful arsenal of battle and made adventure on the sea and land to overcome and devastate preliterate cultures. (Editorial Reviews: Amazon.com)
Initial domestication of wild plants and animals in the Fertile Crescent, China, Mesoamerica and the southeastern U.S., and other regions, gave individuals of those areas a first mover advantage. The reason why wheat and corn, cattle and pigs, and the present universe's other 'hit' crops and livestock grew in those specific areas and not in other places was till this time, however barely comprehended. Societies which progressed beyond the hunter-gatherer phase had increased chances to develop writing, technology, government, established religions as also vicious microbes and powerful arsenals of war. (Guns, Germs, and Steel- the Fates of Human Societies: (www.2think.org)
But in the opinion of Diamond initial domestication of wild plants and animals in China and other regions, rendered people of these areas a first mover advantage. China of the 15th Century BC was barred from developing its military and technological strength by the reality that there were no land blockade to thwart the supremacy of the singe-power group. Therefore, while the prevailing Imperial group moved against expansion of the naval forces and technological progression, there was not any scope for protesters to locate some sheltered mini-state and go on as earlier. More commonly, European states had the liberty to be engaged in competition against one another; means of social organization that resulted in military, economic or technological flaw were liable to be shoved out by better customs, however there was a lot of flexibility for diverse manner of performing things. (Bradford, Review of Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel)
Diamond even familiarized Polynesia as a "natural experiment," an example on a lesser extent of his total hypothesis. In the discovery of Polynesia and habitation of the Pacific, colonizers belonging to one cultural and racial background settled in greatly diverse settings, starting from continental New Zealand, through volcanic islands of different sizes, to desolate islands and distant Easter Islands. Hunter-gatherer communities eventuated on some islands and better states and proto-nations on others. As a paradigm between various communities, Diamond prefers the summit of the Spanish conquistador Pizarroo and the Inca Atahuallpa at Cajamarca in 1532. The outcome was the...
What are the symbols of group identity in the United States? Are they good or bad in your opinion? Symbols of group identity often pertain to foodstuffs (such as the critical evolution of wheat, corn, and the animals consumed) and cultural symbols such as literacy. What one eats, where one lives, and how one expresses one's self-reflects one's cultural associations -- whether a society was a hunter-gatherer or agrarian in ancient
Guns, Germs, and Steel is the documentary film version of Jared Diamond's Pulitzer Prize winning book of the same name. Like the book, the documentary is divided into three separate sections. This allows for the logical development of Diamond's ideas, and for the application of the underlying thesis to different time periods, themes, and human populations. Although extensive ground is covered in the three episodes, the premise and themes
As the world is more thoroughly explored, social scientists seem to find that the words social and science are largely contradictory and an oxymoron. Even rational choice theory bases its conclusions upon statistics and upon a costs and benefits analysis to come up with their conclusions in a more logical manner. Simply put, rationality can not be directly tested. Rather, social scientists that base their ideas upon rational choice
Guns, Germs, and Steel Jared Diamond, in his book Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, explains how he went from being a biologist, studying birds in New Guinea, to developing an entirely new theory on the evolution of human societies. It began in 1972, when a native New Guinean asked him "Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea,
9. Wild almonds contain cyanide: a person can die from eating only a few dozen of them (Diamond, p. 114). They taste bitter due to the presence of amygdalin, the precursor to cyanide. The chemical serves as a defense mechanism for the almond, deterring animals (and people) from eating them and better ensuring the propagation of the almond plant because the nut is its seed. As Diamond points out, if
Strengths of Author's Argument On their face, the author's main arguments seem to make sense. The way different societies developed depended largely on the natural resources available to them. Greater resources led to larger and more complex societies that both permitted and promoted subsequent technological development and advancement. By the time Western societies encountered and dominated tropical societies, the means through which they did so were result of earlier (natural) causes
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