Jared Diamond’s basic theory is that
some countries developed more rapidly than others and were able to expand and conquer much of the world because of geographic luck
.
What theory does Diamond propose in Guns Germs and Steel?
Jared Diamond’s basic theory is that
some countries developed more rapidly than others and were able to expand and conquer much of the world because of geographic luck
.
What is the central question Diamond asks in Guns Germs and Steel?
There, in 1974, 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?”
What question is Jared Diamond trying to answer in Guns Germs and Steel?
In his Pulitzer Prize-winning book Guns, Germs and Steel, scientist Jared Diamond argues that the answer is
geography
.
What is Diamond’s main thesis argument?
Diamond’s thesis is that
geographic luck was what made some countries rich and powerful and others weak and poor
. He says that the countries that became rich and powerful were those that developed agriculture first. When countries developed agriculture, they were able to make large, complex societies.
What is Jared Diamond’s thesis in the worst mistake?
The thesis of Diamond’s book
states that the invention of agriculture is what allowed Europeans to conquer other colonies worldwide
. Though I would recommend that you all read “Guns, Germs, and Steel”, the book is very long and we all have a lot of school work to do!
What is the main idea of Guns Germs and Steel?
In Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond outlines
the theory of geographic determinism
, the idea that the differences between societies and societal development arise primarily from geographical causes. The book is framed as a response to a question that Diamond heard from Yali, a charismatic New Guinean politician.
What is the question that Jared Diamond was trying to address?
Jared Diamond set out to answer the question,
“How did the world become so unequal?
” In other words, he was trying to figure out what separates the “haves” from the “have nots.” In order to do this, he develops a thesis that states that it all traces back to geography.
What is Jared Diamond’s thesis?
Jared Diamond, a professor of geography at the University of California, Los Angeles, wrote a thesis which attempts to describe why European or Eurasian countries seemed to dominate in the 17
th
century. His Thesis
tries to describe why Eurasian civilizations have stayed afloat and conquered over other countries.
What is wrong with Guns Germs and Steel?
As we learned, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Societies is a historical book that has had an enormous impact on history, geography, anthropology, and many other fields. … The main criticism against this book is that
it neglects the impact of human agency and overemphasizes the role of geography
.
Why is agriculture the worst mistake in human history?
Archaeologists studying the rise of farming have reconstructed a crucial stage at which we made the worst mistake in human history. Forced to choose between
limiting population
or trying to increase food production, we chose the latter and ended up with starvation, warfare, and tyranny.
What is Diamond’s answer to Yali’s question?
The answer to this can be found in the Prologue and then, in more detail, throughout the entire book. The entire book is Diamond’s answer to Yali. Basically, Diamond answers Yali by saying that
white people have more “cargo” because they were lucky
.
What is an argument that would challenge Diamond’s conclusion?
Diamond synthesizes the progressivist view as a simple statement that
“the lives of primitive people improved when they switched from gathering to farming
,” and subsequently challenges this conclusion. To test Diamond’s view, we can glean evidence from recent paleopathology experiments.
What was the worst mistake in uglies?
Apparently the worst mistake is
to fall down through the gap
. (Though we think that holding a parade over a broken bridge would be even worse.) But luckily, the river under the bridge has enough metal material to keep her from crashing into it.
What is the significance of Jared Diamond titling his book Guns Germs and Steel?
The book’s title is a reference to the
means by which farm-based societies conquered populations and maintained dominance despite sometimes being
vastly outnumbered – guns, germs, and steel enabled imperialism.
What does Jared Diamond say about agriculture?
Reading: Jared Diamond (1997): Agriculture: The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race. The coming of agriculture would seem to have only pluses:
You can obtain a lot more food with less work compared with hunting-and-gathering.
