Jared Diamond repeatedly questions himself in search of an answer to why human development advanced at different rates among different continents. What advantages or disadvantages did these continent have that the others did not? Why did historical advances occur for one continent and not the opposite?
Through out the discussion Diamond occasionally points out the importance of history and what influenced the history on these different continents as they did. In order to provide an explanation for his answer he looks thousands and thousands of years back to history where humans first began to develop. He points out that empires (such as Eurasia) with iron tools dominated stone tool using tribes during the period of 1500 AD.
Another question rises following an answer. What gave Eurasia the advantage it needed in order to develop sophisticated tools compared to continents using primitive tools such as North America? During the period between 11000 BC to 1500 AD there were major differences in equality among continents. These differences in development consisted of agriculture, herding and more importantly a complex political organization. It were these aspects that have been found to have developed much earlier in Eurasia than it had in North America. Again another question is left unanswered. What was the cause of such different rates of development among varying continents?
Resources, domestication, distance and proximity of size were the key reasons explaining the different growth rates. Eurasia's key advantage was of its latitude. The continent was orientated east to west oppose to North America's North to South. Due to the constant climate of Eurasia, a great variety of species and plants are able to migrate across the land, which in turn are more readily available to be domesticated by the people. Diamond stated in order for domestication to be successful a species must meet certain requirements such as having a stable food supply that humans can provide, a rapid growth rate, willingness to breed in captivity and etc. Eurasia stable climate made these requirements accessible for certain species to be domesticated. North America however did not have a stable climate, instead it had a varying climate that most species could not adopt to if it migrated to the north or the south. Thus the people were very limited to the species it could domesticate which ultimately led to an disadvantage.
Diamond provided evidence that continents that are close together tend to be more advance than continents that are isolated. This is because a population that is able to communicate among neighboring populations are more likely to invent new technology that can greatly increase its development. For an example Eurasia was the biggest continent and thus had a greater population compared to North America. Already the chances an individual among Eurasia's population is higher than one in an opposing continent. However the most important reason why Eurasia was more advanced was due to the fact that technology tends to come into a population rather than come out from one.
It is true that Eurasia was able to conquer North America due to resources, that lead to steel swords, guns and domesticated animals. However the deciding factor was ultimately determined by an influxation of germs that came with Europeans. Germs such as small pox and measles had never before been exposed to native Americans, thus their immune system had no guard against these new diseases. Germs were responsible for killing roughly 95% of the total population of Native Americans. With such a devastating blow to the continents population, they were no match for the Europeans. Diamond concludes that the factor that attributes to varying developing rates are not biological differences but rather continental differences.
Today such discoveries are evident in the global economy. For example China has grown legendary over the course of two decades. Its size, location, and resources are mainly responsible for its rapid growth. Countries that are closer to bordering countries tend to trade more with each other than countries that are more distant. Larger countries that have larger economies develop faster than countries with smaller economies. Lastly countries with more resources tend to be richer than those with less resources, which directly correlates with continental differences.
Through out the discussion Diamond occasionally points out the importance of history and what influenced the history on these different continents as they did. In order to provide an explanation for his answer he looks thousands and thousands of years back to history where humans first began to develop. He points out that empires (such as Eurasia) with iron tools dominated stone tool using tribes during the period of 1500 AD.
Another question rises following an answer. What gave Eurasia the advantage it needed in order to develop sophisticated tools compared to continents using primitive tools such as North America? During the period between 11000 BC to 1500 AD there were major differences in equality among continents. These differences in development consisted of agriculture, herding and more importantly a complex political organization. It were these aspects that have been found to have developed much earlier in Eurasia than it had in North America. Again another question is left unanswered. What was the cause of such different rates of development among varying continents?
Resources, domestication, distance and proximity of size were the key reasons explaining the different growth rates. Eurasia's key advantage was of its latitude. The continent was orientated east to west oppose to North America's North to South. Due to the constant climate of Eurasia, a great variety of species and plants are able to migrate across the land, which in turn are more readily available to be domesticated by the people. Diamond stated in order for domestication to be successful a species must meet certain requirements such as having a stable food supply that humans can provide, a rapid growth rate, willingness to breed in captivity and etc. Eurasia stable climate made these requirements accessible for certain species to be domesticated. North America however did not have a stable climate, instead it had a varying climate that most species could not adopt to if it migrated to the north or the south. Thus the people were very limited to the species it could domesticate which ultimately led to an disadvantage.
Diamond provided evidence that continents that are close together tend to be more advance than continents that are isolated. This is because a population that is able to communicate among neighboring populations are more likely to invent new technology that can greatly increase its development. For an example Eurasia was the biggest continent and thus had a greater population compared to North America. Already the chances an individual among Eurasia's population is higher than one in an opposing continent. However the most important reason why Eurasia was more advanced was due to the fact that technology tends to come into a population rather than come out from one.
It is true that Eurasia was able to conquer North America due to resources, that lead to steel swords, guns and domesticated animals. However the deciding factor was ultimately determined by an influxation of germs that came with Europeans. Germs such as small pox and measles had never before been exposed to native Americans, thus their immune system had no guard against these new diseases. Germs were responsible for killing roughly 95% of the total population of Native Americans. With such a devastating blow to the continents population, they were no match for the Europeans. Diamond concludes that the factor that attributes to varying developing rates are not biological differences but rather continental differences.
Today such discoveries are evident in the global economy. For example China has grown legendary over the course of two decades. Its size, location, and resources are mainly responsible for its rapid growth. Countries that are closer to bordering countries tend to trade more with each other than countries that are more distant. Larger countries that have larger economies develop faster than countries with smaller economies. Lastly countries with more resources tend to be richer than those with less resources, which directly correlates with continental differences.
Nice summary!
ReplyDelete