Analysis Of Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, And Steel

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In Jared Diamond’s excerpt from his book, Guns, Germs, and Steel, he puts forward the historical narrative of how human evolution progresses at varying rates for different cultures due solely to the particular geographic region that people assimilate from. Diamond supports this thesis with specific evidence on the importance of food production, emphasizing that food is the main ingredient needed for a population to experience progress and growth, enabling that culture to expand around the world. I agree with Diamond’s dissertation and find it compelling due to his logical evidence and ethos on the topic. Diamond addresses his narrative by discussing the general overview on why the rise of food production had such a significant impact on the …show more content…

Diamond addresses this when he writes, “Another [explanation], popular with inhabitants of northern Eurasian continent versus African continent Europe, invokes the supposed stimulatory effects of their homeland’s cold climate and the inhibitory effects of hot, humid, tropical climates on human creativity and energy. Perhaps the seasonally variable climate at high latitudes poses more diverse challenges than does a seasonally constant tropical climate”(22). This hypothesis raises the questions of climate and its effect on the human psyche. For example, people living in high latitudes with freezing temperatures are forced to spend valuable time and resources building shelter to stay warm, while additionally dealing with the issues of growing sustainable food sources in less than ideal temperatures. This presents the obstacle of cultivating a prosperous population while having a non-arable atmosphere, or with little to no rainfall. In Diamond’s article from his website, he recounts the reasons as to why certain cultures evolve in the world. He states that “it’s not the people themselves”, but, “Instead, the reasons were continental differences in the available wild plant and animal species suitable for domestication, resulting in earlier domestication of a more productive suite of domesticates in Eurasia, plus Eurasia’s east/west axis that facilitated the spread of those domesticates throughout Eurasia” (Diamond). If the climate of a specific country isn’t arable, or has little rainfall, the growth of plants and crops becomes extremely difficult. Compounding the difficulties is a grueling climate and living environment. Conversely, a suitable climate benefits the inhabitants of places such as Eurasia. Having arable land and seasonable climate changes, countries within Eurasia have little difficulty in mass producing

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