by Jared Diamond
Just finished this book today. This book tries to explain why Western societies in general rose to such dominance in the world, as opposed to say, Aboriginal Australians. When I was younger, my dad told me, "people in more Northern latitudes had to struggle to survive, so that's why those countries industrialized sooner, while people in tropical climates could just lounge around and pick bananas off of trees." I guess that idea is not uncommon, because this book actually addressed it at one point. Basically, the book tries to explain differences in rates of technological advances, political complexity, and immunity to communicable diseases between societies based on geographical factors of the location where the society originated. Like the local plants and animals that were available for domestication, and the ease or difficulty for people to interact with neighboring societies because of mountains, deserts, or seas. And then how those differences usually led to one society pretty much completely decimating or swallowing up the other when they met. Along the way you also learn some interesting history and linguistics. I think if you like watching the History Channel you'll enjoy this book. Warning though, it gets pretty long, and a bit repetitive.
1 comment:
darn it! no comments for mah' man Jared Diamond..?? I gotta represent.. I read this book many years ago and I enjoyed it. I would have to agree -- like many social scientist writers -- they are "repetitive." But that's cuz they like to drill one point / one argument down your throat until you're just like. "ok! you're right! i get your point!"
Honestly, his argument wasn't that complex -- he just did all the effort of a lifetime's worth of research and studies to provide evidence for a simple argument that any expert Starcraft player could tell yah:
My expansion had two gases. Your expansion had only minerals. That's why I had battlecruisers and you still had only marines and medics and like a few tanks.
Game overs.
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