Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies written by Jared Diamond travels through the different aspects of human societies starting from modern human’s pre-Homo ancestors comparing the different variations that have occurred throughout time, ending at the modern Homo sapiens in the world today. The focus of this book is why some societies strive while other fail. Diamond looked at the different advantages and disadvantages of the areas these societies lived in and in his own words deriving the thesis “History followed different courses for different peoples because of differences among people’s environments, not because of biological differences between peoples themselves” (25). Diamond’s thesis follows the lines of the overarching question; have geography and the distribution of natural resources…
The world works in mysterious ways. This class has determines that people must be able to adapt to environmental changes if they are to survive. The inability to adapt has proven to be the collapse of a particular society time and time again. This essay traces the rise of Cahokia and Chaco Canyon and the developments of each culture to each cultures end.…
Diamond’s model is an explanation by Jared Diamond of how our society have collapsed in the past and how it will collapse in the future. It discussed five set of factors that indicate the causes of society breakdown. Diamond explained this model clearly with examples from Greenland Norse in the past and Montana environment in the time when the book was made. The first factor is environmental damage that caused by people, such as deforestation and mining that usually connected to the second factor which is climate change. In fact, climate change is natural forces without any relation with humans. The next factor is hostile neighbors that illustrate the bad relationship with the neighbor which affect the existence of society. Conversely, support…
Jared Diamond’s book Guns, Germs, and Steel discusses the topic of the ancient and current civilizations with an eye-opening argument. Diamond’s main argument is that civilizations developed based on the environment and not because of individual humans. In this book he summarized a history of the last 13,000 years in civilization. Although his points were scattered he makes it clear that he believes strongly in environmental determinism, which is the belief that physical environment predisposes human social development and surrounding civilizations.…
References: • Civilization in the West 6th Edition ; by Mark Kishlansky, Patrick Geary, Patricia O’Brien; Published by Pearson Longman.…
It is still a great mystery how the Mayan civilization disappeared. This complex society reached its zenith around approximately 750 AD. However, within the next two hundred years, this civilization which was epic in its time collapsed and disappeared leaving minimal traces and even more scanty detail about what could have caused this disappearance. This knowledge gap has led to a lot of debate among scholars over the various possible reasons behind what seems to us to be the abandonment and desertion of these sites. Some of these explanations are suppositions made without convincing proof. It has been understood widely that the collapse of Late Classic Maya civilization involved more than the disintegration of political structure and that it could have involved a total systemic failure in which both centres and dependent villages were abandoned by elites and commoners alike. The lowland rainforest habitat where Maya civilization developed was not significantly reoccupied until comparatively recent time. Theories for this “Mayan Collapse” are wide-ranging and varied, and recent scholarship has postulated over seventy different theories including, but not limited to climate change, deforestation, drought, warfare and invasion, social upheaval or revolution. Some theories even go to the extent to postulate a lack of affirmative action by Mayan kings which could have saved the civilization. Archaeologists have made several attempts to come up with explanations for this collapse; however no specific theory has greater empirical sway than others. Why did such a mighty civilization collapse? Are there any Mayan descendants who can tell us anything? Where do we turn for informant given the dearth of evidence? This essay will critically examine the theories of demographic constraints, climatic changes including drought and warfare and invasion as they attempt to explain the disappearance of the Mayan civilization. Each theory’s overview and merits will be discussed and…
One of the prime mysteries in archaeology is still the collapse of classic Maya. The Mayans are but one of many Mesoamerican ethnic groups whose existence has been known in all of the Yucatan peninsula, Guatemala, and Belize, the eastern half of Tabasco and Chiapas, and the northwest regions of Honduras and El Salvador. Originating in Yucatan in 2600 B.C. and rising to prominence around A.D. 250 Mayans spread into the other areas when evidence for the first kings and dynasties emerged. Around A.D. 750 began the worst drought in the past 7,000 years, climaxing around the year A.D. 800 and suspiciously linked with the Classic collapse. Political issues and warfare is a cultural theory adding to the decline holding that the elite fought too much amongst each other and provided deprived leadership.…
There were radical changes in all areas of known societies that encompassed demographic collapse, political instabilities, and religious turmoil. The countries were literally sick, living in poverty, broken and broke by wars, and tired of being lead around their noblemen and/or religious leaders. Sick, broke and tired – three components for change!…
In his 2004 book, A Short History of Progress, award-winning novelist, historian, and essayist, Ronald Wright explores the seemingly inevitable pattern of progress and imminent disaster that so defines the history of civilization. Wright laments upon the “progress trap” (Wright 31) as that of an absolute agent of downfall; one that we, as humans, bring upon ourselves. What began as simple moral improvements made in small civilizations has, with the introduction of science and technology, quickly advanced to more intricate material progressions, causing a “seductive trail of successes that [will] end up in a trap.” (Wright 5) Wright defines these newfound progress traps as created by three main factors: specialization,…
The Aztec culture dates all the way back to the 13th century. Some say that a few Aztec people still survive, although they are not exactly “pure.” Their culture was derived from South America. In this research paper the plan is to inform and explain to the teacher that the Aztec were an impressive group of people for their time period because they were so advanced in science, agriculture and were far more civilized than people from other regions had assumed during that time period. What caused the collapse of such a refined empire?…
Civilizations have been the bedrock all human achievement, with their history often originating from the will of one single individual and the collective cooperation of several groups. Civilization’s primary merits has been its stability and protection for its citizens allowing for advancements in technology, art, mathematics and philosophy. Over the course of history, many groups formed their own distinct civilizations and determined how the landscape of humanity would be carved out. The overall systems, culture, advancements, and the critical cause of decline in the worlds of the Americas, Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, India, Hebrew, and Iranian civilizations will be examined in along with the lasting legacies of these former societies.…
The common topic of debate that is if all civilizations are doomed to collapse because it hold the ability to prevent or slow down the collapse of any civilization. Historians such as Tainter (In Collapse and Sustainability: Rome, the Maya, and the Modern World)and Greer (In How Civilizations Fall: A Theory of Catabolic Collapse) have created analyzing both fallen and modern civilizations, both of these authors believe to some extent that a lack of resources is the beginning cause of a collapse of a civilization. There are some historians that believe that not all civilizations are doomed to collapse due to that previous civilizations were not able to properly and accurately handle their problems and as long as you sustain stability than…
2. Questions related to why and how the Muslim civilization collapsed. Theories given from a western world point of view and an outlook for a future for Muslim civilization.…
During a thriving time of expanding civilizations, the Inca Empire was new and developing with a unique way to carry a kingdom. The Incans were forced to face diversity in order to be a successful community. Despite a simple way of living their lives, the Incans faced a fall in the Empire. With a combination of; a lack of advanced technology, a poor military with an unexpected ransom, and awful health systems; leading to the downfall of the civilization.…
eventually led to warfare as a way of coming up with solutions to avoid the inevitable…