GUNS‚ GERMS‚ AND MCNEILL Noah Neerdaels Mr. Kelly AP World History November 24‚ 2014 Jared Diamond’s bestseller Guns‚ Germs‚ and Steel has gathered lots of praise and popularity‚ but also has garnered lots of controversy and speculation. Diamond writes of how Europe came to dominate the world in expansion and conquest‚ while attempting to find the ultimate factors that caused their success. There are many historians who dispute his theory on
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Germs‚ and Steel‚ author Jared Diamond centers his argument around the idea that “societies developed differently on different continents because of different continental environments” (Diamond‚ 9). Dissimilar to the prevailing belief that genetics play a role in determining societal development‚ Diamond argues that geographic factors and environmental influences substantially shape the distribution of wealth and power. J.R. McNeill’s article‚ “The World According to Diamond” correctly identifies the
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Diseases Diamond makes various arguments about diseases. The argument he makes that I will mention is that deadly disease came from Europe and spread to other places killing people that were unfamiliar with the disease. This is a good point that he makes‚ and the example he uses helps support his argument. His example is that smallpox came to the Aztecs from Europe. This disease killed a lot of Aztecs because they were unfamiliar with the disease‚ and because of that they couldn’t cure themselves
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The Overall Theme of Guns‚ Germs‚ and Steel by Jared Diamond The overall theme of Diamond’s novel has to do with the progression of the human race in different areas of the world. He said that the development of different people was not based off of genetic composition but their location on the earth. Diamond gives many examples to back up his claim. Diamond uses many different examples from different time periods and different areas of the world. He starts at around 11‚000 BCE with the earliest
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episode one entitled Out of Eden of the series Gun’s Germs‚ and Steel‚ Professor Jared Diamond attempts to answer the question of “why you white men have so much cargo and we New Guineans have so little.” (Cassian Harrison‚ 2005) Professor Diamond’s begins his research by diving into history from 13‚000 years ago‚ pre-dating civilizations‚ during a time period equivalent to New Guinea’s present day. Professor Diamond noted that “because hunting is so unpredictable‚ traditional societies have usually
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Through careful sociological studies‚ one can see that the impact of agriculture is beneficial to life. In the article “The Worst Mistake of the Human Race” by Jared Diamond‚ he argues that agriculture “was in many ways a catastrophe” and “with agriculture came the gross social and sexual inequality‚ the disease and despotism‚ that curse our existence.” Although this may be somewhat true‚ many would disagree. Agriculture doesn’t lead to inequality nor diseases. The differences between humans lead
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population‚ economics‚ resources‚ and many others. In the book Guns‚ Germs‚ and Steel by Jared Diamond‚ the civilization of Eurasia is examined in detail in order to reveal why Eurasia was ultimately successful. Diamond argues that Eurasia was successful because of their agriculture‚ geography‚ and their immunity to germs‚ which I agree with. Diamond talks about how agriculture played a role in the success of Eurasia. Diamond says that Eurasia already had an advantage in agriculture because of their geography
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Jared Diamond is… interesting. The argument that Jared Diamond makes in his article‚ “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race”‚ is completely refutable. There is very little evidence in the article that makes sense‚ and most of it appears to be that Diamond just has a grudge against the laziness of the modern world. This is where Diamond and I agree. The modern world is incredibly lazy. We now live in a world where fast food is a food group‚ and technology is being used incorrectly‚ resulting
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What Makes Countries Rich or Poor? by Jared Diamond |The New York Review of Books. I find the topic extremely fascinating: why do some nations prosper‚ and improve the life of their citizens‚ and others fail? Why do some nations have better education‚ while others are still in endless search of their identity? Some people in modern political economy say that countries succeed because of their natural resources and their control over others. This article brings us to take a closer look
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Jared Diamond is a scientist and is the author of “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race.” The article isn’t the clearest on what could be better. Would the human race have been better off living with the need to hunt and gather for their life‚ or would agriculture be the key to the survival for the human race? Jared believes moving back to a hunting/gathering lifestyle would be beneficiary to us. I believe Jared Diamond makes some great points‚ but that agriculture was a necessity for
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