In fact, Diamond asserts that the area of New Guinea was actually more intelligent than the highly developed Eurasian area even though the New Guinea societies were notably underdeveloped (Diamond 20-21). He seeks to portray the New Guineans’ superior intelligence by stating that the people who first located the land of Australia and New Guinea achieved a tremendous accomplishment because their migration into the land “demanded watercraft and provides by far the earliest evidence of their use in history” (Diamond 41). Diamond argues that the earliest inhabitants of New Guinea were able to achieve a feat that no one had been able to perform by inventing the first known watercraft. (Diamond 41-42) Therefore, the society inhabiting New Guinea was innately intelligent and capable of innovating, even more so than the currently developed Eurasia. By attempting to provide proof that the New Guineans were more intelligent than the Eurasians, Diamond is expressing that all individuals are born with the same capacity to contribute to their society, regardless of the civilization’s current development in relation to other …show more content…
After hundreds of years, the two civilizations met, and the Maori mercilessly seized the peace-seeking Moriori. Diamond provides the sole explanation that “it is easy to trace how the differing environments… molded the Moriori and the Maori differently” (Diamond 55). The “differing environments,” Diamond claims, directly establish the agricultural opportunities that the Maori and Moriori were able to take advantage of. The Moriori were left with the option of being hunter-gatherers because their area’s climate did not allow for the growth of crops. Meanwhile, the Maori lived among an environment suitable for agriculture and became ferocious warriors because their abundance of food allowed for opportunites on various professions such as weaponry and leadership (Diamond 54-56). Diamond conveys his point that environmental variations limit the society in its focus on production and resources. Eventually, different societies will concentrate on improving their development based on their capabilities and their geographical position, and civilizations with varying speeds of innovation evolve. Diamond’s core argument lies beneath this principle and aims to explain the correlation between the environment and the