Jullian Von Barbier
Professor Evans
English Composition
10/25/15
History: From Past to Progress Without historical advances in food or exploration, your life would not be as it is today. These faculties have drastically improved each and every one of our lives and will continue to do so as long as these pillars of civilization are kept erect. Sources that take issue with these topics include Kincaid’s “The Ugly Tourist,” and Diamond’s “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race.” These sources will be looked at critically and their arguments will be analyzed in a way to show that these authors have no merit in their arguments they present in regards to mistakes of mankind. Such important advancements like agriculture have had their …show more content…
Jared Diamond in his article, “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race,” rattles off many negative implications left by this efficient and still followed practice. He claims that “the diets of hunter gatherers provided more protein and a better balance of nutrients” (Diamond 2). Diamond also asserts that hunter gatherers were more physically healthier before the emergence of producers with multiple health problems such as malnutrition, starvation and the like. Along with these problems, he saw class and gender divisions sprout during the onset of the agricultural revolution (Diamond 4). Diamond claims these issues resulted from the departure from hunting-gathering, but in all fairness, there are many factors that contribute to failures in health and social structures. There is no smoking gun that connects agriculture specifically to the problems Diamond outlines. If one looks at the evolution of human biology over many centuries, overall human health has improved dramatically. The only reason why the standard of health might have dipped with the adoption of agriculture was that it was a change that the human body was not used to, but we have balanced out over time to where today, we enjoy an overall higher standard of living than hunter-gatherers. It is clear that Diamond wants to shift away from producing and pivot back to foraging, but this …show more content…
Diamond and Kincaid are quick to criticize the activities of humans but the authors fail to see that progress betters the future and is not without temporary setbacks which are eventually solved later on. Many of these so called “problems” are only short term and should not take away from how far we have progressed in the area of food production which tremendously helped mankind. As humans, we are imperfect creatures and this quality transcends everything we accomplish. Learning from the past is important because it enables us to improve upon our successes and prevent problems from arising. As far as food production and exploration are concerned, these are aspects of life that improved upon the past by solving problems in the present. Exploration aided in discovery of new food which in turn aided in the creation of agriculture. This is why agriculture and exploration have stood the test of time. Learning from past practices helps to further advance solutions to better our
Professor Evans
English Composition
10/25/15
History: From Past to Progress Without historical advances in food or exploration, your life would not be as it is today. These faculties have drastically improved each and every one of our lives and will continue to do so as long as these pillars of civilization are kept erect. Sources that take issue with these topics include Kincaid’s “The Ugly Tourist,” and Diamond’s “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race.” These sources will be looked at critically and their arguments will be analyzed in a way to show that these authors have no merit in their arguments they present in regards to mistakes of mankind. Such important advancements like agriculture have had their …show more content…
Jared Diamond in his article, “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race,” rattles off many negative implications left by this efficient and still followed practice. He claims that “the diets of hunter gatherers provided more protein and a better balance of nutrients” (Diamond 2). Diamond also asserts that hunter gatherers were more physically healthier before the emergence of producers with multiple health problems such as malnutrition, starvation and the like. Along with these problems, he saw class and gender divisions sprout during the onset of the agricultural revolution (Diamond 4). Diamond claims these issues resulted from the departure from hunting-gathering, but in all fairness, there are many factors that contribute to failures in health and social structures. There is no smoking gun that connects agriculture specifically to the problems Diamond outlines. If one looks at the evolution of human biology over many centuries, overall human health has improved dramatically. The only reason why the standard of health might have dipped with the adoption of agriculture was that it was a change that the human body was not used to, but we have balanced out over time to where today, we enjoy an overall higher standard of living than hunter-gatherers. It is clear that Diamond wants to shift away from producing and pivot back to foraging, but this …show more content…
Diamond and Kincaid are quick to criticize the activities of humans but the authors fail to see that progress betters the future and is not without temporary setbacks which are eventually solved later on. Many of these so called “problems” are only short term and should not take away from how far we have progressed in the area of food production which tremendously helped mankind. As humans, we are imperfect creatures and this quality transcends everything we accomplish. Learning from the past is important because it enables us to improve upon our successes and prevent problems from arising. As far as food production and exploration are concerned, these are aspects of life that improved upon the past by solving problems in the present. Exploration aided in discovery of new food which in turn aided in the creation of agriculture. This is why agriculture and exploration have stood the test of time. Learning from past practices helps to further advance solutions to better our