Jared Diamond’s article “The Worst Mistake in the Human Race” provides critical insight to what archaeologists and anthropologists alike have contested to be the pinnacle of human advancement. Agriculture to many people among academic settings has been mutually agreed as one of the turning points from primal to civilized (Diamond, 1999); and has been known to benefit humanity for it’s greater good.
Jared Diamond challenges this point in his article. He begins by introducing a progressivist view, which is the held notion that agriculture was adopted simply because it is a means of getting more food for less work (Diamond, 1999). Diamond thoroughly explains that there are advantages to agriculture, being that of convenience and mass production …show more content…
A particular quote which would be unfair not to mention: “A hundred malnourished farmers can out fight one healthy hunter” (Diamond, 1999) should not be overlooked as a mere analogy. For it serves as much as an explanation and as a tool to put into perspective why many hunter-gatherers ceased their lifestyle after the ice age concluded. His analysis of the disadvantages of agriculture is not only validated by present day examples such as the Bushmen of the Kalahari, or Hadza in Tanzania, but also by the critical findings from archaeologists in their scientific plight to determine the traits found on bones they discovered. The theory of functionalism too, particularly Malinowski’s functionalism can also serve as a tool to further understanding. Because agriculture is a function of society rather than a “choice”, it can explain why human beings at that time abandoned a lifestyle that was proven to be much better for them. To summarize, Diamond critically reflects on how agriculture was not merely a mistake we willingly made, but one we were forced to uphold due to circumstances we were unprepared to face the consequence
Jared Diamond challenges this point in his article. He begins by introducing a progressivist view, which is the held notion that agriculture was adopted simply because it is a means of getting more food for less work (Diamond, 1999). Diamond thoroughly explains that there are advantages to agriculture, being that of convenience and mass production …show more content…
A particular quote which would be unfair not to mention: “A hundred malnourished farmers can out fight one healthy hunter” (Diamond, 1999) should not be overlooked as a mere analogy. For it serves as much as an explanation and as a tool to put into perspective why many hunter-gatherers ceased their lifestyle after the ice age concluded. His analysis of the disadvantages of agriculture is not only validated by present day examples such as the Bushmen of the Kalahari, or Hadza in Tanzania, but also by the critical findings from archaeologists in their scientific plight to determine the traits found on bones they discovered. The theory of functionalism too, particularly Malinowski’s functionalism can also serve as a tool to further understanding. Because agriculture is a function of society rather than a “choice”, it can explain why human beings at that time abandoned a lifestyle that was proven to be much better for them. To summarize, Diamond critically reflects on how agriculture was not merely a mistake we willingly made, but one we were forced to uphold due to circumstances we were unprepared to face the consequence