Jared Diamond

Part B Anthropology 6) Collapse In Collapse Jared Diamond addresses the environmental and economic problems that societies encounter during their development. Diamond makes it very clear that no society is safe from a collapse and that the problems that societies face should not be underestimated or the results could be catastrophic (Diamond 2011:2). The definition that Diamond gives for a collapse is “a drastic decrease in human population size and /or political/economic/social complexity over a considerable area, for an extended period of time” (Diamond 2015:3). Diamond provides his readers with examples of many different societies and cultures that he believes to be interconnected through their fates and eventual downfalls. Different…

Have you ever wondered why the modern world is so unequal? Why the United States is so technologically advanced while places like Papua New Guinea and places in Africa still rely on a hunter-gatherer way of life? Jared Diamond contemplates these questions through his exploration of geographic luck and evaluation of the first development of guns, germs, and steel. Among the various contributors to the initial progression of growing nations (and guns, germs, and steel) include: the cultivation…

In the year 1999 Jared Diamond published his book Guns, Germs, and Steel in which he offers the thesis of geographic luck contributing largely to the reason why Eurasian societies developed over other parts of the world. Diamond credits the Eurasian political, military, and economic superiority in the world not to their possible advancements in culture, intellect, or race, but rather by simply having geographic determinism on their side. Through analysis, Jared Diamond attempts to give the one…

In the article “Consequences and Future of Plant and Animal Domestication”, Jared Diamond, the author, discusses and explains a few very important topics involved with the domestication of plants and animals. First of all, the article starts off by discussing the topic of the origins of domestication around the world. There is no definite place or time of origin, but domestication began when a pair of changes occurred. The pair of changes that appeared was the change in the behavior of humans…

Jared Diamond spends the prologue of his novel, “Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed”, explores the demise of communities throughout history and how such a thing could occur. He believes, as can be inferred from the title of the book, that societies primarily fail as a result of the decisions they make in response to other issues. In the prologue, “A Tale of Two Farms”, Diamond presents his definition of a collapse, his framework for analyzing a collapse, and how he compares the…

Jared Diamond the author of the best seller “Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies” explores and distinguishes the ultimate factors that explain the broad patterns that led to the emergence and dominance of Europe. Throughout the book, Diamond argues that the dominance of Europe since the Stone ages was caused by environmental and geographical factors. As stated by Diamond: “ Environment molds history” – he reiterates his ideas by making use of themes like agriculture, the…

To denounce people that everything cannot continuously be fortunate for them and, if it is, someone else is always suffering, Jared Diamond explains in the article “How We Live with Each Other and With the World.” Humans need to be more open minded to other people’s viewpoints. Each and every day us as humans face difficult struggles between cherished ethics such as equivalence, freedom, autonomy, and impartiality. “Using lethal insecticides to kill “pests” has huge consequences up the food…

Three examples that support Jared Diamond’s argument are livestock, diseases, and the trade of Ideas. Most livestock originates from the area around the fertile crescent and was brought to nations near their origin point. Due to geographic circumstances such as similar longitude, climate, vegetation, and amount of daylight Europe had easy accessibility to livestock while other nations such as the Incas never had any chance of making contact with these useful animals. These same geographical…

Geographic Luck Why are some countries so wealthy and modern, while others are left in misfortune and poverty? This is a question Jared Diamond and many others ask themselves almost everyday. After a visit to New Guinea, and many years of research Diamond formed the theory of “Geographic Luck.” His theory divulges on how it doesn’t matter the brilliance or dexterity of the native people, but the raw materials they are given. According to Jared Diamond the modern world is so unequal because of…

All of us were full of fear, because we were so few in number and we had penetrated so far into a land where we could not hope to receive reinforcements. We all met with the Governor to debate what we should undertake the next day.” (70) In reading Correia’s paper about Jared Diamond, I found I trust Jared Diamond’s argument more. Correia suggests that Jared Diamond argument has undertones of racism when discussing where people come from, but did not even give any actual counter evidence or…