Guns, Germs, and Steel. LOOK IT UP

Gnl.Weirdness

Gnl.Weirdness

Active member
Ok this needed to be posted because it really is quite possibly the most intelligent study on civilization ever done by anyone.

Yes the book is a bit dated, and some probably know of it already, but EVERYONE needs to know about it. Jared Diamond (a UCLA professor) basically proves with historical fact why there are impoverished countries in todays world. Not only that, but he touches on the stem of racism and social inequality on a level that no one could have even imagined.

Please do yourself a favor if you have any compassion towards the world we live in and either read Guns, Germs, and Steel, or get a copy of the National Geographic Doumentary.

It will change the way you look at things.
 
"why there are impoverished countries in todays world"

Does he touch on the proximity and diversity of natural resources in different regions as a major factor in this?
 
The book's title is a reference to the means by which European nations

conquered populations of other areas and maintained their dominance,

often despite being vastly out-numbered - superior weapons provided

immediate military superiority, and European diseases weakened the

local populations and thus made it easier to maintain control over

them. Hence the book attempts to explain, mainly by geographical

factors, why Europeans had such superior military technology and why

diseases to which Europeans were immune devastated conquered

populations.
 
Thats what I figured it was about/how it would explain it. I dunno if I'd read it...I've heard/read enough about it in university to understand how those european countries did it.

Technology was like a plague to them/(us)...we can't just be happy being sustainable like other cultures...
 
I dont doubt it...I'll probably just skip to the documentary though seeing as I will likely look focus with the book :P
 
Suprise, suprise, the documentary is great, but doesn't go into anywhere near as much detail as the book. Either way it's still a great book/documentary and is pretty interesting
 
iits an amazing book, and i will highly suggest...i read it when i was in 8th, so its not super hard to understand...gives you stuff to think about...
 
Diamond actually bases most of his "facts" on a theory of evolutionary and genetic determinism and assumes a unilinear development of events, and he presents a chain of happenings that could have occurred no other way. He completely ignores the dichotomy of human decision-making and free will throughout the course of human history. Example: he essentially claims that at the battle of Cajamarca, the Spanish Pizarro attacked the Incan Atahuallpa simply because the Spaniards had the technological means to do so, ignoring the fact that Atahuallpa had over 80,000 troops at hand and could have chosen to do the same to Pizarro. That battle altered the course of Central and South American history in a big way, and the next few centuries could have been very different had Pizarro and his men been defeated.

Diamond is smart, and his shit makes sense, but there are quite a few leaps of faith made by the author, and he kind of relegates the impact on history of human decision-making to a minor (sometimes non-existent) role. He is a really good writer, however, and it is a very interesting book. Definitely a good read.
 
Had to watch that in World History class earlier this year. Some of it was interesting, some of it just plain sucked.
 
watched the documentary, and I think that his theory is too generalized and completely ignores the human element of historical events.... i.e. Africa is very fertile in some parts but the countries are shit because of war, not poor resources
 
It was a very interesting book. I usually dont enjoy books about history and stuff, I more like physics books and more fore front of science topics if you will, but I found this book quite worth my time.
 
This is such an amazing book. It's been out a while now, and won a few prizes. But it gave me a whole new look at the geography of society and whatnot, a real mind-opener. All very well researched and done in a very readable way.
 
my mom read that book. She said it was good. I read peoples history of the us, so it kinda counts, but yea I heard its quite good. I never got around to reading it myself unfortunately.
 
if you read guns, germs, and steel, be sure to read the wealth and poverty of nations as well.
 
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