1,796
14
Essay, 16 pages (4000 words)

Guns, germs, and steel summer reading

This requires mentioning race, intelligence, and development of technology. Yale asks “ why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guiana, but we black people had little cargo of our own? ” What Yale is asking is about the origins of inequality between countries and societies in the world. He wants to know why people of European descent are rich and powerful while people like him lack wealth and power. He is questioning the issues of race and technology.

He wants to know if there is something “ wrong” with on-white people that make them unable to be as advanced technology as white people. 1. 2. Summarize the three main objections to answering Yale’s question. 1 . If we explain why some people rule over others, we are basically saying that domination is okay. If we say that the Europeans dominate or rule over Yale’s people due to various reasons, basically aren’t we saying that it is right for them to rule them? 2. If we answer this question, aren’t we automatically being pro-European?

Isn’t it wrong to talk about European dominance when there is a chance their “ ruling” is going to disappear? 3. Doesn’t the question hint that civilization is good and other types of society are bad? 3. What is meant by a “ resurrection” approach to history? A Resurrection approach to history meaner glorifying Europeans, and obsessing over their prominence in the modern world. In other words, Resurrection history is history that is centered on and told from the point of view of Europe. It is history that glorifies and assumes Europeans do is most important. 4.

Summarize Diamond’s response to the idea that Europeans may perhaps be more innately intelligent that New Guinea’s. Use his major points to support your summary. Diamond says that this idea is simply wrong and that New Guinea’s are in fact more likely to be more intelligent than Europeans. Diamond gives two reasons for this. First, he says, intelligence has not helped Europeans survive and reproduce for thousands of years. Thus saying, natural selection has not been “ picking” the smartest Europeans and allowing them to live. Whereas, intelligence has helped New Guinea’s survive.

Second, New Guinea’s are much more active than Europeans. They are always doing things that require at least some thought. For these reasons, Diamond says, they are likely to be more intelligent than Europeans, not less. . Give an example of “ passive entertainment”. Explain why we seem to have a better opportunity to experience this type of entertainment in America and its possible effect on our ability to think critically. TV is one of the most common passive entertainments in America; our country has made it assessable on phones and computers.

Due to our advance in technology we can access it so easily. TV’s effect on our critical thinking depends on the person, but to such an extent I think it does, people love reality TV, but do they honestly think all that stuff is real ? , which most people do. Even though it says reality it’s all showbiz Explain ten tenure AT now cola European weather may nave affected mental development of Europeans. The theory is that the cold weather in Europe made life harder for the Europeans. The cold weather forced them to cope with challenges that were not wouldn’t face in the tropics.

The theory is that people who live on a tropical island have it easy. They can Just pick fruit off the trees every day and they don’t have to figure out things such as technology. Europeans had to deal with the harsh climate and they invented technology to help them survive. So the theory is that a harder life made Europeans smarter because they had to figure out ways to pope. 7. Explain how the theory of irrigation development may have affected the mental development of river civilizations. The theory talks about how maintaining and creating large irrigation systems were difficult.

It needed a large, government to plan the work and to get people to do the work. Because of this, whenever irrigation was needed, government had to come into existence as well. In this way, the development of irrigation led to the development of societies with centralized governments. 8. Summarize Diamond’s thesis. This requires you to first understand Yale’s question, and outline how Diamond proposes to answer this question. Diamond thesis is that people are wrong if they say that this is because of culture or anything like that, instead, Diamond wants to look at geographical factors.

He will argue that accidents of geography are what made the Europeans rich and powerful. Up To The Starting Line 9. What is significant about 13, 000 years ago or 11, 000 B. C.? The significance of this time is that it was the time that agriculture was first developed. The development of agriculture is hugely important for Diamond. Diamond argues that the areas that developed food production first were the ones that had a huge advantage in becoming powerful societies. 0. What stage in human development does Diamond characterize as the Great Leap Forward?

The “ Great Leap Forward,” to Diamond, is a time during which humans started to create tools and art that went far beyond anything that had been found up to that point; sometime around 50, 000 years ago, this “ Great Leap” occurred. 11 . What are the major human achievements that characterize this Great Leap Forward? People started to make and use many more kinds of tools; they also started to create a great deal of art. These achievements were the cultural changes of the Great Leap Forward, and how it was a modern time. 2. What technological advancement (Ana give ten Tate) was necessary Tort ten colonization AT New Euglena and Australia.

Watercraft was the advancement that helped colonize New Guiana and Australia, the fact that Australia and New Guiana were populated this long ago proves that people had watercraft. Boats were needed because people would have to have crossed deep channels to get to Australia and New Guiana. The widest of these would have been at least 50 miles across. Colonization in Australia and New Guiana was sometime between 40, 000 and 30, 000 years ago. So that would be the date for the innovation 3. What theory does Diamond propose for the disappearance of mega-fauna in Australia/New Guiana?

He argues that the disappearance of the animals was due to human action. The main cause of the disappearance of these animals was the appearance of hunter-gatherers to New Guiana. Diamond argues that the mega fauna of New Guiana had evolved in an environment that was without any humans. Thus, they did not adapt for surviving once humans came to New Guiana. Diamond so, he argues that the animals disappeared because they were unafraid of people and were then killed when people came to New Guiana. 14. What mega-fauna existed in the North America prior to 11, 000 B. C. (for more information on this topic, watch what Killed the Mega Beasts? N the Discovery Channel. There were elephants, lions, cheetahs, as well as other species like camels and giant cloths, and wooly mammoths A Natural Experiment of History 15. What about the natural environment of the Chatham Islands caused the Mirror people to develop so differently from their Maori conquerors of the same ancestral heritage? The Chatham were too small to support agriculture. The Maori remained as agricultural people on New Zealand while the Mirror reverted to being hunter- theaters; they did this because there was no way to farm on the Chatham.

The Chatham were small and cold so they could not support the crops the Maori grew in New Because of this, the Mirror developed into a small group of hunter-gatherers who had little technology and little social organization. 16. What are the three staple domesticated animals of the Polynesians? There were only three domesticated animals that were brought to the islands by the Polynesians; these were pigs, chickens, and dogs. 17. What are the main causes of low human population density in many Polynesian islands? Some islands had more rainfall, more sources of water, more access to shellfish and other seafood.

Some had more stones for making tools, or more forests for supplying wood. Others were cold, and not suited for agriculture. . Some of the islands suitable agriculture developed quite dense populations 18. What man-made constructions allowed for increased human population density in islands such as Hawaii? The “ construction” that allowed for an increase in population density was, to Diamond, the organized chiefdom. Colons at Jamaica 19. If you had witnessed Jamaica prior to the overthrow of Tattletale, explain why o may not have believed Pizzeria’s overthrow of the Incas was possible.

The reason you think it would be impossible is that there were so many fewer Spaniards than there were of the Inca warriors who were present at this battle. Just looking at them, you would not have thought it was possible that the small band of Spanish soldiers would be able to defeat a huge army of Incas. 20. Explain the role of technology in the overthrow of the Inca. The Spaniards’ technology played a significant part in their defeat of the Incas, it allowed them to get to South America in the first place and it eave them the ability to defeat more numerous opponents. 21 .

Explain the role of religion in the overthrow of the Inca. Incas believed that the Spanish were gods or were at least in some way favored by the gods. Because they believed in Christianity so intensely, the Spanish seemed to think that they were superior to the Incas. The Spanish seemed that this belief made the Spanish fight harder treat the Incas more brutally than they might otherwise have done. 22. Explain the role of disease in the overthrow of the Inca. The role of disease was that disease made the Inca Empire not united at the time when Pizzeria came to South America.

Not long before Pizzeria’s arrival, the Inca emperor and most of his court, even his heir, all died of smallpox. When that happened, Thalamus and his half brother Hussar got into a fight over who should become the next emperor. This civil war divided the empire and made it much weaker than it would have been if the disease did not hit. 23. Explain the role of literacy and government organization in the overthrow of the Inca. Diamond says that literacy allowed information to “ be spread far more widely, more accurately, and in more detail” than was possible for any society that didn’t have writing.

The accounts of Columbus voyages could be published, making people aware of the New World; and at the same time, the Inca did not have writing. This helps explain why they walked into a trap that Pizzeria set. Farmer Power 24. Using the chart on 87, explain which of the five proximate factors is the most important product on an agricultural society. The most important product of an agricultural society is epidemic diseases. The others are things that come from agriculture, but not directly. Epidemic diseases come directly from the presence of many domesticated animal species in the society.

Germs from the animals cross over o unmans, casuals peel mammal Lasses to Arles. 25. Explain how an agricultural society naturally provides the opportunity to develop the proximate factors. Agricultural societies allow more people to live together in relatively small areas, & agriculture allows more food production and that allows people to live in cities and for some people to do things other than farm. 26. List all of the economic products and services provided by the following agriculture and livestock: A. Cotton 1. Linens and fibers used for clothing B. Flax 2.

Meaner of transportation C. Hemp 3. Source of leather D. Camel 4. Plow land E. Horse 5. Livestock in meaner of transportation F. Donkey G. Cow H. Water buffalo l. Goat 27. How does animal domestication affect plant (corn) production? (At least 2) First, having domesticated animals gives the farmers fertilizer, the waste from the animals can be used to fertilize the crops. Second animals can pull plows and that allows farmers to break up and plant soil. 28. In what ways do animals affect military success? Horses are very useful in war; he says that they were like the tanks of the old days.

Also, domesticated animals tend to help breed diseases. These diseases killed many people in areas that did not have masticated animals, and helped them conquer places easily. 29. Name the date and the invention that make horses a viable military option. The invention of yokes and such that allowed horses to pull wagons and chariots. Diamond says chariots were invented around 1800 BC and about how this invention allowed the Hyssop to conquer Egypt. History Haves and Have Onto 30. List the three areas of the world that are the earliest “ haves”.

The earliest three “ haves” were Southwest Asia (the Fertile Crescent), Mesospheric and the Andes/ Amazonian, and China. 31 . List the three places of the world that are the later “ haves” Western Europe, the Indus Valley, and Egypt. All of these became “ haves” when “ founder crops” spread to them from the Fertile Crescent. 32. List the three areas of the world that borrowed the stuff of the “ haves” earliest. Western Europe, the Indus Valley of the Indian Subcontinent, and Egypt in northern Africa. 34. Make a statement about the relative location in approximation to each other of the haves in to ten Dowers In #34.

Need TOT production, Increased availability domesticated wild plants, and decreased availability of wild foods. Also the increase in technology To Farm Or Not To Farm 35. What are the four major factors that allowed farmers to dominate hunters and gatherers? 1. Availability of wild food. 2. Plant species were becoming domesticated. 3. People were developing more technology for harvesting and storing food. 4. Populations grew and that made farming necessary. How To Make An Almond 36. Use an example that explains how the tastier plants we have today went through the process of natural selection.

People would learn which fruits were tasty and would pick them and eat them or would bring them home and eat them later. The seeds of the fruits that were eaten would then be excreted and might sprout near trines. Alternatively some of the fruits might spoil and be discarded or might be dropped. Again, their seeds would sprout. This would happen nearer to human settlements. 37. Give five examples of different characteristics a plant could possess to allow it to be naturally selected. 1 . The size of the fruit. 2. Whether the seed of the plant is bitter. 3. Whether it has a lot of edible parts. 4. Whether the seeds are oily 5. Whether the fibers of the plant are long 38. How did the industrial revolution affect the moth population in England? The Industrial Revolution led to pollution, which made trees in England darker. This affected moth populations because it changed the color of the bark, when the bark was light, light moths would blend in and be camouflaged. As the trees got darker, light moths were at a disadvantage and dark moths were camouflaged. This led to moths getting darker because natural selection preferred those that were dark. 9. How and where were the fruit trees we have today such as cherries and apples developed for agriculture? , the trees had to be grown through a process of grafting. These trees, then, were developed by people who were intentionally experimenting. Diamond says that the trees were developed in China and that grafting is such an unnatural process that it is clear that people intentionally tried the process to see what would happen. 40. Why were almond trees domesticated for consumption and not oak trees? Oaks, unlike almond trees, grow very slowly, which is obviously not good for agriculture.

Second, oaks spread largely through the efforts of squirrels which gather and burying acorns that people couldn’t really compete with them, and they have been such an effective method of spreading oaks that oaks have evolved squirrel-sized, rather than people-sized fruit in the form of acorns. Apples or Indians 41 . What are the major advantages of the Fertile Crescent that predispose this region to early agricultural development? The Fertile Crescent has a Mediterranean climate Tanat Treasures memo winters Walt lots AT relational Ana not, array summers .

Fertile crescent was self-pollinating, which made them easier to domesticate. Also, the region’s farmers had less competition from hunter-gathering peoples. 42. What is the major key to plant success regarding pollination and how did this affect the Fertile Crescent? Some plants are able to reproduce themselves while others need to cross- pollinate with another individual plant. The ones that can reproduce themselves are better for farmers and they are also disproportionately present in the Fertile Crescent. 43. Why are barley and emmer wheat the two best grasses to domesticate? They both produced the largest seeds.

Wild barley grows in abundance, and has the ability to evolve quickly when domesticated. Emmer wheat does not grow as abundantly, but it can be harvested easily. Also, its seeds do not attach themselves to the husks, making it a good grain to work with. 4. What are the three major limiting factors that encourage the hunter-gatherer lifestyle on New Guiana to continue long after other areas have turned to agriculture? First, there are no wild grasses in New Guiana that are good for domestication as cereals. Second, there are no large animals in New Guiana that can be domesticated.

Third, the root crops available in New Guiana are generally no good either. 45. Based upon the preceding chapter, explain why it is best to characterize Diamond as a cultural or an environmental historian. (Which does he see as the driving force in history? Jarred Diamond could be characterized as an environmental historian than as a cultural historian. If he explains societies’ tendencies to move toward food production. As the result of the potential of their land to sustain life in this manner, but instead he looks at environmental reasons to explain why some areas’ people did not domesticate plants.

Zebras and Unhappy Marriages 46. Why did Africans domesticate Eurasian animals when they had a food source equivalent to a modern zoo in their backyard? In other words, what’s up with those Zebras? It is more convenient to have domesticated animals than to have to unit. African animals aren’t really good candidates for domestication and that is why Africans did not domesticate them, it’s much easier and much less dangerous to have cattle that let you kill them easily instead of having to go and hunt for gnus. 47. You need to make a cute copy of page 167. Use markers and have fun. You will refer to it for the rest of the year.

This will become vitally essential to you exactly one year from now. 48. Explain the many different characteristics of the Anna Karen principle. Like relationships fail for many different reasons, certain societies failed to masticate the animals in their geographic regions for different reasons, also trying to say that relationships that succeed have a lot of common factors that contribute to their success. Spacious Sky and Tilted Axes 49. Explain the advantage of an east-west continental axis. It’s an advantage because it allows crops to spread from one area to another very easily. 0. How does the Norton-south axles prevent Tousling AT crops? Continents Tanat nave a long Norton-south axis are worse than continents that have a long east-west axis when it comes to having crops diffuse. This is because similar latitudes have similar climates Lethal Gift of Livestock 51 . What evolutionary benefit do microbes derive from making humans sick in bizarre ways such as genital sores or diarrhea? Diarrhea and genital sores are good ways for the microbes to spread themselves from one host to another, because the only thing a microbe is trying to do is to replicate itself.

Diamond says these symptoms are “ clever evolutionary strategies to broadcast the germ. ” 52. Give an example how the evolutionary process of natural selection has resulted in immunity to certain diseases. Conditions like sickle-cell anemia may have low fitness in the general unman population, but because the sickle-cell trait confers immunity from malaria, it has high fitness value in populations which have high malaria infection rate. 1 . 53. What are the four characteristics of “ epidemic” diseases that cause them to die out and not reappear for a long period of time? 1 . They spread rapidly and efficiently from person to person. . They are “ acute” illnesses where you only have them for a short time. You either die quickly or recover. 3. The rest of the people become immune, which meaner the disease can’t spring up again in the same population. 4. The diseases have to have human hosts 54. Why does it make sense that slow developing/spreading diseases such as leprosy, polio, etc. Must be the oldest diseases in the history of mankind? Diamond says we know that these diseases must be the oldest because they were the ones “ we could evolve and sustain.. When the total human population was tiny and fragmented. Therefore they were the only ones that could survive and develop among early people. 55. What aspects of farming civilizations make them more adept at sustaining the development of infectious crowd diseases? 1 . Farming civilizations can have a much more dense population. That gives microbes more potential hosts. . They stay in one place and so their feces pile up in one place and the microbes in the feces can be passed to various people quite easily. 3. Farming leads eventually to trade. 56. Explain why the exchange of diseases from the old world (Europe) and the new world (America) was so one-sided (America got killed off, not Europe).

In doing so, make sure to explain exactly what a “ social” animal is. The Old World had all sorts of infectious diseases and the New World didn’t because the Old World was the one that had most of the domesticated animals and those are the animals that tend to be “ social. Social animals are ones that tend to get together in herds rather than running around alone. They’re the ones that get epidemic diseases. Blueprints and Borrowed Letters 57. What is the importance of a writing system to a civilization?

When a civilization is addle to write, teen can record International tout now teen nave cone tongs. I nose records can be exact and can last. Civilizations can also get ideas from faraway places by writing them down. Necessity Mother 58. How does Edition’s phonograph help disprove the theory of necessity as the mother of invention? The perceived use of the phonograph is the ability to record ND play back music that is what records were used for. But this is not something that Edison had in mind. There are many other uses that he thought the phonograph would be for, that wasn’t one of them.

So the point is that inventions don’t come about in response too perceived need. Instead, something gets invented for whatever reason and people find ways to use it. 59. If you believe in Diamond’s theory, which is more important: the ability to invent, or the ability to borrow inventions and find new uses? The ability to borrow and adapt is much more important than the ability to invent. The reason for this is that it s much more possible to borrow many kinds of technologies from many different places than it is to have to invent all of those technologies yourself. 0. Once again we visit Diamond’s thesis. How does geography affect the ability to adapt and refine inventions for use? Important inventions and significant technological breakthroughs are become important as a result of a society’s ability to exploit them, or receptiveness to using them. Diamond argues that one of the crucial factors influencing a society’s receptiveness to new technologies and inventions is geographical. From Egalitarianism to Kleptomaniac 61 . Read between the lines. Diamond’s religious beliefs should be transparent after reading this chapter.

Give a brief analysis of how useful he deems religion for the average Joe in society Diamond is talking in chapter 14 about the role of religion in bringing about the creation of the state as a form of society. He is not necessarily saying that religion continues to play this role. Historically, at least, Diamond certainly does not think that religion did much for the “ average Joe. ” Instead, he believes that religion was used mainly as a way to con the average Joe out of his money and to cause him to believe that the people who ruled over him deserved to do so.

Thank's for Your Vote!
Guns, germs, and steel summer reading. Page 1
Guns, germs, and steel summer reading. Page 2
Guns, germs, and steel summer reading. Page 3
Guns, germs, and steel summer reading. Page 4
Guns, germs, and steel summer reading. Page 5
Guns, germs, and steel summer reading. Page 6
Guns, germs, and steel summer reading. Page 7
Guns, germs, and steel summer reading. Page 8
Guns, germs, and steel summer reading. Page 9

This work, titled "Guns, germs, and steel summer reading" was written and willingly shared by a fellow student. This sample can be utilized as a research and reference resource to aid in the writing of your own work. Any use of the work that does not include an appropriate citation is banned.

If you are the owner of this work and don’t want it to be published on AssignBuster, request its removal.

Request Removal
Cite this Essay

References

AssignBuster. (2021) 'Guns, germs, and steel summer reading'. 10 December.

Reference

AssignBuster. (2021, December 10). Guns, germs, and steel summer reading. Retrieved from https://assignbuster.com/guns-germs-and-steel-summer-reading/

References

AssignBuster. 2021. "Guns, germs, and steel summer reading." December 10, 2021. https://assignbuster.com/guns-germs-and-steel-summer-reading/.

1. AssignBuster. "Guns, germs, and steel summer reading." December 10, 2021. https://assignbuster.com/guns-germs-and-steel-summer-reading/.


Bibliography


AssignBuster. "Guns, germs, and steel summer reading." December 10, 2021. https://assignbuster.com/guns-germs-and-steel-summer-reading/.

Work Cited

"Guns, germs, and steel summer reading." AssignBuster, 10 Dec. 2021, assignbuster.com/guns-germs-and-steel-summer-reading/.

Get in Touch

Please, let us know if you have any ideas on improving Guns, germs, and steel summer reading, or our service. We will be happy to hear what you think: [email protected]