Guns, Germs, and Steel
Prologue: Yali’s Question
1. State Yali’s question verbatim. Now explain what it means.
Yali’s question was “Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own.” What Yali is asking is how is it that New Guineans had not thought of, or created, the produce that the White’s had already acquired. For New Guineans are “on the average at least as smart as Europeans”.
2. Diamond states that we cannot respond to Yali’s question by looking at the year that is commonly regarded as the beginning of the age of exploration-1500. What is his rationale for this? What year do we have to look at instead, and why?
Diamond’s reason behind his statement is that in the year of A.D. 1500, the time when Europe worldwide reign was starting, different groups of people were already in different phases of their technological advances as well as their political standings.
3. Diamond attempts to respond to Yali’s question by stating that a particular region was the first to have many items fundamental to the region’s dominance in today’s world. What region was this, and what characteristics did they possess that put them ahead of other societies at the time?
The region that Diamond referred to as having many fundamentals in today's world was Eurasia. Eurasia prevailed in wealth and power in the modern world which helped in the dominance of the region. The Europeans had taken command of North America, Australia, and Southernmost Africa which helped them further progress in power and riches. When most continents were still hunter-gatherers the Eurasians had progressed in technology and complex political organization.[G1] [G2] [G3]
Chapter 5: History’s Haves and Have Nots
4. What possible reason could there be that explains why food production took so long to appear in the Americas?
In large areas around the globe, like the Americas, food production never bloomed because of ecological reasons. Farming and herding had not been fabricated by the natives of the Americas in the northern parts, leaving them 6,000 years behind others in food production. Another cause for their late start was that outlying deserts had no access to water for irrigation.[G4] [G5] [G6]
5. What areas definitely began food production and animal domestication completely independently from any other society? Please also mark the approximate years of food production.
Areas that had definitely begun food production and animal domestication completely independently from any other societies are Southwest Asia (8500 BC), China (by 7500 BC), Mesoamerica (by 3500 BC), Andes and Amazonia (by 3500 BC), and Eastern United States (2500 BC).
6. Describe what a founder crop was, and analyze why it was so significant to the Southwest.
A founder crop was what established local food production in an area. A founder crop was so significant to the Southwest Asia area because that is where the founder crop had begun in 8500 BC, 1000 years before anywhere else.
7. Who benefited from Southwest Asia’s founder crops?
Many places had benefited from Southwest Asia’s founder crops, for example, Western and Central Europe, the Indus Valley Region, and in Egypt as well.
8. Focus on the last paragraph of page 101 through the first paragraph on page 102. Do you agree with the question and answer Diamond proposes? Explain your rationale.
I agree with the question of which Diamond had stated, though not entirely on his answer. I rather think that both peaceful and nonpeaceful events had occurred for the bringing of food production.
9. The last paragraph of page 103 mentions the title of this book. Explain this title in relation to this particular chapter.
The title of this book was used in the paragraph in correlation to the topic he was covering. He had used the title to show the relation of how people who had started with food production early on gained an advantage to the future, or now our modern world.
Chapter 6: To Farm or Not to Farm
10. What are the negative realities of food production?
Negative realities of food production are the number of hours spent working and died younger due to malnourishment and a variety of infectious diseases.
11. Explain and analyze the factors that led to many early humans’ decision to farm.
One factor of early humans’ decision to farm was the decline in wild food because of the hunter-gathers taking/killing off the wild food sources. The second factor was an increase in domesticated plants because the wild food was rapidly disappearing, the ability to settle down was seen as more rewarding. The next factor is the creation of new technology which will help farmers to better farm. The final factor is the geographic boundaries between hunter-gatherers and farmers, the hunter-gatherers being removed. Hunter-gatherers either were killed or had picked up the agricultural lifestyle.
12. Did rising population lead to a rise in food production, or did a rise in food production lead to a rise in population?
Rising population had led to a rise in food production because while mating had been occurring this prompted people to obtain more food to better suit themselves and their ever-growing community.
13. Diamond states that “in most areas of the globe, suitable for food production, hunter-gatherers met one of two fates”. What were these fates, and why do you think these were inevitable fates?
These two fates were either hunter-gatherers settled down and practiced farming alongside their neighbors, or they were killed off by the ever-growing numbers of the sedentary people.
Sum It Up:
14. Was the reason why Western societies became dominant inevitable, or are there factors that could have affected the outcome so that the results could be inverted?
Western societies becoming dominant was inevitable because they had created what had helped push humanity along, giving them an advantage, as well as their wealth and power leading to their overall dominance.
Citation:
Diamond, Jared. (1999). Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York: Norton.