Guns Germs And Steel Analysis

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According to Jared Diamond, he argues that there are various reasons for inequalities amongst societies around the world. He studies the causes of this and why history “unfolded differently on different continents.” In Guns, Germs and Steel:The Fates of Human Societies, he argues that the success of a society is not derived from race or culture, but more-so on “geographic location.” Location was crucial because areas suitable for the domestication of plants and animals ultimately gained a head start. The domestication of food and animals, along with writing ultimately contributed to the progression of a society. These resources are closely related to the inequalities because they developed from one another. Writing developed because of the…show more content…
The history of food domestication was vital to the progression of a society because it essentially provided a society with a competitive advantage. According to Diamond, “Food production was indirectly a prerequisite for the development of guns, germs and steel.” This means that if a society was successful in food production, it led to the development of other technologies, such as writing. Hence, ending up with the “guns, germs and steel” required to dominate other societies. One significant reason societies developed an agriculture system earlier than others is geographic location. The origin of food production started in nine major independent sites; which means local people domesticating plants and animals in their area. These sites included West Africa, Ethiopia, and the Fertile Crescent. Of the nine major food sites, the Fertile Crescent, had the upper hand in food production. This was due to the availability of of plants and animals that were easy to domesticate such as barley, flax, and wheat. Thus, allowing a food surplus to develop, and a more advanced society to flourish. During 8500 B.C., Eurasia had the greater advantage in food production due to its east-west axis location. Diamond explains that axis orientation had an effected the spread of crops and livestock and possibly writing and other inventions. Eurasia’s location allowed its society to easily excess important technologies,…show more content…
Diamond states that because inventing a form of writing was complex, there had to be an important reason for it. The use of writing originated in Southwest Asia with the Sumerian cuneiform in 3000 B.C. The cuneiform consisted of logograms, which consisted of symbols that represented a word. Writing developed specifically because of agriculture. In the Fertile Crescent, writing was used for the recording of animals and accounting for crops. Although Diamond states that some societies who adopted writing prided themselves on being above “savages”, there were complex societies, such as the Incas, who never developed writing. Civilizations like the Incas, who never developed writing can be a result of its location or the failure to develop the idea of writing. Furthermore, writing was never adopted in hunter-gatherer societies because a food surplus, due to food domestication, never developed to feed potential scribes. Writing was valuable to a society because it generated power by making it possible to communicate with others in distant areas. It progressed societies in key hallmarks, consisting of agriculture, complex technology and a centralized government. For example, Diamond notes how writing enabled conquerors to document about the lands they encountered, ultimately leading to rapid conquests. Initially, writing was confined to the elites, such as professional scribes who were employed to

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