Germs, Gun, and Steel

One of the goals that I have for this summer and even during the regular spring and fall semesters is to be reading or listening to books that I am interested in, but are not necessarily related to my major. A predominant trait of mine is just a love of learning. I always want to make sure I am up to date on current events, current research that is important to know from a holistic perspective, and just to know information that ultimately could relate to what I do in the future. Guns, Germs, and Steel has been one of those books that is on my list that I've wanted to read.

Originally published in 1997, it has become an important book to describe the differences between the rise of peoples around the world. My younger sister had read this book for a grade school class and seeing that I could borrow the audiobook for free through the Tempe Public Library, I could not pass up the chance to listen to it.

This posting is going to be a brief review of the major points of this book and the main lessons that I am taking from listening to this book on audiobook.

 

Before I dive into the details of the book, I want to preface with a short explanation of why I am interested in the topic of "The Fates of Human Societies". One of the major contributing factors to my interest in Jared Diamond's Pulitzer Prize winning book is my interest in Sid Meier's Civilization computer games. In this game, they incorporate the principles of this book in a competitive turn-based game between various fledging civilizations that are seeking to expand in technology, land, and culture throughout a usually fictional earth. My experience with these games and my interest in the differences between the growth of civilizations in the world sparked my interest to listen to this audiobook.

 

The primary points of Guns, Germs, and Steel are as follows:

• The myth that some races are more intelligent than others which gives explanatory power to why some people groups are more technologically advanced than others is a false analysis and a non-factor in explaining humanities' differences
• Guns, germs, and steel are effects of more basic causes of humanity's technological advancement, which stem in geographical locations and the ability for civilizations to produce high amounts of food
• Geographical placement of people groups is the primary effect which determines whether a people group will develop new technologies
• The main determinant of whether a society would take the leap from being hunter/gatherers into modern tribes, chiefdoms, or states was the factor of domesticating high-calorie crops, which primarily includes being able to domesticate cereal crops (ex. wheat, corn, rice, etc.)
• If the civilization was able to domesticate productive crops and if their continent contained animals that were able to be domesticated and used for meat or labor, then they would have an even higher likelihood in having the food production to increase their population and support non-farmers who could be craftsmen, bureaucrats, and other non-food producing citizens
• Also, most of the populations in the Americas, Australia, and New Guinea were isolated because of geographical reasons from other productive people groups, and unfortunately they did not have many domesticable plants that would support large populations or domesticable animals in their region
  
  By no means am I doing justice for Jared Diamond's book by describing his major arguments in 6 bullet points, but this will give you a taste of what the book is about if you choose to pick it up in the future. I highly recommend reading his book and educating yourself about the history of humanity and how we got to where we are now.