Guns, Germs and Steel 13/18

[deggadegga]

the SA farmer wont let diamond touch the stone

[Teleportmeinthe60s]

ok this is really funny. everyone makes comment about this video, and by there level of stupidity, i assume you haven't watched the other ones. You cant see the whole picture, this guy is a genius.

[TheStickdee]

hahaha old mate wouldn't let him touch that rock

[jjrglobal]

OK let me get this straight. If Africa's cape is at the same latitude and has almost the exact same climate and soil, as do many places on earth, then how can you attribute the Europeans success to geographic location? This conclusion makes no sense whatsoever. The American Indians, south Americans , S Africans, Natives of many parts of the world had the exact same advantage as the European's.

He contradicts himself in the first five minutes. Not very well thought out.

[yaycharlietheunicorn]

Okay, obviously, this isn't even about geography, it's about how European guns, germs, and steel helped shape today's society. Sure, the geographical viewpoint can take part of the credit, but mostly, the Europeans were able to control so much of the world because, a) The Europeans had a more advanced technological society than the rest of the world, specifically Africa, which gave them an advantage in war and weaponry.

[yaycharlietheunicorn]

b) The Europeans built up a certain immunity to the dangerous diseases surrounding them (except, of course, for malaria). c) The abundance of natural resources, such as steel, in Europe allowed the Europeans to invent many things that weren't yet available for other countries, such as the railroad and the gun.

So, you see, "Guns, Germs, and Steel" really isn't about geography, it' about guns, germs, and steel. (Hence the name).

(I ran out of space so I continued my though here).

[jjrglobal]

Nice try but considering that the UK has to import all of its iron ore, most of it from Africa, your abundance of natural resources for Europeans over the rest of the world just doesn't hold water. The only over abundance they had over everyone else was gray matter, and the will to use it.People in Africa had the same natural resources as the Europeans they just weren't intelligent enough to use them in the same ways as the whites.Hell they're still savages in Africa, nothings changed.

[shakeeldawud]

@jjrglobal You are a racist bastard. If you watched the entire 18 part video you would understand that the theory was that the places along the same lines of latitude were more condusive to the conditions for advancment.

[jjrglobal]

@shakeeldawud

then why were the Europeans able to conquer?

[josecitomadera]

@shakeeldawud Excellent point, I could NOT have stated it better myself.

[mst3k4evur]

@jjrglobal

I had the same idea. If his theory is correct then China and India should have conquered the planet, not Europe. They had the Geography, agriculture and civilization and heavily outnumbered European civilization.

[LapoSettepanze]

@mst3k4evur well, we haven't reached any terminal point of human evolution yet so the conquest of the world by India and China can still be behind the corner according to his theory. and it's exactly what's happening. China will have conquered the world in max 20 years, it already holds the power to grind US economy to a halt.

[LapoSettepanze]

@jjrglobal he argues that it's all down to the presence of ideal climate, highly nourishing, easily storable crops and animals that would reproduce within max 2 years after their birth, that could be tamed, milked, skinned and eaten for their meat (goats, cows, sheeps, which coincidentally originate from the middle east). All these key components were found in the fertile crescent and then spread to Europe. South Africa lacked crops and cattle. had to be imported

[jjrglobal]

@LapoSettepanze

Yeah I realize what his argument is, its just that his argument is such nonsense, I dont see how anyone could believe it. Europe certainly isnt the only place on earth where these conditions exist, and it certainly isnt all down to the things he mentions. Credit should be given to the people themselves, they were able to outthink the rest of the world, thats what its all down to. Those conditions existed in many many areas of the world, yet only Europe succeeded.