Guns, Germs and Steel Part 6 of 18

Episode One : Out of Eden (Part 6 of 6)

Jared Diamond's journey of discovery began on the island of Papua New Guinea. There, in 1974, a local named Yali asked Diamond a deceptively simple question:

"Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo, but we black people had little cargo of our own?"

Diamond realized that Yali's question penetrated the heart of a great mystery of human history -- the roots of global inequality.

Why were Europeans the ones with all the cargo? Why had they taken over so much of the world, instead of the native people of New Guinea? How did Europeans end up with what Diamond terms the agents of conquest: guns, germs and steel? It was these agents of conquest that allowed 168 Spanish conquistadors to defeat an Imperial Inca army of 80,000 in 1532, and set a pattern of European conquest which would continue right up to the present day.

Diamond knew that the answer had little to do with ingenuity or individual skill. From his own experience in the jungles of New Guinea, he had observed that native hunter-gatherers were just as intelligent as people of European descent -- and far more resourceful. Their lives were tough, and it seemed a terrible paradox of history that these extraordinary people should be the conquered, and not the conquerors.

To examine the reasons for European success, Jared realized he had to peel back the layers of history and begin his search at a time of equality -- a time when all the peoples of the world lived in exactly the same way.

Category:

Education

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[dealerG]

Whether the New guinea would have made colonies on the moon by now or be where the western world was 400 years ago isn't known and isn't the point.

The point is that they were never really given the chance due to being forsaken by geographical disadvantages.

[figureoflight]

I am watching this while eating junk food and using a modern computer.

[JohnnyKidder]

Thats why RTS need really balanced maps. Imagine playing civilization on a map with realistic conditions, and you start with a base in New Guinea

[christo930]

@ItsAnathema2 There's a reason I used that qualifier, because I know I am a lay person, I know I am far too ignorant on the multiple disciplines involved in his hypothesis,unlike you who talks in language that scientists themselves never use. You speak with the confidence of the ignorant. The show itself said, multiple times, that most scientists in relevant fields have not accepted his hypothesis and that it has a lot of problems. Do you know how easy it would be to just list a few names?

[ItsAnathema2]

@christo930 :

From what you understand?

Not surprising then, as you don't seen to understand much.

(What makes you think that Diamond's fellow experts have so widely panned his theory? Care to name a few or explain why?)

[christo930]

@marosam236 Well, England did defeat China, which couldn't be described as "weak" in any sense of the word.

[marosam236]

@christo930 i know its european but it defeated the strong nations around it while imperial europe expaned so much by conquering the weak nations around it i was clear abt that

[christo930]

@marosam236 From what I understand, his theory is not well accepted by his peers, who aren't laypeople like me(which is the reason I don't buy it). The Roman Empire was European.

[marosam236]

@christo930 most people that dont accept Diamond thinking because they havent read the book, u can't include the book's important details in just a 3 hour documentry it would take like 20 episodes at least, but its ur opinion. but whats lol is that imperial europe conquered the world by defeating all its weak powers, people without Guns, germs, and steel. Unlike the Roman empire, Muslims, Mongols and China who fought powerful nations.

[christo930]

@marosam236 China has the longest history of being a great civilization and is responsible for most early technology, I don't doubt that they will return. It's funny, China invented all this war stuff, but never became imperialistic with colonies all over the world the way the Europeans did. I don't know if I buy Diamond's thesis, but I don't think it's race though.

[marosam236]

@christo930 3. To sum up even if those nations have the same advantages no one nation can stay Winning it is like flipping a coin. Maybe in the future europe's advances will be beaten by Muslims again or by China and they will be the leaders of the world like europe now!

[marosam236]

@christo930 2. ottoman sultan Beyazid 2 banned the printing press due to "religious reasons" (but actually anything beneficial is never against islamic sharia). this stopped ottomans advance greatly. while europe was flourishing, ottman's where declining until europe was more advanced than the islamic world (actually the whole world) by around 1780s (industrial revolution) So YES europe did care more abt technology in the last 5 centuries more than muslims thats wat made them win

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