what does cargo mean in guns germs and steel

Full Answer

What is the main idea of Guns Germs and steel?

Guns, Germs, and Steel Summary. In Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond outlines the theory of geographic determinism, the idea that the differences between societies and societal development arise primarily from geographical causes. The book is framed as a response to a question that Diamond heard from Yali, a charismatic New Guinean politician.

Is Guns Germs and steel the worst mistake in history?

Guns Germs and Steel. In 1997, ten years after calling agriculture The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race, Jared Diamond came out with Guns, Germs, and Steel. It’s become a landmark, best-seller book that would win the Pulitzer Prize and be filmed by National Geographic for PBS.

What is geographic determinism in Guns Germs and steel?

The way the content is organized and presented is seamlessly smooth, innovative, and comprehensive." In Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond outlines the theory of geographic determinism, the idea that the differences between societies and societal development arise primarily from geographical causes.

What is the Jared Diamond of Guns Germs and steel?

From Guns Germs & Steel to Collapse. The Jared Diamond of Guns, Germs, and Steel has almost no role for human agency–the ability people have to make decisions and influence outcomes. Europeans become inadvertent, accidental conquerors. Natives succumb passively to their fate.

What was Yali's question how was cargo viewed by Guineans?

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.

What do New Guineans mean by the word cargo?

material goodsVoiceover: New Guineans use the word cargo to describe the material goods first brought to their country by Westerners. Cargo was regarded by many as evidence of the white man's power. It was treated with an almost religious reverence.

What is the main question in Guns, Germs, and Steel?

This book seeks to answer the question, “Why did the rate of progress differ so much for cultures on different continents?” Around 11,000 years ago all human societies were hunter gatherers. Understanding the causes of history improves our ability to intervene and improve the world.

What is Jared Diamond's claim?

Jared Diamond's basic theory is that some countries developed more rapidly than others and were able to expand and conquer much of the world because of geographic luck.

What is this cargo?

Definition of cargo : the goods or merchandise conveyed in a ship, airplane, or vehicle : freight Dock workers were unloading the ship's cargo.

What does old cargo mean?

old cargo definition, old cargo meaning | English dictionary n. a baby that is less than 2 weeks old. hatchback.

What is Jared Diamond's conclusion?

Jared Diamond The main conclusion of the book is that the success of one group of people in developing civilization earlier, and in eventually displacing others, is due to their good fortune of having locally available plants and animals that were suitable for domestication.

What grade level is Guns, Germs, and Steel?

grades 6-12The lessons were designed for students studying World History, geography, economics, current events, and life sciences in grades 6-12.

How long does it take to read Guns, Germs, and Steel?

The average reader will spend 8 hours and 0 minutes reading this book at 250 WPM (words per minute).

Is Jared Diamond a PhD?

He attended the Roxbury Latin School and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard College in 1958 and a PhD on the physiology and biophysics of membranes in the gall bladder from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1961.

What does geographic luck mean?

Geographic luck is the term used to describe the phenomenon of the fact that people in some areas are just luckier than others. For instance, the Fertile Crescent got nutritious wheat and barley while Papua New Guinea got sago palm.

What is Diamond's argument in guns, germs, and steel?

Guns, Germs, and Steel: Arguments In a nutshell, the book argues that geographic factors, not cultural, racial, or economic factors, determine the development of civilizations. In the book, Diamond questions why Eurasian civilizations have thrived compared to civilizations in other parts of the world.

What is Papua New Guineans motto?

Unity in DiversityOverview. With its state motto, “Unity in Diversity”, Papua New Guinea is indeed a country with outstanding ethnic, linguistic and cultural variety, resulting from the rugged and mountainous geography of the main island of New Guinea, and the isolation of the smaller islands of the archipelago.

What do people from Papua New Guinea call themselves?

The indigenous peoples of New Guinea, commonly called Papuans, are Melanesians.

What do you call people from Papua New?

The indigenous peoples of West Papua in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, commonly called Papuans, are Melanesians.

What do you call Papua New Guineans?

The islands that constitute Papua New Guinea were settled over a period of 40,000 years by the mixture of peoples who are generally referred to as Melanesians.

What was the reception of guns, germs, and steel by academics?

The reception of Guns, Germs, and Steel by academics was generally positive.

What were the advantages of the guns and steel of the book?

The plentiful supply of food and the dense populations that it supported made division of labor possible. The rise of non-farming specialists such as craftsmen and scribes accelerated economic growth and technological progress. These economic and technological advantages eventually enabled Europeans to conquer the peoples of the other continents in recent centuries by using the guns and steel of the book's title, particularly after the decimation of native populations by the “germs” (epidemic diseases) of the title.

Who said guns, germs, and steel let the West off the hook?

Kathleen Lowrey argued that Guns, Germs, and Steel "lets the West off the hook" and "poisonously whispers: mope about colonialism, slavery, capitalism, racism, and predatory neo-imperialism all you want, but these were/are nobody's fault. This is a wicked cop-out.

Guns Germs and Steel

In 1997, ten years after calling agriculture The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race, Jared Diamond came out with Guns, Germs, and Steel. It’s become a landmark, best-seller book that would win the Pulitzer Prize and be filmed by National Geographic for PBS.

Conquest & Native Allies

Diamond’s account seriously underplays the alliances with native groups that enabled European forces to conquer and rule. After some initial victories, which Diamond lavishly describes, thousands of natives joined the tiny European garrisons.

Notes on Guns Germs and Steel

I draw heavily on the essays in Questioning Collapse for these observations and have found good material in this volume. However, as I discuss in my blog-post Anthro-Flop-ology, the book has serious shortcomings as a popular critique. See also the review by Alex Golub on Savage Minds.

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Intellectual background

Reception

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