Analysis Of Guns, Germs, And Steel By Jared Diamond

In Jared Diamond’s excerpt from his book, Guns, Germs, and Steel, he puts forward the historical narrative of how human evolution progresses at different rates for different people due solely to the particular geographic region that we are placed on. Diamond supports this thesis with specific evidence on the importance of food production, and emphasizes that food is the main ingredient needed for a population to experience progress and growth, and expand around the world. I agree with Diamond’s dissertation and find it compelling due to his logical evidence and ethos on the topic.
Diamond begins addressing his argument by explaining the general overview on why the rise of food production had such a significant impact on the development of

different regions around the world. In order for a population to thrive culturally, that is- an emergence of technology, a centralized government, reading and writing, a social stratification, and an economic specialization- people must not be struggling to survive due to lack of food and starvation.

In an article from his website, Diamond breaks his main points down into a simplistic manner. He writes, “The conclusion of social scientists is that all of these developments required sedentary populous societies producing storable food surpluses capable of feeding not only the food producers themselves, but also capable of feeding full-time political leaders, merchants, scribes, and technology specialists” (Citation). This speaks volumes in showing how crucial food production was in making a population evolve from simply surviving, to thriving. If the main concern of those in a hunter-gatherer society is having enough food to survive the day, they don’t have the time to worry about developing

the aspects that create culture in a population. This allows the reader to understand the background story into why a population would not further develop without the production and distribution of a large surplus of food. If I were forced to spend my days attempting to harvest crops simply so that I could survive, I would most definitely not have the time to further my education and develop myself into a more educated and cultured individual capable of holding a job in the healthcare field. As a result, food production is directly linked with the ultimate rise or fall of a population.
We now face the question of why mass food production only arose in certain regions of the world.

In his book, Diamond ponders, “Why did food production develop first in these seemingly rather marginal lands, and only later in today’s most fertile farmlands and pastures” (Diamond 94)? This presents a very important step in understanding why countries within Eurasia are now mass-producing surpluses food, while many parts of Africa are still not harvesting enough food to make it through the day. Diamond answers this question by stating the following: “At one extreme are areas in which food production arose altogether independently, with the domestication of many indigenous crops (and, in some cases animals) before the arrival of any crops from other areas” (Diamond 98). He then says, “Those imported domesticates may be thought of as ‘founder’ crops and animals, because they founded local food production. The arrival of founder domesticates enabled local people to become sedentary, and thereby increased the likelihood of local crops’ evolving from wild plants that were gathered, brought home and planted accidentally, and later planted intentionally” (Diamond 100). This is significant because while regions within Africa cultivated their own indigenous crops and animals, they never acquired founder crops. Without the ease of these crops, those populations never evolved to become sedentary. This allowed areas in Eurasia to put in substantially less effort to yield the same

quantity of food as those in places such as Africa. This leaves those with founder crops to spend time cultivating a thriving culture, and those without them to struggle and spend the days gathering food. As a result, this answers the question of why geographic location ties in with food production to play such an integral role in the ways by which human development among different continents can and do unravel.
Tying in with the importance of geographic location is the major influence of climate on a population’s ability to have mass food production. Diamond addresses this when he writes, “Another [explanation], popular with inhabitants of northern Eurasian continent versus African continent Europe, invokes the supposed stimulatory effects of their homeland’s cold climate and the inhibitory effects of hot, humid, tropical climates on human creativity and energy. Perhaps the seasonally variable climate at high latitudes poses more diverse challenges than does a seasonally constant tropical climate”(22). This hypothesis raises the questions of climate and its affect on the human psyche. For example, people living in high latitudes with freezing temperatures are forced to spend time building shelter to stay warm, while dealing with the issues of growing sustainable food sources in less than ideal temperatures. This presents the obstacle of cultivating a prosperous population while having a non-arable atmosphere, or with little to no rainfall. For example, in Diamond’s article, he recounts the reasons why certain cultures evolve in the world. He states that it’s not the people themselves, but, “Instead, the reasons were continental differences in the available wild plant and animal species suitable for domestication, resulting in earlier domestication of a more productive suite of domesticates in Eurasia, plus Eurasia’s east/west axis that facilitated the spread of those domesticates throughout Eurasia” (Citation). If the climate of a specific country isn’t arable, or if there is little rainfall, it makes the growth of plants and crops extremely difficult. With a grueling climate and environment to live in compounds the difficulties. Conversely, a suitable climate benefits the inhabitants of places such as Eurasia. Having arable land and seasonable climate changes, countries within Eurasia have little difficulty in mass producing food, enabling the populous time to focus on developing culture and expansion into a world power. As a result, the climate of a specific region has a direct and highly influential impact on whether the population will be able to develop and expand around the world.
I agree with Diamond’s historical narrative and find it compelling due to his use of ethos. I know that I am able to trust him and the information he puts forward through his expertise in the topics he addresses. In describing his background, he makes the following statement: “My perspective on this controversy comes from 33 years of working with New Guineans in their own intact societies” (20). Furthermore, he also says, “Since completing my Ph.D. in 1961, I have divided my scientific research efforts between two fields: molecular physiology on the one hand, evolutionary biology and biogeography on the other hand” (27). Both of these statements allow me to have confidence and trust in Diamond, and the information that he puts forth in his book through his large amount of first hand interactions with the people of New Gunia, and the extensive studies and schooling he went through in the fields that his book is in part based off. Rather than being an obscure person with no qualifications, Diamond is educated on these topics, making his claims much more believable. As a result, I find Diamond’s historical narrative to be compelling.
In conclusion, I believe that in the excerpt from Guns, Germs, and Steel, author Jared Diamond puts forth the compelling, historical narrative of how human evolution unfolds at varying rates for different groups of people due to the particular geographic region that they are placed on. He supports this thesis with detailed and direct evidence on the importance of food production, and the integral role it plays in allowing a population to develop the main ingredients of power, enabling them to expand around the globe. I found this excerpt to be significant and influential as it helped me better understand why countries such as my own, the U.S., has became such a major world power, while other regions, such as New Gunia, have not. While a tough read, the journey taken through this thought-provoking excerpt was well worth the final destination!