Analysis of the Worst Mistake in Human History by Jared Diamond

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Jared Diamond makes the argument that when humans decided 10,000 years ago to no longer be hunter-gatherers and made the decision to become sedentary and start domesticating their animals and crops, the result is that the human race has experienced a steady downfall. Diamond makes the point that “with agriculture came the gross social and sexual inequality, the disease and despotism that curse our existence,” (Diamond). While the present system certainly is far from being perfected, Diamond’s various complaints and solutions certainly would not be of much use in the present time either. Diamond states that the reason hunter-gatherer groups became agriculturists was simply because it was easier to create more food for your individual group if it was grown, this statement does have validity. Everyone would be responsible for themselves and would be expected to help out. There wouldn’t be the constant grumbling that there are so many people being lazy and living off of handouts like there are in the modern world today. There is also a valid argument that sexism probably would not be as prevalent either. If everyone in the group is responsible for the exact same thing and everyone is always on the move, there certainly would not seem to be much time left for gender stratification like there is in the modern world where the woman is expected to provide child care, perform housework, as well as usually have an outside of the home place of employment. There also would not be as large of a population as based on Diamonds’ statement, “ nomadic hunter-gatherers have to keep their children spaced at four year intervals by infanticide and other means,” (Diamond). While certainly not advocating any form of infanticide, if a woman only has... ... middle of paper ... ...le Jared Diamond does make several valid points, there is no purpose or anything to be gained by living in the past or wondering what may have been. Humans have become quite accustomed to the conveniences that have developed over the centuries, even if they have to work harder for them. Humans work longer and harder to achieve these things, but humans have also become rather lazy as well. For example, the average American spends their day in an air-conditioned work-space then comes to an air-conditioned home to watch television and use various electronic devices after hitting the local fast-food place for dinner. The population of America alone would be quite drastically reduced if some catastrophic event forced them to once again become hunter-gatherers. Works Cited Diamond, J. (1987). The worst mistake in the history of the human race. Discover, 8(5), 64-66.

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