Question

Jared diamond refers to the people of new guinea as "among the world's most culturally diverse and adaptable people in the world", yet they have much less than modern americans. diamond has developed a theory about what has caused these huge discrepancies among different countries, and he says it boils down to geographic luck. discuss and give several examples from the film to support diamond's theory

Answer 1

In his book “Guns, Germs and Steel,” Jared Diamond argues that societies that have prevailed and conquered others (for example, Eurasian societies) have been lucky in terms of environment. This has allowed them to enjoy advantages and adaptations that other cultures have not had. When he discusses the case of Papua New Guinea, he gives several reasons for the lack of technological development they had before the arrival of Europeans:

Lack of large mammals that could be of help in transportation or agriculture.

Isolation from other major cultures.

Lack of domesticable animals.

Lack of domesticable crops.

Enormous natural barriers that prevented constant contact between various cultural groups.