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Quick takeaways
- Environmental differences, particularly access to nutritious native crops and domesticable animals, played a crucial role in determining the pace and trajectory of civilization, with the Fertile Crescent in Western Eurasia having a superior array of useful plants and animals, resulting in the rise of stratified societies and a head start in the development of guns, germs, and steel compared to other societies.
- Eurasian societies had a significant advantage due to their exposure to domesticated animals and the diseases that evolved from them, resulting in genetic resistance to diseases such as smallpox, flu, and malaria, which decimated non-Eurasian populations upon contact with European explorers, significantly impacting the course of history.
Deep dives
Environmental differences and the rise of civilization
Jared Diamond's book 'Guns, Germs, and Steel' explores the reasons behind the divergent paths of development on different continents. He argues that environmental differences, particularly in terms of access to nutritious native crops and domesticable animals, played a crucial role in determining the pace and trajectory of civilization. Specifically, the Fertile Crescent in Western Eurasia possessed a superior array of useful plants and animals, enabling the development of settled agriculture, population growth, and the rise of stratified societies with specialized craft and warrior classes. This environmental advantage eventually translated into eurasians having a head start in the development of guns, germs, and steel compared to other societies.
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