Chapter Summary Of Guns Germs And Steel

Jared Diamond reinforces this thesis in this chapter. That location does have an influence on the intelligence of the people living there. Diamond uses the example of the Maori and Moriori descended from Polynesia. The Maori people are more advance in technology and political organization, whereas the Moriori are less advanced than the Maori people. Due to settling in locations where crops could not be easily grown, the Moriori could not afford luxuries such as specialists and a large army. Since no advancements were made in technology by the Moriori, it would be easy for the Maori to conquer land claimed by the Moriori. The larger the population and density in a location, the more complex and advanced technologies found there. Jared Diamond
states that there is six set of environmental variables that affect Polynesian islands: climate, geologic type, marine type, area, terrain fragmental, and isolation. These variables lead to diversification in human population and adaption.