Guns, Germs And Steel, By Jared Diamond

The article, Guns, Germs and Steel, written by Jared Diamond, is an argument about how and why things happened differently in history in different continents. It’s about looking deeper into why things happened the way they did. Why did western Eurasian societies become more powerful? What enabled these parts of the world to develop more quickly and in turn be able to conquer less developed societies around the world? The important message to grasp from this article is not about how certain continents or areas becoming developed quicker, but why those specific areas were the ones to develop quicker. An example of this that Diamond discusses, is how New Guineans were still living in the “Stone Age” 200 years ago when Europeans came to New Guinea with materials (called cargo) that were very valued. The question was, why did the people of New Guinea have a scarce amount of cargo when the white Europeans had so much of it? (page 14)
One argument that he talks about is a genetic explanation. The idea that Europeans where more intelligent than the people in other places, this instance being New Guinea. However, the information that Diamond displays tends to refute this idea. Also, there isn’t any evidence to back up that this claim is true. There were several other idea’s that supported and refuted his argument, some in which needed more exploration. It appears Diamond has a way of working out all the possible explanations and then focusing on each one and either refuting it or using it to support his argument. I think that this was a good method as it allows the reader to understand that there were so many different theories behind why there was development in certain continents sooner than others. The reader is able to understand what didn’t cause it, and come closer to finding out what did, which I thought was a smart idea with going about this