Analysis Of Guns Germs And Steel

In the prologue of the book, Guns Germs and Steel, written by Jared Diamond, there is a discussion about a simple, yet difficult question asked by a politician named Yali. According to Yali, “Why is that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own?” It is questioned as to why nations develop differently even though everything developed together at the same time. It is true that there are major differences between many diverse countries, indicating the separate growth and development throughout the years. In this case, Yali wanted to discover the reason as to why the development of guns, germs, and steel could allow different civilizations to become more dominant than …show more content…
Diamond talks about how American psychologist have tried numerous times to prove that white americans were more intelligent than those of different race (Diamond 20). However, it has come into realization that intelligence differs when concerned with the social environment and educational opportunities; thus proving that it is not a leading factor to national development. Growing in an social environment promotes intellectual development, which thus brings forth intelligent adults that are more capable of surviving in vast conditions. Even with the different levels of intelligence, it does not give any valid reason as to why it would contribute to the rate of national development. Intelligence has no real impact on the fast development of nations. There are many intelligent people than could be found in less advanced civilizations. On the other hand, it is genetics that have contributed to the different speeds of nation development. Increase of civilization brought upon plagues and epidemic diseases. Closed in and densely populated areas allowed diseases to be easily contracted. This cause populations to decrease, civilizations to fall, and the start of a new evolution which would become a benefit to humans. Evolution would take place and over time, people would slowly become immune to certain diseases. Having the chance of develop many ways to avoid any contractions, people could focus on things that would benefit society (things such as technology, farming, etc.). Race also began to bring upon new concerns. People began to differentiate others with the type of race they are. Certain societies were labeled as savages and barbarians. Domination over the “weak” society would come into view, as many civilizations began the need for conquering others. This also proves the differences in the rate of growth