Why do some civilizations advance while others remain stagnant?
Diamond argues that Eurasian civilization is not so much a product of ingenuity, but of opportunity and necessity. That is, civilization is not created out of superior intelligence, but is the result of a chain of developments, each made possible by certain preconditions.
The earliest human societies lived as hunter-gatherers. The first step towards civilization is the move from hunter-gatherer to agriculture, with the domestication and farming of wild crops and animals. Agricultural production leads to food surpluses, which supports sedentary societies, specialization of craft, rapid population growth, and specialization of labor. Large societies tend to develop ruling classes and supporting bureaucracies, which may lead in turn to the organization of nation states and empires”
”
Related articles
- Guns, Germs and Steel (mslefere.wordpress.com)
- Admixture mapping in Northern Europeans? (blogs.discovermagazine.com)
- The Neolithic Period (eliashernandez2013.wordpress.com)
- European hunter-gatherers owned pigs as early as 4600 BC (scooprocket.com)
- Why Nations Fail: Suggested Reading for Rainforest Architects (innovationrainforest.com)
- European hunter-gatherers owned pigs as early as 4600BC (eurekalert.org)
- Ecuador history (slideshare.net)