![]() ![]() He becomes openly emotional about the current poverty of Africans while failing to explain why other cultures, like India and much of Asia, though formerly colonized, have now managed to advance scientifically and socially while much of Africa remains in misery and backwardness. ![]() The final episode is about Africa and shows that traditional African culture had many of the same advantages that Europeans had: domesticated animals, immunity to common diseases and efficient farming, yet never developed a higher level of technology. But he fails to explain why other civilizations that had those same advantages, for example China, India, the Middle East, didn't develop the science and technology that allowed Europe to dominate the world. I was willing to buy his notion that access to domesticating animals allowed for more productive farming and therefore greater civilizational advances. But 'Guns, Germs & Steel' is too weak an idea to carry through more than one episode, let alone three. I usually enjoy these video documentaries though I know that I'm getting watered-down history with great visuals. ![]() This series asks the question: why do Westerners have so much materially and the natives of New Guinea have so little? Jared Diamond's thesis in Guns, Germs and Steel is that because Europeans had geographical conditions which were favorable to farming and domesticating animals they had natural advantages which allowed them to develop a high degree of civilization and conquer the world. ![]()
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