Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel

Guns, Germs, Steel

Based on Diamond's, Guns, Germs and Steel, what does Diamond conclude about the way we as a species have evolved? Also, Why is the west so "dominant" i.e. why did we wipe out the Indians in America instead of their diseases wiping us out?

According to Jared Diamond, who 'wins' the various struggles for dominance in world history has little to do with one group's moral or cultural superiority and more to do with biological and ecological circumstances. The fact that the native populations of the Americas were decimated in such great numbers can be traced to the fact that the European invaders had been exposed to varieties of 'the pox' through domestic animals -- most famously through cow pox, which would, many years later provide the basis of the vaccine for the disease. Because the American Indians were not exposed to domestic animals in such close proximity, and largely evolved as hunter-gathers rather than surviving through agricultural means, they did not have the ability to build up immunity over generations from exposure to animals. Also, the native's exposure as a people was sudden, rather than slowly over generations, which also allows immunity to build up. This is yet another example of the superior advantage, according to Diamond, that domesticating animals conveys to a people like the Europeans and accounts for the reason certain groups within the human species have dominated other groups.

What are the symbols of group identity in the United States? Are they good or bad in your opinion?

Symbols of group identity often pertain to foodstuffs (such as the critical evolution of wheat, corn, and the animals consumed) and cultural symbols such as literacy. What one eats, where one lives, and how one expresses one's self-reflects one's cultural associations -- whether a society was a hunter-gatherer or agrarian in ancient times, and in the United States today. For example -- is a person prosperous and can select a variety of foods from the local market, like a sushi-eating urbanite, or is he or she forced to eat cheap fast food? Is he or part of a particular ethnic group striving to recreate his or her culture in the United States, or striving to assimilate by serving hamburgers and French fries? Apparently functional items like clothing styles, sizes of cars, where one lives, and the nature of one's dwelling can all take on larger symbolic cultural and socioeconomic significance in the United States. This can create group unity but can also act as forms of group division, even while most Americans rally behind such cultural symbols of freedom as the flag.