Leandra G. Block 1

Part One.

1.)"Modern history has been shaped by conquest, the conquest of the world by Europeans." At first, I had no idea what it meant but the researcher Diamond, knew quite a bit. Diamond had a fascination with birds, which led him to researching in a certain area, ran by Noginians. (spelling may be wrong.) There, he would learn about how they gather their food, hunting methods, learn how to shoot an arrow, and figure out the difference between our society and theirs. Additionally, one man Yalhi asked him "Why you white men have so much cargo and we Nogonians have so little?" which set him off onto another journey. First of all, cargo meant material goods and determined the power amongst the people and had an almost religious reference. Western colonials thought power was determined by race, but in the ending, they all realized that farming was what determined your power. Farming was in fact, the reason for inequality in the world. The reason behind this is that, some people chose food that can be stored for a longer amount of time. For example, wheat and barley compared to pulp from a saygo tree. The wheat and barley can be stored for multiple years, while the pulp was transformed into dough and can't even be stored for one year. In fact, wheat and barley were "setting humanity on a modern course to civilization." Yes, it began with struggles, such as, taking longer to find food, global temperatures dropped, world became colder and dryer, Middle East suffered a collapse, animal herds died off, along with many trees and plants, but in the end, it provided a way of feeding the people. It was the first reason people began farming. They saw that it provided more food than ever before. This also ties into Diamond's theory of "haves and have nots" because basically, haves and have nots are just comparisons between different cultures. For instance, the Europeans had many animals which was a great advantage for the invention of the plow and using them for strength, instead of just the men. Other cultures had just used the men, didn't have anything else to help them out. His theory also consists of the ways people captured their food, where they kept their food, how they lived, and how they survived. Diamond is a very smart man who didn't give up until he found an answer. He knew that all great civilizations consisted of advanced technology, large populations, and well organized work force and figured out different inventions, ways of life, and life 13,000 years ago. Overall, "Guns, Germs, and Steel" taught me many things about survival in different cultures and different ways of life and showed why there are inequalities in the world.

2.) According to the movie, the most important invention in history was the plow. It was the most powerful machine on the planet, allowing farmers to grow more food and feed more people than ever imagined. Europeans would have no problem using it because they had the large animals needed to pull it, but other cultures had struggled. The plow helped people but not those who weren't supported by larger mammals. For example, one of the cultures Diamond was studying only had pigs. Pigs were not strong enough to pull the plows which left the plow useless. That is why other cultures are ahead is because of their surroundings and they deal with what they have. In conclusion, the plow was one of the most important inventions in history and affected every culture differenty because some could use it and some could not.

Leandra G. Block 1: To Paul L:

Leandra G. Block 1: To Paul L:: To Paul L: I agree with you but i don't. Civilization is like the game Jenga. If you take one or two parts of it out, it will stay structr...

To Paul L:

To Paul L:

I agree with you but i don't. Civilization is like the game Jenga. If you take one or two parts of it out, it will stay structrual, just a little wobbly. However, if you take out several pieces, it will collapse.

Leandra G. Block 1

Leandra G. Block 1
Civilization consits of multiple ideas such as political structures, agriculture, religion, written language, people and their habits, war, trade, art, and so much more, but, it mainly is an organization. It affected mainly men and women, in the areas of hunting and gathering, and children, because for the them, it was hard for every child to get the oppurtunity to learn the written language and those that didn't, found themselves being put to work, rather than at school. When agriculture took over, men found themselves fearing that they will lose their "manhood." So, they claimed new levels of superiority over women, leading to gender relations and compensation. This advanced state of human society took many different roads, challanges, and changes. Civilization first began along river valleys andslowly progressed where religion, ways of gathering food, and people experienced changes. Then, farming came into play, as well as, revolutions and such. Civilization was basically a way of everything being organized and to be uncivilized, you would have to be a part of no stable culture, uneducated, and confusion would rise. Civilizations display peoples' ways of life. For example, religion. So, to be uncivilized, you would basically be unsure of everything that is going on in the world. Overall, that's my opinion of civilization and how i would describe someone who is uncivilized.