Guns, Germs, and Steel Viewing Guide
For how long have people been living in New Guinea?
What was Yali’s question?
What does Yali mean by the term “cargo?”
What is Diamond’s opinion on the theory that race explains why whites (Europeans) have more than others?
What are the 3 conditions needed for a society to become a great civilization?
13,000 years ago, after the end of the last Ice Age, in what area were humans thriving?
How was the region 13,000 years ago different from how it is today?
What is the fundamental problem with hunting as a means to get food?
Why is gathering the sago plant in New Guinea not a good way to feed a large population?
In the Middle East, what two cereal grasses were growing between the trees?
What radical shift in human behavior took place during the drought in the Middle East?
How did human behavior in the cultivation of crops alter the development of crops?
In what other parts of the ancient world did farming develop independently?
Why are New Guinea crops, like taro root, not as good as crops grown in other places?
What other steady source of food supported ancient villages beginning 9,000 years ago?
What were the first animals to be domesticated in the ancient world?
Besides for food, how else did animals help humans?
What qualities must an animal species possess to make it good for domestication?
Of the 148 animal large species on earth counted up by Diamond, how many have been farmed by humans?
Where are the ancestors of these animals from?
What allowed for specialists in advanced technologies to develop?
How did the Fertile Crescent—the Middle East—lose its head start in human development?
Why is latitude important to the spread of farming?
How did the spread of farming affect other civilizations of the world?
According to Diamond, are the divisions in the world set in stone and unchangeable?
What is Diamond’s final answer to Yali’s question?