Sunday, November 13, 2016

GGS III - From Food to Guns, Germs, & Steel

After you've read Part III: From Food to Guns, Germs, & Steel, identify one point or issue with which you agree, disagree, or about which you would like to learn more.  Use the SVHS databases or the Internet to find out more.

Your comment to this post should include the author, title, source, link or database title, and a summary of the source.  In your summary, please explain why you choice this particular topic for further exploration.

16 comments:

  1. "Anna Karenina: Book Summary" from CliffsNotes. www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/a/anna-karenina/book-summary
    Diamond referencing a book of fiction in his textbook-like book was very interesting, and because I wanted to find out more about how the quote and the novel follow the "Anna Karenina Principle", I decided to research the plot of the novel. In summary, this webpage explained the events that unfold in Leo Tolstoy's novel. It is filled with details about how the characters in the story go through relationship troubles such as divorce, unrequited love, adultery, pregnancy, loneliness, illness, ambition, suicide, war, and disagreement. The characters in these broken relationships seek fulfillment for the missing pieces outside of their marriages which leads to more brokenness. The theme of the story was that if a marriage did not have every essential ingredient, it would not succeed. This theme was reflected in the opening sentence of the novel as well. I decided to look into this topic because I wanted a deeper understanding of how the theme in this novel correlated with the topic of domestication in Diamond's book. Without every necessary factor, the species could not be domesticated, in the same way that a marriage cannot be successful without fulfillment in very important category. This metaphor is a very clear and easy way to understand the reasons for why certain species have resisted domestication for so long. It is also interesting to note that Diamond included a reference to a novel about marriages in his nonfiction book about the distribution of resources in the world. The two topics seem to be worlds apart, and yet he was able to connect them into a fantastically presented argument.

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  2. The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Zululand.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 31 Mar. 2011, www.britannica.com/place/Zululand.
    Chapter Fourteen of Guns, Germs, and Steel is about the different types of government in ancient times and how it worked. It references different things societies need to work, and one example of chiefdoms it uses is the Zulu kingdom. Diamond's description of their early government and how the states worked intrigued me enough to research more about Zululand. The article starts by describing how Zulu's early separate chiefdoms eventually molded into one kingdom, and one of their leaders, Shaka, organized an army of sorts to take over Zululand's neighbors and to expand the kingdom. Shaka ruled from 1816-1828, and his brother, Dingane, took over after he was assassinated. During his reign, the British invaded, and Dingane was overcome my Mpande. Under his rule, parts of Zulu were completely taken over by the British. Mpande's son, Cetshwayo, was the next ruler of Zulu, and he fought back against the British and through the Anglo-Zulu War, which began in 1879. During this war, the Zulu kingdom was once again divided into chieftaincies, and Cetshwayo's final defeat in 1881 is known as the official fall of the Zulu kingdom. I chose to find out more about the Zulu kingdom because the example in Guns, Germs, and Steel interested me in the way that many separate belligerent states came together under one central power, even if it was not for very long.

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  3. "The Heroic Theory of Invention." Blogspot, 22 Apr. 2008, bigbigbet.blogspot.com/2008/04/heroic-theory-of-invention.html. Accessed 29 Dec. 2016.
    I took an interest in researching heroic theory of invention because Diamond went directly into talking about his own theory. The article I found discusses the heroic theory of invention by saying that only a selected few people have the genius and capability to push innovations in Western societies, and this supposedly places them ahead of the rest of the world. It then goes on to discuss how investors who understand this theory do well in the market because of their knowledge on financial distribution on the global scale. The author then shares personal experiences with the market and how things have changed for him. In Guns, Germs, and Steel Diamond states that necessity is the mother of invention and discusses very little about the traditional theory, the heroic theory of invention. I thought it was necessary to conduct research on this particular theory to become as informed on it as I am with the theory Diamond describes in the book. Based off of the articles I used I can infer that the heroic theory of invention can relate more to real life circumstances such as stocks and investments.

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  4. 10.26.96, Posted. "The History of Money." PBS. PBS, 26 Oct. 1996. Web. 01 Jan. 2017. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/history-money.html.
    Diamond writes about how a formal language and currency arose alongside civilization because they were needed to keep track of the rapidly increasing trade and population. He also mentioned the estimated dates of the first language and a history of how the first dialects arose. However, there was no mention of the history of currency in any form. According to the article, unsurprisingly the first trades were conducted not with a actual currency, but bartering one good for another. Next, alongside the rise of agriculture around 9000-6000 B.C., cattle became a staple of trading alongside other livestock. The first metal coin or money was in China in 1000 B.C. where lumps of simple ores were hung on a string. In 500 B.C., the first stamped coin was also developed in China. Later, China also founded the first banknote (a colored leather strip) in 118 B.C. as well as the first paper currency in 808 A.D. The ‘Gold Standard” was adopted in 1816 A.D. in Europe and 1900 A.D. in the US. Today, our money is not backed with any real value outside of the one enforced by the government. However, transactions are moving towards all digital and electronic, with more money moved virtually than actually is printed. In my opinion, currencies have a very interesting history which only highlights how advanced how society has become.

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  5. Swift, Catherine. "The Story of Ogham." History Today, vol. 65, no. 10, Oct. 2015, pp. 4-5. MasterFILE Premier. Accessed 7 Jan. 2017.
    In chapter 12, Diamond mentions the Gaelic ogham alphabet as an example of idea diffusion in the formation of writing systems. I wanted to find out more about this particular system since Diamond does not discuss it much. The article goes into much more detail about ogham's origins and uses. Most of the surviving records from the alphabet appear to be from the fifth or sixth centuries. The original form contained 20 symbols categorized into four groups. Each group, called an aicme, had five letters, with each letter represented by one to five single strokes. The difference between the letters in different groups was distinguished by the strokes' locations in relation to a central stem line. The article explains how ogham was in some ways inspired by Latin, and how ogham also inspired other versions of itself. I chose to research this because it seems like a prominent example of the importance of idea diffusion on the development of writing.

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  6. Jackendoff, Ray. “How Did Language Begin?” ISADC, Linguistic Society of America.

    In part three, when reading about the creation of literature and writing I wanted to learn more about the reason behind this creation rather than the the creation itself. The article I have found explains that, although there is rarely any evidence to support the ideas of the creation of writing, that it was invented as another way to talk without talking, another way to give orders, and another way to represent power in society. These ideas support what Diamond has stated, because the scribes used writing to keep track of taxes. It was also kept secretly, and only noble people were allowed to have the conveniance of writing down what you speak.

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  7. “Sequoyah Inventor of the Cherokee Syllabary” Manataka American Indian Council https://www.manataka.org/page81.html
    In chapter twelve of Guns, Germs, and Steel Diamond talked a lot about different languages. One language that interested me was the Cherokee language written by Sequoyah. I found this part of the chapter interesting, however I wish Diamond would have included more information on Sequoyah. Also, I wanted to see if I could figure out if Sequoyah was the only person that worked on developing this language. In the article, background information is given about Sequoyah such as that he was born between 1760 and 1776. Sequoyah got his name because of an early hunting accident that left him disabled for the rest of his life. Sequoyah never learned English, but while he was serving for the United States in the War of 1812 he became taken aback by the communication. Sequoyah began developing the Cherokee syllables in 1809 and his symbols flourished. Sequoyah died in 1843 but is still remembered today and has a national park named after him. Today Cherokee is the second most widely used Native American language.

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  8. Nndb. "Nikolaus Otto." NNDB, Soylent Communications, 2014, www.nndb.com/people/
    803/000175278/. Accessed 20 Jan. 2017.
    I agree with what Diamond says in Chapter 13 where he says that "mother of necessity" is what true inventors looked for. He mentioned Nikolaus Otto, the man who invented the gasoline powered motor. Otto was not experienced or trained in mechanical designing but he wanted to find a way that would be better than fueling engines with natural gas. He was determined and set his mind to it and did in fact produce the gasoline powered motor. In 1864 he made his company N.A. Otto & Cie. They continued to make improvements and finally in 1876 they built the first four stroke combustion engine. He then invented the first practical low voltagemagnetic ignition. However he became depressed in 1886 when the German court did not give him patent rights. He later died. However his son carried on the legacy and eventually lead the business to become Bayerische Motoren Werke AG or BMW. This story I think proves Diamond's point that not all inventors are in search of money or fame they just want to solve a problem they believe should be fixed.

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  9. After reading the Chapter called "Blueprints and Borrowed Letters" I wanted to learn more about the Sumerian language, and how it came to be. At first the writing appeared to be an dumbed down form of what the object they were trying to write, was. But as time went on the language formed into a series of overlapping lines. The Sumerians were one of the first urban civilizations that was about 5000 years ago. It started when they would put tokens into a box and seal it. But they would forget how many tokens were in there so they put clay buttons on it with symbols to represent what and how many were in there.

    "Ancient Scripts: Sumerian." Ancient Scripts: Sumerian. Lawrence Lo., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2017. .

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  10. Turchin, Peter. "Complex Societies before Agriculture: Göbekli Tepe." The Evolution Institute, 17 May 2013, evolution-institute.org/blog/complex-societies-before-agriculture-gobekli-tepe/. Accessed 20 Jan. 2017.
    After reading Part Three of Guns, Germs, and Steel, I was interested in finding more opinions and arguments on the order in which societies developed, which led me to finding this article that partially refutes Diamond's theory on the subject. The article starts by describing how most early societies lived in extremely small scale societies but humans have evolved so much over time that we now live in huge societies with millions of people. This article questions and evaluates how this drastic change occurred. The commonly accepted archaeological model is presented which is that agriculture was first discovered with the domestication of plants and animals which caused the evolution of more complex societies because of the new ability to support large population and use food surpluses to supply those in more specialized labor divisions. Though, after reading an article on the Göbleki Tepe, a major cultural and religious center, the author seemed to think this was evidence contradicting the standard model. This is because the people there built monuments with pillars that would require tens of thousands of people, and evidence shows that this was at least one thousand years before the first evidence of agriculture there. This inverts the usual sequence of events and cause and effect assumptions by suggesting that organized religion led to food production and sedentary farming instead of the other way around. At the end, the author recognizes that one example is not enough to discard such a widespread scientific theory, but this article still opened my eyes to the other possible explanations that exist depending on what arguments are presented and what examples are used.

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  11. American Indians and European Diseases
    http://nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/325
    Upon reading part three of Guns, Germs, and Steel I was interested in how European settlers spread diseases to the New World. I had already known that Europeans brought diseases with them to the Americas, but I wanted more specifics. Europeans brought diseases like chicken pox, cholera, diphtheria, influenza, measles, scarlet fever, smallpox, typhus, tuberculosis, and whooping cough to the Americas. The source of these diseases were often the domesticated animals Europeans were often in close proximity with, like Diamond says in GGS. Europeans were aware that disease was killing the Native Americans that were infected, but they saw it as a sign of God to keep colonizing the Americas. This article expanded upon what Diamond said in GGS about domesticated animals causing disease and how it was brought to the Americas.

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  12. What Happened On Easter Island — A New (Even Scarier) Scenario
    http://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2013/12/09/249728994/what-happened-on-easter-island-a-new-even-scarier-scenario
    ROBERT KRULWICH -Author

    After reading through the section of Lethal Gift of Livestock on chapter 11, I 100% agree with Diamond's statement how various Pacific islanders were wiped and or nearly wiped out by diseases found in more complex societies. Diamond explains throughout the chapter how humans in more complex societies develop a stronger immunity to viral and bacterial infections as it can come and go throughout one's lifetime. However, low densely populated areas such as Hawaii never really experienced and outbreak due to the low and scattered population. This means that they have not entirely developed a stronger immune system to fight any bacterial or viral infections due to never being exposed to it before. The Westerners came and brought disease with them, it nearly wiped out the entire population. A similar outbreak happened with the Amazonian Indians. The article I discovered suggests the islanders could have been wiped out from rats carrying a disease after Captain Cook's arrival. Evidence shows that nearly 60% of introduced bones came from rats. Evidence of bones could also suggests the islanders ate the rats carrying the infected disease causing them to be killed off. It is not entirely definite, but it is a theory that is supported by a decent amount of evidence.

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  13. Kincheloe, John W., III. "American Indians at European Contact." NCpedia,
    www.ncpedia.org/history/early/contact.

    After reading part three I was wondering what specific diseases Europeans spread to the Native Americans and which ones had the biggest impact on the Native American population. I also wondered whether or not the Europeans knew what they were doing to Native Americans in spreading diseases. I found a webpage that answered two of these three questions. Common diseases for Native Americans to contract that were not a big deal to Europeans but caused the death of Native Americans include smallpox, influenza, measles, and chicken pox. These diseases were transmitted through trade, contact with Europeans, and contact with other Native Americans. The webpage also stated that the Native American's introduction to European diseases was an accident and no one knew why the disease affected the Native Americans so badly. Diseases introduced by Europeans are believed to have killed as much as 90 percent of the Native American population.

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  14. The Story Of... Smallpox – and other Deadly Eurasian Germs
    http://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/variables/smallpox.html
    After reading the section of part 3 about how easily germs spread, I was about specific germs and diseases that made Europeans so successful. In this article, it specifically highlights one of the most effective diseases, smallpox. This disease is based in the lymph nodes and lungs, with the most notable symptom being small blisters on the skin that when popped, spread more smallpox to others. The most effective part about smallpox is that it has a long incubation period, which means that one can spread it to someone else without even knowing they have it. The article then explains how because people in Eurasia lived in such close proximity to each other and animals, diseases from animals spread to humans and flourished because people lived in such close, uncleanly houses. Finally, the article goes into how those who survived became immune to the disease. However, those in other areas, like the Americas, did not have previous exposure to the disease, making it deadly to them.

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  16. http://www.healthline.com/health/kuru#Overview1
    "Kuru" by Natalie Phillips

    Hearing about the mysterious "laughing sickness" AKA Kuru sparked my interest, and so I wanted to learn more about it. Kuru is an incurable disease which came from eating the brain tissue of the dead during funeral rites in Fore, New Guinea. It reached its peak in the 1950s-60s, and is said to have been completely eradicated. The name 'Kuru' seems to have come from the word meaning 'to shiver,' or 'tremble,' because it causes uncontrollable muscle spasms. The symptoms of kuru are slurred speech, dementia, tremors, and random fits of laughter or crying. As earlier stated, it is incurable, and those who contract it usually die within one year.

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