Basic Knowledge
In his book Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, Jared Diamond reviews the various ways through which human civilizations have developed over the past 13,000 years. This book is primarily focused on understanding the European conquests and how they fundamentally changed the interactions between the colonized and the colonizers through trade and other societal processes. His book is inspired by his interactions with New Guinea – Yali – about the consequences of colonialism and European imperialism. It´s an attempt to respond to Yali´s question; “Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo … but we black people had little cargo of our own?”
The first distinct understanding that Diamond furthers around communication in his book is the notion that nature and intelligence often remain alike among societies despite the differences in health, wealth and power. Next, he explains that the new societies and communication and interaction paradigms have been based on the previous civilizations and are not monumentally different from such civilizations. For instance, Diamond claims that agriculture and industry are basically extensions of hunter-gatherer practices (330). He explains that societies have continued to learn and change in response to the changing societal realities and the need for new and improved solutions to their fundamental (basic) needs.
Metaphor and Argument
The main area of thematic expression from the book revolves around why various societies display differences in power, wealth and health. The book purposefully refutes the notion that individuals from the wealthier and more powerful societies are more intelligent than those in lesser developed regions. The theme of culture/race effects on intelligence remains a constant area of focus through the text. Diamond detests the notion often popularized in western societies that Europeans are more intelligent than other regions owing to their race and culture (339). He believes that this is a misrepresentation of such biological theories as Darwinism. Being a polymath with varying eclectic interests, Diamond questions the various historical, archeological and anthropological expressions of societies and the advantages these societies gained.
Next, Diamond reiterates the importance of the development of written language and the shift in society into the industrial (technological) and agricultural ages. He noticed that the societies that increased their attention to agricultural practice developed better care for germs and were better at keeping written records. In the process, these societies became more stable and their language began to seep into neighboring societies. He argues for the rise in stable states in regions like China and the complexity of societal interactions as a consequence of new and improved agricultural processes. However, he does not agree with the notion that these economies involved more intelligent individuals. Instead, he reiterates that the societies enjoyed the environmental advantages that enabled them to practice futuristic agriculture and industry.
Relevance
From this book, we notice that the various societies through human history have had to restructure significantly to deal with emerging issues. Through these societal changes, some societies changed their approach to agriculture and industry earlier and therefore began to spread their influence and new found wealth and written language to other domains. However, the important insight we find from this report is that despite such differences in wealth and power, the societies fundamentally remained similar in intelligence. This is despite the popularized façade of European superiority in intelligence. As such, we encourage society opinion leaders and market analysts to emphasize the beauty in diversity and the notion that all cultures are similar.
In addition, it is necessary to recognize that the availability of information does not directly imply more intelligence. While the westerners had high range of information and written communication, they were only able to conquer the world through weaponry and their response to disease. These were caused by environment and not their superior intelligence. Therefore, the environment is another significant factor for consideration in the analysis of a market or communication processes.
Work Cited
Diamond, Jared. “Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies.” Nature 386.6623 (1997): 339-339.