Most certainly an interesting
read. Although I have not read the introduction to the book (making some things
a bit hazy), I dove right into chapter 4 as I did 7 last week. It was not your typical
textbook readings, which I have come to like in Diamond’s writings. Even though
it was a bit drawn out, I enjoyed chapter 4 and seeing how the domestication of
animals and plants have directly and indirectly affected and assisted human
culture and growth. I especially found it neat when Diamond described how the British
finally overcame the Maori tribes of New Zealand.
Chapter 5
was a little more textbook style and I found rather dull. Carbon 14 dating is
neat, however I do not think it can be illustrated in the same fun and
enlightening way that chapter 4 was portrayed. I do not really have much else
to say on this chapter…
I felt the
next section (chapter 6) sort of picks up where chapter 4 left off – almost as
if chapter 5 was a brief interlude to explain a side topic. I thought it neat that
certain areas of the globe still live by the hunter/gatherer way of life. I
like the idea of the simplicity behind it. It is unfortunate however that the
decline of hunter/gatherer way of life is due to such things as decreasing game
populations and cultural attitudes. I also found it interesting how a male
hunter would often work on prestige. That is, bringing home 1 giraffe a month
than twice the weight in food by gathering nuts and berries. This chapter also
describes 5 reasons for the decline in the hunter/gatherer way of life, all of
which one would not think of until presented with it, ie. the decrease in wild
game and plants; something I did not even think of until I read it.
Chapter 8
was a lot to think about and difficult to summarize for my own understanding
though there were a few things I took from it and most certainly was an
interesting read. Diamond pulls out a statistic on the second page of this
chapter that sort of shocked me: of the 200,000 wild plant species on this
planet, only a few thousand are edible. I would have guessed far more than a
few thousand, not to mention that he goes on to say that only a few hundred of
these have been domesticated. Really? Of the few thousand we do eat, we have
only domesticated a few hundred? The next section of this chapter was neat,
though a little drawn out. Diamond explains well how the fertile crescent was
instrumental and quicker in developing food production, though he could have
slimmed it down a little.
Overall a fun read for the week though.
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