Sponges to evolution, like Fertile Crescent to agriculture?

Diamond J. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The fates of human Societies. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co.; 1999. 84-113, 131-156.

Terms of interest

Poignantly: affectingly: in a poignant or touching manner

Breadbasket: an agricultural area that provides large amounts of food, especially grain, to other areas

Chufa: an african plant of the sedge family

Piecemeal: one piece at a time, gradually

Teosinte: a tall grass of Mexico and Central America, related to corn

Ethnobiology: the study of plants and people being treated or used by different human cultures

Husks: the dry external covering of certain fruits or seeds, found in corn

This weeks reading, chapters 4-7 and 8 of Guns, germs, and steel, fell under the larger of heading of “the rise and spread of food production” – Jared Diamond couldn’t have described these chapters better. As we progress through the chapters, we progress through Diamonds explanations of the rise and spread of food production.  He provides a keen sense of detail in his explanations and allows us, the reader, to understand the uncertainty in much of the scientific method used. Although Diamond raises many questions, overall he seems to focus on why food production spread the way it did, or at least the way it seems to have. Diamond continually reminds us of this questions importance by stating the many areas in the world, other than the Fertile Crescent, which had fertile ground and domestically-able plants and animals but failed take action; He believes this is of particular importance as many of these geographical areas are now the richest centers of agriculture and herding today.  Although Diamonds explanations are only hypothetical, food production having started so long ago, he is able to cultivate our minds. In giving us the relevant information that exists he prepares us, giving us the chance to grow and have an opinion of our own. He seems careful not to take a definitive stance in the matter – something I truly appreciate.

Considering my opinion after the last assigned reading by Diamond, I am surprised that I enjoyed this reading as much as I did. My opinion began to change when, two pages into chapter 4, he tells of exactly what the chapter, and the coming chapters, will entail. However, it wasn’t until chapter 5 when he said “much of human history has consisted of unequal conflicts between the haves and the have-nots: between people with farmer power and those without it, or between those who acquired it at different times” was I able to consider giving his writings a second chance. Then again, I have always been a sucker for a great use of contrasts.

Unlike the previous reading, it is not hard to notice Diamond goes to great lengths to provide detail in whatever he is discussing. For example, on pg. 95, when he explains the theory behind radiocarbon dating and how isotopes decay, he explains the advantages and pitfalls of such a method too – something thus far I have appreciated in Micheal Pollans writing. I found it very interesting to hear how crops may have developed independently, and my interest persisted as Diamond talked of how food production could be traced back to five areas, the basal most being the Fertile Crescent. I enjoyed hearing “what arrived in to launch food production in Egypt was foreign crops and animals, not foreign peoples”, especially after my childhood of Hollywood movies suggested otherwise.

Above all, I enjoyed that Diamond was able to go above and beyond simply presenting “facts”. He was able to paint a picture. By using words like nuclear, when describing the radiation of plant domestication on pg. 103, he was able to portray a sense of movement in his words. I could see the plants moving. Diamond speaks in an almost poetic fashion as he describes how those with food production had an advantage over others. Saying that, the advantage started the “long series of collisions between the haves and the have-nots of history”. He continued on with beautiful abstract-like descriptions, in ch. 6, saying “…food production evolved as a by-product of decisions made with-out awareness of their consequences”. Furthermore, on pg. 107, I felt he was poetic in saying “human and animal foragers are constantly prioritizing and making effort-allocation decisions, even if only unconsciously”. Explaining that animals go for preferred foods, likely with the greatest payoff, and thereafter, if those foods no longer exist, they shift to less preferred foods. Unfortunately I think that Diamond diminished some of the liveliness of his writing with the use of question marks.

“Stay cool Travis, keep you mind where it should be Travis. This is for school and you are in a cool, calm place. Take a deep breath in..."

Ok, I am going to end this here. I disliked the question marks. I thought they were unnecessary and at the best of times redundant. It was a great read though, and because of it I want to read more – I hoped this would happen. 

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