In the chapter “Yali’s People” (Chapter 15), Jared Diamond discusses the interactions between Australia and New Guinea. The Torres Strait is a mere 90 miles and contains islands populated by farmers who resemble New Guineans. The strait additionally separates Australia from New Guinea. One would think innovations that arose in New Guinea would travel across the narrow strait over into Australia, but that is not the case. Aboriginal Australians never developed farming, herding, metal, bow and arrows, writing, and chiefdoms.
Aboriginal Australians were unfortunate in the geography of Australia. Many negative effects on agriculture were present. For example, there was a minute amount of plants and animals that could be domesticated, and an unpredictable climate. Thus, a society was unable to thrive.
Even though the Aboriginal Australians failed to generate the characteristics of a civilization, 40,000 years
…show more content…
Jared Diamond thoroughly answers this question throughout the book and come to the conclusion that different societies on different continents grew and developed differently from other due to their respective continental environments.
While reading Guns, Germs, and Steel I was most surprised to learn about the reasons why Europe was able to conquer many groups and not vice versa. For example, Europe was constantly fragmented resulting in competition, which led to more innovation. Furthermore, Europeans domesticated many more plants and animals which helped in creating a food surplus.
As I was reading Guns, Germs, and Steel I was most disappointed to learn about the Musket Wars and how one tribe held such a large advantage. It was extremely unfair and other tribes stood no change without muskets of their own. It is disappointing when societies with more advanced technology than others take advantage of it and destroy numerous