Jared Diamond, "Guns, Germs and Steel"

Jared Diamond's book won the Pulitzer Prize, among many others, and has even been made into a PBS documentary.  Diamond managed to tackle a thorny issue head on, with a remarkable tact.  At the same time, it's a chicken and egg sort of debate, and it all comes down to "why we won," whereas a lot of people question that we really did win.

Guns, Germs and Steel refutes any racial theories of why Western civilization thrived and took over the globe, whereas cultures from continents like Africa and the Americas didn't fare so well in the cultural arms race of the last 13,000 years.  Although I found long passages of the book to be extremely dry (I admit, I did some skimming) overall Diamond's writing and premise are gripping and informative.

To sum it up, Eurasian cultures came to dominate the globe because of guns (superior weaponry), germs (infections that the invaders brought with them, like the smallpox, mumps, and measles outbreaks which devastated the indigenous population of North and South America when European adventurers came a'calling) and steel (technology, from literal steel to the skills and information needed to accurately cross an ocean).  This all seems fairly self evident once you hear it, but a lot of people continue to believe that Europeans - which they invariably define as "white people" - are simply superior to non-Europeans (non-white people) when it comes to intellect, culture, and use of technology.

It seems silly to point out flaws in Diamond's logic, since he's won a Pulitzer and I haven't, but he also suffers from Survivorship Bias.  When someone wins something, we look for reasons to explain why they won.  The reality is sometimes that life is fickle.  How else to explain why your least favorite actor continues to dominate the media, while literally millions of aspiring actors every bit as handsome and skillful continue to labor away as busboys?

That being said, Diamond's book also highlights the truth of Neal Stephenson's protagonist Bobby Shaftoe's mantra: adaptability.  Adaptability above all else is what gets Shaftoe through his various pickles, and it's what gives Eurasian cultures their sticking power.  Just look at what happened when Europe started exploring the Americas.  Previously unknown crops like tobacco, corn, and tomatoes were suddenly exploding across the countryside.  

The same goes on the more metaphorical level.  For example, cultural institutions like China's centralized method of handling government organization were quickly adapted and assimilated.  Often, Eurasian culture doesn't so much steamroller an indigenous culture as it does absorb it completely.  The rapid spread of Hello Kitty's popularity should be sufficient evidence alone!

Personally, I found the chapter on animal domestication to be the most interesting.  People have tried to domesticate pretty much every animal in the world, with varying degrees of success.  Diamond points out that only fourteen large animals have been domesticated, and that a lot of native animals (like zebras, grizzly bears, and antelope) are simply unsuitable for domestication.  If you're lucky enough to live in a region of the world where domesticate-able animals live, that naturally gives you a leg up on things - and it oddly happens that Eurasia contained these species.

Guns, Germs and Steel is one of those books that everyone should read at least once.