Considerations:
- Good discussion questions should reference a specific point or idea in the text.
- Good discussion questions require critical analysis skills.
- Good discussion questions challenges one to demonstrate factual knowledge and an understanding of the geo-political, socio-historical context of the issue.
- Example: In the epilogue, Diamond states, "The histories of the Fertile Crescent and China also hold a salutary lesson for the modern world: circumstances change, and past primacy is no guarantee of future primacy"(GGS, 417). Discuss historical and contemporary examples that support or refute this assertion. (NOTE: This question is from the epilogue. You are only required to read and answer questions about the Prologue and Parts I, II, & III.)
Each student must create UNIQUE discussion questions. All comments are dated and time stamped - check previous comments to be sure you aren't duplicating someone else's question.
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ReplyDeleteIn chapter 5, Diamond states, “A second problem in radiocarbon dating is that the carbon 14/carbon 12 ratio of the atmosphere is in fact not rigidly constant but fluctuates slightly with time, so calculations of radiocarbon dates based on the assumption of a constant ratio are subject to small systematic errors…” (Diamond 96). Diamond describes the factors in calibration but he fails to describe a flawless method for calibrating dates. Based on the information in chapter 5, discuss some flaws in Diamond’s theory of calibrated dates and some solutions.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 6, Diamond states, “...Mexican Indians who developed a more productive crop system based on the trinity of corn, squash, and beans” (Diamond 109). Diamond frequently refers to this “trinity” throughout the novel. Based on the information throughout the novel, discuss why the trinity was so significant to the lives of the Mexican Indians and how the plants had a symbiotic relationship for agricultural development.
In chapter 1, Diamond states, “...then Africa enjoyed an enormous advantage: at least 5 million more years of separate protohuman existence than on any other continent” (Diamond 50). Considering Africa’s longest human development, how it is that Africa still contained it’s animal diversity after human hunting, farming, and other animal depletion. Discuss why Africa has such abundant animal populations despite having such a headstart in human development.
In chapter 1, Diamond dismisses the idea of pre-Clovis civilizations in the Americas: "...suggest that for thousands or even tens of thousands of years, pre-Clovis humans remained at a low population density or poorly visible archaeologically, for unknown reasons unprecedented elsewhere in the world. I find the suggestion infinitely more implausible than the suggestion that Monte Verde and Meadowcroft will eventually be reinterpreted..." (Diamond 49). Diamond overlooks the fact that numerous factors have to be in place for fossils to be created. Discuss the likelihood of a pre-Clovis civilization not being recorded as a fossil.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 10, Diamond goes on to state that, “...crop diffusion between the U.S. Southeast and Southwest was very slow and selective although these two regions are at the same latitude. That’s because much of the intervening area of Texas and the southern Great Plains was dry and unsuitable for agriculture” (Diamond 189). Discuss other areas that would have seen the same problem with spreading along latitudes due to differing climates and biomes between coasts.
In chapter 13, Diamond argues that, “Africa’s north-south axis posed a further obstacle to the diffusion of technology, both between Eurasia and sub-Saharan Africa and within the sub-Saharan region itself” (Diamond 263). In chapter 10 Diamond’s argument was that the different climates limited the spread of food production because animals and plants could not live in latitudes they were not adapted for. For instance, corn was unable to reach into where canada is today because it could not survive in so cold a climate. Discuss how the difficulty of spreading along longitudes applies to technology versus food production.
In chapter 2 of GGS, Diamond discusses the Maori people’s invasion of the Moriori land. Diamond says, “Both were Polynesian peoples. The modern Maori are descendants of Polynesian farmers who colonized New Zealand around A.D. 1000. Soon thereafter, a group of those Maori in turn colonized the Chatham Islands and became the Moriori” (Diamond 54). Discuss why the Maori killed their own people, and discuss other areas of the world where one group of people has united and killed their own descendants and friends.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 4 of GGS, Diamond begins his discussion on food production. Diamond says, “It was only within the last 11,000 years that some peoples turned to what is termed food production: that is, domesticating wild animals and plants and eating the resulting livestock and crops” (Diamond 86). Discuss what the world would be like today if food production was only beginning in the 21st century, or had yet to become a thought at all. Discuss the likelihood of issues such as global warming, and the overpopulation of some countries, if food production was only beginning now.
In chapter 11 of GGS, Diamond briefly mentions the beginning of self-sufficient people within urban areas. “Not until the beginning of the 20th century did Europe’s urban populations finally become self-sustaining: before then, constant immigration of healthy peasants from the countryside was necessary to make up for the constant deaths of city dwellers from crowd diseases” (Diamond 205). Discuss why individuals from the countryside would immigrate into cities, when they were aware of the deaths in cities from diseases. Think about how in cases such as the yellow fever epidemic of 1793, people moved to the countryside to try and avoid the disease. Also, discuss why individuals in the countryside were considered healthy because many diseases such as, tuberculosis, smallpox, measles, etc. all came from farm animals, living with people in the countryside.
In the sixth chapter of GGS, Jared Diamond talks about why food production replaced hunting-gathering, and while talking about this he states, "Still another factor tipping the balance away from hunting-gathering was the cumulative development of technologies on which food production would eventually depend" (Diamond 110). Advancement in technology would actually help hunting-gathering because there might have been advancements in the tools hunter-gatherers used that would have been advanced and easier to use because of the advancement of technology, which shows that technology would not be the main reason people would switch from hunting-gathering to food production. Discuss why food production was more useful than hunting-gathering by using advantages that only apply to food production such as more fertile lands.
ReplyDeleteIn the thirteenth chapter, Jared Diamond discusses innovation and states "it is a matter not of individual inventiveness but of the receptivity of whole societies to innovation" (Diamond 241). There still are inventors that had the personal motivation to build something that can change the world, even if there was resistance against their invention and succeeded, so that is not entirely true. Discuss why some inventors had their inventions mocked or resisted.
In the ninth chapter, Diamond states "Failure in anyone of these essential respects can doom a marriage even if it has all the other ingredients needed for happiness" (Diamond 157) while talking about what makes the domestication of an animal successful. There are many flaws in this statement because of how it is close to impossible for an animal to have all the characteristics necessary for it to be domesticated, and if this really were true, the amount of domesticated animals would be smaller than the amount domesticated today. Discuss why some animals were not ready to become domesticated and why some were.
In chapter 1 Diamond says that in order for Australia and New Guinea to be populated water travel would have to exist: “… the occupation of Australia / New Guinea is momentous in that it demanded watercraft and provides by far the earliest evidence of their use in history.” (Diamond 41). He explains that since people could not see Australia or New Guinea from their home countries it is likely that the colonization did not happen on purpose, and it was an accident while people were trying to do other things. Discuss what people could have been doing that would put them far enough out of their planned direction for them to be able to reach Australia and New Guinea.
ReplyDeleteChapter 12 is all about the beginnings of writing and communication. On page 219 there is an image that shows the symbols used to write in Cherokee. The symbols for this language do not resemble pictographs or any particular shape. Discuss how the sound or meaning of a letter or phrase was translated into seemingly random shapes.
The images that are on the pages between page 278 and page 279 show people of many different races and culture. It is clear from the images that the culture in Africa is very different from the culture in European countries, and that symbols of power differ greatly between the continents. Discuss symbols of power and leadership across the globe, and why these symbols might be different depending on the location of the country.
In chapter one of GGS, Diamond states, "Just as in Australia/New Guinea, in the Americas most of those large mammals became extinct" (Diamond 46). Discuss why these enormous mammals could have gone extinct, and ways that could have prevented the extinctions from happening.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter two of GGS, Diamond states, "The Moriori were a small, isolated population of hunter-gatherers, equipped with only the simplest technology and weapons, entirely inexperienced at war, and lacking strong leadership or organization" (Diamond 54). Discuss why the Moriori lost the battle against the Maori, and what they could have done to had a better outcome than what actually happened.
In chapter ten of GGS, Diamond states, "...wheels and writing aren't directly linked to latitude and day length in the way crops are" (Diamond 190). Discuss how writing and wheels are related to the latitude on Earth, and give examples.
In chapter six Diamond discusses how some societies developed farming earlier than others for various reasons. Diamond explains how farming developed first in Eurasia while some peoples were behind in the advancement. Diamond also explains how societies like Native American ones were influenced by Europeans in farming. In the following statement Diamond explains the process of developing farming independently, "Even in the cases of the most rapid independent development of food production from a hunting-gathering lifestyle, it took thousands of years to shift from complete dependence on wild foods to a diet with very few wild foods" (Diamond 107). Discuss reasons different peoples developed different strategies of farming.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter twelve of Guns, Germs, and Steel Diamond discusses the start of writing. Diamond briefly explains some problems that may have occurred in the development of a writing system. Diamond states, "They had to recognize the same sound or speech unit through all our normal variations in speech volume, pitch, speed, emphasis, phrase grouping, and individual idiosyncrasies of pronunciation" (Diamond 218). Discuss even more obstacles that would have been overcome when developing writing without the influence of other languages.
In chapter fourteen Diamond examines different types of government and distribution of power. Diamond brings up the Fayu tribe and discusses their violence in place of a government to deal with issues. The following statement made me think about a lack of government in today's societies, "They lacked political and social mechanisms, which we take for granted, to achieve peaceful resolution of serious disputes" (Diamond 266). Discuss what modern society in the United States would be like without any government or placement of power.
In chapter four, diamond explains that the rise of food production will eventually take over hunter-gathering: “within the next decade the few remaining bands in hunter-gatherers will abandon their ways, disintegrate, or die out, thereby ending our millions of years of commitment to the hunter gatherer lifestyle” (Diamond 86). Discuss why hunter gatherers will essentially “abandon their ways”.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 10 Diamond says, “Animals too are adapted to latitude-related features of climate” (Diamond 184). Explain how these animals adapt to these climates in the given situations.
In chapter 11 of GGS Diamond says that crowd diseases cannot continue in small groups of hunter-gatherers and farmers. Explain why this statement is proven to be true.
In chapter two, when the Moriori are facing Maori invasion, Diamond states, "However, the Moriori had a tradition of resolving disputes peacefully. They decided in a council meeting not to fight back but to offer peace, friendship, and a division of resources," (Diamond 53). Discuss the pros and cons of a peaceful lifestyle, and why a society would decide that peace is always the answer.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter four, Diamond states, "But Levi's tribe of hunters and famous warriors had been robbed of its lands by the immigrant white farmers," (Diamond 86). Discuss how a group of seemingly weaker farmers could overcome hunter-gatherers.
In chapter twelve, Diamond states, "Inventing a writing system from scratch must have been incomparably more difficult than borrowing and adapting one. The first scribes had to settle on basic principles that we now take for granted," (Diamond 217-8). Discuss how you think language spread from its first creators and proceeded to develop and evolve into the languages we have today.
In chapter one, James Diamond states, "But remember that Australians and New Guineans had by far the earliest watercraft in the world," (Diamond 51). The distance between Asia and Australia is much too great for a person to swim, so a sort of watercraft needed to be created for someone to get there. Discuss how necessity and curiosity helped push societies into developing new technologies.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 6, Diamond states, "Still other hunter-gatherers in contact with farmers did eventually become farmers, but only after what seemed like an inordinately long delay," (Diamond 105). Explain why there is such a long gap during the transition from hunter-gatherers to farming.
In the twelfth chapter, Diamond states, "Writing marched together with weapons, microbes, and centralized political organization as a modern agent of conquest," (Diamond 215-216). Discuss the pros and cons of writing during conquests or wars.