"Why Did Human History Unfold Differently On Different Continents For The Last 13,000 Years?" A Talk by Jared Diamond

a.    In Diamond's article, "Why Did Human History Unfold Differently On Different Continents For The Last 13,000 Years?" he expresses themes of the evolution of human society. Specifically, he focuses on how environmental factors such as climate, domesticated animals, and technology shaped human society in various geographic locations. He states that most believe the evolutionary variations are result of biological differences, but fights that due to geographically location and other factors, the racist belief is out of question.
b.    Diamond claims that climate in locations such as Africa, which is oriented on a north/south axis, restricts animals and plants from becoming domesticated further south due to wider variation of the seasons. Eurasia, on the other hand, has an east/west axis which allows plants and animals to become domesticated with the similar climate over the location. The ability to have animals domesticated led to the diseases that evolved in European populations. Technology, according to Diamond, must be invented or adopted, usually diffuse from outer sources, and must be maintained. In regards to Tasmania, an isolated island off of Australia, technology like bone tools and act of fishing were present when connected to Australia, but they were lost after the bridge between the two was taken down.
c.     In todays economy, technology invented in one location can easily be spread and shared with others, though some locations are more technologically advanced than others. As Diamond had claimed, areas like Europe were more advanced than locations such as Africa. This is still true today in that most parts of Africa are considered underdeveloped countries.