Critical Reflection: Guns Germs And Steel By Jared Diamond
“Why were European countries able to conquer Asian countries and not the other way around?” This is the central question that is explored in the book “Guns, Germs and Steel” by the American author Jared Diamond. In his book, Diamond argues - contrary to popular belief - that the reason behind this European dominance is not due to biological differences between Europeans and Asians, such as intelligence. Instead Diamond believes that earlier access to guns, steel products and infectious diseases, ultimately enabled the Europeans to conquer other people in foreign lands on the other side of the globe.
Diamond backs up his claim that Europeans are not necessarily smarter than the people living in tribal cultures by comparing certain differences between European/American societies and New Guinean societies. Diamond mentions that in European societies the leading cause of death was disease; “murders were relatively uncommon and a state of war was the exception rather than the rule. ” Since Europeans became resistant do diseases overtime, survival overall did not require too much intelligence. The contrary was true for New Guineans: infectious diseases were not as prevalent as in Europe due to the lower population density. Instead, murders and warfare among tribes was rather common. In order to survive these conflicts, one must possess a certain level of intelligence. Furthermore, Diamond describes how both Americans as well as Europeans are exposed to rather passive entertainment, such as watching television. New Guineans on the other hand, have a much more interactive and engaging way of entertainment, which is mostly based on playing with and talking to other people. All in all, this proves how New Guineans are not somehow less intelligent than people in Europe or North America. In fact, Diamond believes the contrary to be true.
In order to explain whether Diamond’s argumentation convinces me, I will use a personal anecdote. During an exchange project with Denmark on my high school, I had the opportunity to meet two Danish students named Martin and Nicolaj. Martin was not born in Denmark, but in another country within the Danish kingdom: Greenland. Nicolaj, who was in fact born in Denmark, explained how Martin has a lot of trouble following lessons in school as he is intellectually behind. Even though I do not doubt this fact, it is solely based on the intelligence required for theoretic learning. If however practical intelligence would have been taken into account, Martin could be perceived as absolutely brilliant. During his time in the Netherlands, Martin was able to trace back the way from my school to my house flawlessly. Furthermore, he had the ability to deal with animals in a rather special way. For instance, my cat immediately thrusted him, even though it is often suspicious of strangers. Both examples that show how Martin is intelligent in a way that might not always be recognised.
To sum up, I do agree with Diamond that people from tribal communities might use their brains more than most westerners do, as it is required for them to survive. However, I disagree with his statement that New Guineans may be smarter than westerners as I believe this statement is a blunt generalisation.
