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Guns, Germs and Steel, Reading Guide

Date Posted: 10.07.07
Last Revision: 10.12.07

By Jared Diamond
Reading Group Guide

  1. What are other commonly espoused answers to "Yali's question," and how does Jared Diamond address and refute each of them?

  2. Why does Diamond hypothesize that New Guineans might be, on the average, "smarter" than Westerners?

  3. Why is it important top differentiate between proximal and ultimate causes?

  4. Do you find some of Diamond's methodologies more compelling than other's? Which, and why?

  5. What is the importance of the order of the chapters? Why, for example, is "Collision at Cajamarca" -which describes events that occur thousands of years after those described in the subsequent chapters -placed where it is?

  6. How are the Polynesian Islands "an experiment of history?" What conclusions does Diamond draw from their History?

  7. How does Diamond challenge our assumptions about the transition from hunter-gatherer to farming?

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    Guns, Germs and Steel

    Date Posted: 10.07.07

    Guns, Germs and Steel by Jarred Diamond is an innovative history of the world. Diamond theorizes about ultimate causation. He asks the ambitious question "Why did history unfold differently on different continents." He throws out many of the old theories based on social Darwinism and instead focuses on narrating a more complex series of cause and effect.

    I am currently on Chapter 6, but I wanted to stop and make a few comments. This book is extremely well written. The language is not "dumbed down" but it is comprehensible to a layman. The concepts are well defined. The chapters are structured and organized. The writing is witty and compelling. I am quite pleased so far.

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    Breakfast of Champions

    Date Posted: 10.01.07
    Last Revision: 10.07.07

    I had to take two valiums because of this book! I kept trying to fall asleep, but every time I almost dozed off I remembered something from the book and woke up thinking too hard or worse laughing too hard.

    I read Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut because a friend insisted that I should read it before reading Cat's Cradle. She also suggested The Human Stain by Philip Roth so her taste is pretty good.

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    External Links

    Date Posted: 10.07.07
    Last Revision: 12.31.07

    I have decided to add external links to this site. They are listed in alphabetical order. I will add them and use this page to explain them.

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    Presidents

    Date Posted: 10.01.07

    I just read an article called "Seven Presidents Nobody Remembers" on cnn.com.

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