what turns me on : guns germs and steel

How homo sapiens spread across the planet : one theory : a theory I prescribe to.

If I could invite 5 people to dinner ... as that question goes ... two would undoubtedly be Dr Tim Flannery and Professor Jared Diamond. Both these men have spent time in PNG early on in their careers and both have written incredibly important, vital texts that show the entire planet how our past is screaming at us to save our future, and even better - how to do that! They are scientists first, and reluctant anthrolopogists and historians who have challenged without fear the progressionist view of the devlopment of our species - the idea that we are always progressing from the past to present to future.

I can't tell you enough - if you ONLY read ONE BOOK - read Jared Diamond's pultizer-prize-winning "Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" - you'll never be the same again and your will question question what you thought was fact and your view on the planet and her resources and the devlopment of mankind will be so greatly informed - so much better than holding popular rhetoric in your waving hand down at the pub!

When I LITERALLY tripped across "Guns Germs & Steel" in Sri Lanka last year, and I tentatively opened this read, by page 3 I think my whole brain went HALLELUIAH!! All these bells went off in my head and it was like an EPIPHANY (I SO get the meaning of that word now!). My mind had been (and still is) manic with questions of why there are such disparities across cultures and across times and Diamond, for me ... was a match lit in the dark. Diamond argues that the gaps in power and technology between human societies do not reflect cultural or racial differences, but rather originate in environmental differences powerfully amplified by various other aspects, identified and described in the book

WOW! Talk about ABSOLUTELY MIND-BLOWING ...

And a similar experience : when I opened Tim Flannery's "The Future Eaters: An Ecological History of the Australasian Lands and People", my mind expanded like water on sponge. If you are from Australia and you really care about her future and that of the people of the entire region, you MUST open this thesis and understand you can only learn and improve, strengthen and feed your opinions about central issues. If you care. (A summary of the ideas in this seminal book is here.)

These two men and these two books and some of the others they have authored that I have had the privilege to read, are absolute MUST-HAVEs if you think you are even remotely concerned with the history of man and the future of man; with why one people developed intesive technology and others are still hunter-gatherers; why it matters that we aren't improving on our past development, just changing all the time.

And ther you have it folks - ricebag is a certified geek - this IS the kind of stuff that turns me on.

And the best best best part is that Jared Diamond is coming to PNG soon and Meg Taylor is going to get me an audience with him!! WOWOWOWOWWOW!! Loving Meg!