Civilization

Question 1

what society has current dominance of the world?

Answer 1

the West/European

Question 2

long-term lock in theories definition

Answer 2

something deep in the past “locked in” an inevitable advantage for one civilization

Question 3

short-term accident theories definition

Answer 3

an advantage was the product of “lucky breaks”

One small difference could have a completely different outcome

Question 4

creationist polygenism

Answer 4

human races were separately created species

Question 5

evolutionary polygenism

Answer 5

human races were separately evolved species

Question 6

types of evolutionary polygenism theories

Answer 6

multi-regional hypothesis

out of Africa hypothesis

Question 7

multi-regional hypothesis

Answer 7

humans originated in south east Asia and split into different races there
thought Java man, Peking man, Neanderthals, and H. Habilis were different species

Question 8

out of Africa hypothesis

Answer 8

we all descended from a common ancestor in Africa, and after a successful exit from Africa we split into the different races

Question 9

what is the problem with the out of Africa hypothesis?

Answer 9

the differences that evolved were too superficial and inadequate to explain the different civilization paths we took

Question 10

monogenism definition

Answer 10

the human races evolved as one species

Question 11

what accounts for our observed civilization differences?

Answer 11

Geography
Culture
Accidents of History

Question 12

Geography’s impact on civilization differences

Answer 12

differences in climate, flora, fauna, and other resources

Question 13

culture’s impact on civilization differences

Answer 13

types of political institutions, social/religious/economic organization

Question 14

accidents of history’s impact on civilization differences

Answer 14

battle outcomes, history going one way instead of the other

Question 15

the agricultural revolution’s impact on civilization

Answer 15

• cause huge population increase

- stopped nomadic hunter-gatherers

Question 16

what enabled the agricultural revolution to happen?

Answer 16

the end of the ice age which increased temperature and air oxygen which allowed for the harvesting of more types of plants

Question 17

what was geographies impact on the agricultural revolution?

Answer 17

proximity to “lucky latitudes” determined how much you would profit from the revolution
more horizontal societies profited more from the revolution

Question 18

what are lucky latitudes?

Answer 18

areas that were more blessed with a variety of plants and animals
mostly near the equator

Question 19

why did horizontal versus vertical societies have an impact on benefits from the agricultural revolution?

Answer 19

there is more climactic variability when travelling vertically on the globe, therefore methods for agriculture could not be shared easily
horizontally there is less variability, so more horizontal societies could share ideas and build off each other

Question 20

how did Eurasia have a “locked-in” advantage?

Answer 20

because of horizontality and proximity to lucky latitudes

Question 21

how can level of civilization be quantified?

Answer 21

level of extraction of energy from the environment

Question 22

how much of a head start did the Eurasian continent have in the agricultural revolution?

Answer 22

2-3 thousand years

Question 23

what factors played into the West’s domination according to Ferguson?

Answer 23

competition
science
property rights
modern medicine
consumer society
work ethic

Question 24

what prevented China (biggest empire at the time) from finding the “new world” over the European?

Answer 24

Geography
Politics
Fragmentation of the West

Question 25

geography’s impact on China

Answer 25

distance to the new world was much farther than from Europe

Not a huge problem since they had the power to get there

Question 26

politic’s impact on China

Answer 26

current emperor banned ocean-going vessels in 1368

made the ban an ancestral injunction to later emperors

Question 27

why did the Emperor Hongwu ban ocean-going vessels?

Answer 27

• to cause an embargo on Japan because of piracy

- to focus on domestic affairs (Mongols on the northern border)

Question 28

fragmentation’s impact on China

Answer 28

China was a unified huge empire, whereas Europe was in many fragments
fragmented Europe prospered because of competition, and no one emperor could prevent exploration

Question 29

what di the discovery of the new world contribute to?

Answer 29

the Renaissance,
the Enlightenment
the Industrial Revolution

Question 30

Cultural Group Selection

Answer 30

advantaged groups can be selected for over other groups the same way within group norms are
only happens when there is competition
(also in Culture2)

Question 31

how did competition strengthen Europe?

Answer 31

• forced groups to become stronger/seek other resources to outcompete others
• increased general trust and impersonal prosociality

Question 32

general trust definition

Answer 32

trusting a member of your community you may not know personally

Question 33

impersonal prosociality definition

Answer 33

prosociality extended to strangers in your community, not just the people close to you socially

Question 34

what lead to the prosperity of the Muslim empire?

Answer 34

translation of of knowledge from all over the world into Arabic
had specified translators in the library of Bahgdad

Question 35

what lead to the decline of the Muslim empire?

Answer 35

stopped translating scripts from other parts of the world while the West’s general literacy increased with the invention of the printing press

Question 36

why did the translation of scripts stop in the Muslim empire?

Answer 36

“the incoherence of the philosophers” by Al Ghazali went against science and knowledge of non-believers because “god is unchained” from nature