Summer Reading Test Flashcards
Why not be a hunter gatherer?
Too much energy, constantly moving, miserable lifestyle.
What was Yali’s question?
Why do white people have so much more cargo than us New Guineans?
What does geographic luck mean?
The people who developed the fastest were geographically lucky.
Who was geographically lucky?
US, India, China, and the Middle East.
What are the 5 major domesticable animals?
Cow, pig, goat, horse, and sheep.
What do animals give?
Food, transportation, fur and war help
How does geographic luck lead to development?
Geographic luck(5 major animals, cereal and grain)
Sustain population
Job Specialization(language and writing)
Technology, guns and steel
What were people like 13,000 years ago?
Hunter gatherers, men hunted women gathered, always on the move, just wanted to survive, live in small bands.
Why did Pizzaro defeat Atahuallpa and who were they?
Pizzaro was the leader of the Spaniards and Atahuallpa was the leader of the Inca’s. Pizzaro won because he had guns, germs, and military tech/horses.
What did geographically lucky people have?
Right climate, aninals, and crops. They had contact with other people.
Why is New Guinea so far behind?
They only have one domesticable animal, which came from Asia and isn’t super useful. It only provides food. They are also isolated, and dont have the right crops.
What are characteristics of the best domesticable animals and where do they come from?
- Can give birth at age 1-2, 1-2 times a year
- Large, plant eating, herbivores
- Social; if you take the dominant one you tame them all, and get along with humans
- Llama is from South America
- Other 13 are from Europe, Asia, and North Africa(Camals)
How did civilization start, how did people go from hunter gatherers to civilization?
Agriculture.
What are 3 consideration as Diamond ponders Yali’s question?
- Genetic explanation having to do with intelligence
- Climate or environmental explanation; Europeans had a cold climate and were forced to invent, and sat inside most of the winter and invented
- Lowland river valleys in dry climates where highly productive culture depended on large scale irrigation systems
What is the Great Leap Forward?
A time around 50,000 years ago when human history took off that affected everyone and was probably catalyzed by advancements in technology allowing large scale development.
What is a prerequisite to the development of techology?
Large, dense, sedentary, stratified societies.
What are three factors that determine domesticability of plants?
- Size and taste
- Efficiency of growth
- Ability to be stored
What is the Anna Karenina principle when applied to domesticating animals?
The Anna Karenina principle explains that there are many different feature an animals needs in order to be domesticated.
What are characteristics of lethal epidemics?
- spread quickly and efficiently
- die or recover quickly
- develop antibodies after
- restricted to humans
What are three basic types of writing systems and an example?
- Size and speech unit denoted by one written sign(alphabet)
- Logograms(hieroglyphs)
- Syllabaries(Linear B)
What % has Native American population been reduced by since 1492?
95%
