Students and community members crowded 105 Dartmouth Hall Wednesday afternoon to hear noted author Jared Diamond speak about his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "Guns, Germs and Steel."
Diamond, a geography professor at the University of California-Los Angeles, spoke clearly and knowledgeably about his 1997 national bestseller and its implications.
The focus of Diamond's book was the question of why Europeans conquered Native American culture, instead of Native Americans obliterating Europe or a conquest of Europe by China. The debate, Diamond said, is history's most important.
According to Diamond, answering this question is "in a sense, easy" because Native American cultures had "no agents of conquest." Diamond gave examples of Europe's organized societies, built-up military, use of "germs" against Native American populations and writing skills.
Diamond further questioned why Eurasians owned "guns, germs and steel" by 1492, the year of Christopher Columbus' famed voyage, noting that the technology was a result of Europe's population density as well as the social structures of the continent.
Diamond went on to discuss the implications of "religion as a human institution" in history and in our modern world.
He gave four reasons for the function of religion in society. Diamond first asserted that religion was an explanation for the "supernatural," a word he was careful to place quotes around.
Secondly, Diamond cited religion as a justification of government and stratified social groups. His point was that as societies grew, a demand for reasons to convince the "peasants to feed the elite" also escalated.
Next, he discussed the role of religion as keeping peace in a society. Again noticing the differences between larger and smaller societies, Diamond said there was a greater need for morality in large-scale societies.
Finally, Diamond said that religion was a justification for warfare.
"How do you justify killing or stealing from that group over there when you've been brought up to not steal or kill?" Diamond said, invoking the "dual function of morality" among many religions.
"Obviously, this is a simplified account of the function of religion," Diamond said, but he felt the four categories to be comprehensive. When an audience member questioned the need for a fifth classification focused on social stratification and religion, Diamond successfully fit the suggestion into his four categories.
Concluding his presentation, Diamond emphasized the importance of environment for the development of human cultures.
Although geography is occasionally blown off as an archaic subject, Diamond said, he argued that in application to "Guns, Germs and Steel," "Geography matters today more than ever."
