Awhile back I made note of having read Jared Diamond's Collapse and also Guns Germs and Steel. I can see, as someone who once considered Anthropology, how many would see Diamond's arguments as simplifications of complex and variable histories. I wonder how much the author weighed this counter-argument, given the obvious evidence at the present moment. Even a robust and hopeful mind bows at the sobering signs in climate, energy and warmongering.
And I think that we are not so old a species, despite the (deer in the headlights) moments that have repeated themselves around the globe and through our short time here on the planet. One that lifts another cup to youth and fecundity as mountains and temples crumble around them.
Old and new in the Times
No comments:
Post a Comment