Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, books by Jared Diamond were a staple on my bookshelf because they were assigned so frequently in my coursework. (I still consider The Third Chimpanzee one of my favorite books.) In the last few years though, I have not read nearly as much non-fiction as when I was in college, but still have a soft spot for anything anthropological. So when I saw Diamond's The World Until Yesterday, I was eager to read it without having to write a paper.
The World Until Yesterday explores aspects of current traditional societies that would benefit the Western
world. Diamond gives an example of this as people living in hunter gatherer societies have only extraordinarily rare rates of diabetes, compared to the high rates among the West. Diamond is using this example as a reason why unhealthy diets are unnecessary and should be avoided. Diamond also explores child rearing, the treatment of the elderly, and conflict resolution. What interests me about these subjects are the reasons and processes behind the differences between modern and traditional societies.
However, many academics have problems with this book. Some state that Diamond only uses evidence that supports his arguments and ignores different examples as it suits him. Other activists and members of traditional societies themselves claim that Diamond characterizes all traditional societies as violent, which is a misconception many societies are trying to fight. Like most popular science, there are, and will always be, opposing viewpoints, but half the fun in reading it is seeing whether or not you agree.
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