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elmonoenano t1_jbyi67m wrote

Reply to comment by blaspheminCapn in Weekly History Questions Thread. by AutoModerator

If you read the Diamond book, you should also read Questioning Collapse where various experts in the fields Diamond looks at in Collapse explain the mistakes he makes.

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blaspheminCapn t1_jbz1wa0 wrote

Neat! Thank you! It's fantastic to have a contrary look at his assertions. What are a few that stood to you?

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elmonoenano t1_jbzkthr wrote

I think just the fundamental argument of the book is important b/c Diamond made the same mistake in GG&S about how societies actually exist. They don't just suddenly disappear. They are constantly adapting and changing. The Conquest of Mexico didn't happen in the short time span Diamond portrayed it as happening, it took hundreds of years, fighting was ongoing in the Yucatan until the 20th century and the state still has issues with control there and in Chiapas and the hills of Oaxaca. He takes the same kind of assumptions throughout Collapse and they just don't pan out when you look at the peoples who these experts still are working with, even though they are supposed to have "disappeared."

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blaspheminCapn t1_jc0pu9p wrote

But the Easter Island was the bedrock of that book, and there weren't any people there, correct?

I mean, when he says imagine being the last guy to cut down the last tree, that's Shel Silverstein level there.

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