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A lot of those criticisms seem like a not seeing the forest for the trees argument. Yes, not every Spanish mission was successful, but those that lasted are im
by Jwarder 8y ago
A lot of those criticisms seem like a not seeing the forest for the trees argument. Yes, not every Spanish mission was successful, but those that lasted are important. Yes, not all diseases come from domestic animals, but those that do can be an important difference with diseases between the natives and colonizers.
Diamond is making some _very_ broad claims to describe the general trend of human history. With a topic so broad there are always going to be exceptions. I'm always disappointed that the criticisms focus on the details exceptions rather than dealing with the broader ideas.
- artimaeis 8y ago> Diamond is making some _very_ broad claims to describe the general trend of human history. This is precisely why so many have a problem with it. Diamond waxes on about these grand history ideas and they're not backed by facts. He's generalizing highly complex topics and losing all accuracy in doing so. Diamond's GG&S effectively minimizes the agency of entire groups of people by providing a false interpretation of history.