Max Rose > Recent Status Updates

Almost done. Last chapter is about Africa (not counting the epilogue) which is counterintuitive but feels appropriate because that’s where humanity began.

The “Hemispheres Colliding” chapter is about the colonization of the Americas and it felt like a recap of the books major themes.It wasn’t my favorite, but if there was only one chapter you could read in this book, I might suggest this one. It brings together all the themes and analysis discussed in the book this far and explains how Europeans acquired their advantages over Native Americans in the first place.

Interesting chapter about China. I’ve never really been interested very much in China but its influence seems hard to exaggerate.

Chapter focusing on Australia and New Guinea felt a bit redundant and possibly was included because the author has a soft spot for New Guinea having spent so much time living and researching there. I noticed in this chapter more than any others how limited the author is as a true writer. The information is interesting but he has a tendency to list a bunch of facts without turning them into something more memorable.

Very good chapter on bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and states and how each evolves or fails to I’m evolve into the next form. Again, population size/density is a crucial part of this.

A chapter about technology and invention that has some shaky assumptions and conclusions from the author (“inventors are motivated by money and fame”) but nonetheless interesting. Overall the books main takeaway remains: more people means more advancement. He also says that technology it is “auto-catalyzing” i.e.; it speeds itself up, which is demonstrably true.

The invention of writing—mankind’s greatest technological achievement? After reading this chapter, it seems a miracle it happened at all.

Remarkable anecdotes:
- An illiterate Cherokee man named Sequoyah developed the Cherokee alphabet all on his own (only inspired by Europeans, not taught)
- The Iliad and the Odyssey weren’t committed to writing until hundreds of years later

Finally a germs chapter. Very interesting, like most of the book so far.

Food production spread east/west faster than north/south. Why? Because shared latitudes have (often) shared climate and shared day lengths.

That’s literally the whole chapter but the author said that over 15 pages.

Another great chapter, this one about the domestication of animals. One recurring theme in these food production chapters is that if an animal or plant is not domesticated today, it’s safe to say that at some point in human history, somebody tried to domesticate it and failed or gave up. The “candidate”, as Diamond calls them, must have traits (or a climate) that make it not worth the trouble of domesticating.

Finally I’m done with the food production chapters about plants and we’re moving on to the food production chapters about animals. I think the animals will be more interesting and easier to keep track of.

Life is just one big board game. Thinking a lot about Settlers of Catan while I’m reading.

A few chapters all in a row that seemed to say some very minor points about food production. I’ll admit, my google (and now ChatGPT) addled brain sometimes just wants the author to nix the examples and just summarize the point of each chapter quickly. But of course that’s not why we read. And I trust all the examples and repetition will help me remember the key points better anyways.

Part one finished with the account of Pizarro conquering the Incas. A fascinating but brutal story.

Really fascinating chapter using Polynesian as a case study for the book’s main themes and hypothesis; namely that environment has a profound effect on a culture/people’s “evolution”.

Lots and lots of details about the Polynesian societies. Felt excessive at first but I quickly grew to enjoy it. Although I’m very worried for Moana and her people. Hopefully she’s far from Tonga or New Zealand. 🫣

Good so far but definitely takes me a while to read. Lots of dates in the first chapter and all are given in millions or thousands of years. Hard to wrap my head around it. It’s like I have to get acclimated to it. “Oh 3,000 years, yeah that was nothing. Got it”

Excited to read more.

Finished the prologue. Curious whether I’ll like this book or not. Might depend on how deterministic it is. And on how much the author, an evolutionary biologist, attempts to turn history into science.

Part 6: Chapter 29
Not sure how to feel about this. Heiser is adamant that we shouldn’t “read the New Testament back into the Old”. I think I can get behind that, but sometimes I think he goes too far with that idea. He’s adamant about reading the OT “the way an Israelite would” i.e.; as people who don’t have the NT, but it doesn’t make sense to ignore the light the NT sheds on the old.

Lady Catherine and Lizzie’s talk is a lot longer in the book than the movie. The movie does a really nice job with it but the book’s setting is in the garden and allows for more dialogue. Lizzie completely shuts Lady Catherine down! It’s awesome