Guns, Germs, and Steel

"You think I'm just an ignorant savage and you've been so many places; I guess it must be so. But still I cannot see, if the savage one is me. How can there be so much that you don't know?"

A little bit segway from my usual applied psychology books is a bit of reading on history. 

The United States of America celebrated their thanksgiving last Thursday and what most people don’t realize is that while they celebrate thanksgiving holiday, there are other people who consider that holiday as the “National Day of Mourning”. If you’ve watched Disney Pocahontas, it basically shows the gist of what happened. Europeans invaded the “New World” and killed the “savages” who were currently settling there and then attempted to build a new civilization which fast forward we now refer to as US of A. 

This is quite similar to what Europeans did to the Philippines. Spain discovered our islands and named it after their King Philip, thus, Philippines. 

It made me wonder (again) why Europeans seems to have advanced faster than the rest of the world when technically we all started as cave men. 

A friend recommended that I read “Guns, Germs, and Steel” as it explains why “white societies” seemed to historically advance faster than others. It was an eye opener to me and I felt like a nerd that was able to refuel the brain with another one of life’s explanations of why things are the way things are. Oh, I’ve triggered the curious george in me. I’ve always had this question and I’ve asked this question to people numerous times but it seemed that it only made sense to me now. 

The location of the European continent was apparently “blessed” with resources that helped them produce a surplus of food in agriculture, thus, allowing the other people to pursue other “job functions”. These people, who did not farm, pursued other functions that led to technology and lifestyle advancement. In addition, the europeans were always getting into “war” with neighbouring societies and this has forced them to advance even more. 

Well, I’ll be damned.

Makes total sense now. 

"🎵 You think you own whatever land you land on. The earth is just a dead thing you can claim. But I know every rock and tree and creature, has a life, has a spirit, has a name. 🎵 "