tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14297067.post6057781128356959520..comments2023-07-18T03:08:21.050-07:00Comments on PanCrit.Org: Two Books on Progress: "Farewell to Alms" and "Birth of Plenty"Chris Hibberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235621011708498622noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14297067.post-54381858541608165572008-07-23T07:57:00.000-07:002008-07-23T07:57:00.000-07:00Having not read any of the above book(yet), I woul...Having not read any of the above book(yet), I would just suggest to look also for a correlation between countries with "lazy workers" and countries with high average mean temperatures, or if you can, try doing anything at all in humid 40C weather, and try later to do that same thing in a nice, cool 22C, and see which is easier.jeff cliffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01561406222688711980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14297067.post-43086622092916178532008-06-01T19:16:00.000-07:002008-06-01T19:16:00.000-07:00I'm somewhat uncertain about the idea that all tha...I'm somewhat uncertain about the idea that all that's needed is adopting a particular set of institutions, though I'd go for those four as a good set.<BR/><BR/>In a passage in GURPS Infinite Worlds, Ken Hite gives a quick overview of metahistorical theories, summing them up as Great Men, Great Moments, and Great Motherlands—the key to historical developments being the choices made by key innovators, or historical inevitability ("it steam engines when it comes steam engine time"), or geographic constraints on human possibilies. And I think it looks as if there's a lot to be said for the last. It's more or less Diamond's own theory.<BR/><BR/>For example, a few years back I did some reading up on the Crusades. And, looking at maps of the Crusader states, I found myself thinking that the borders looked oddly similar to those of Israel—and all of a sudden the Muslim complaint about Israel being a "crusader state" looked less obviously absurd. Then I noticed that there were similar boundaries at the Roman Empire's eastern frontier, and even earlier, the Egyptian client states in the Levant occupied the same territory. And it struck me that the obvious causality was that those were the limits to how far inland you could supply an inhabited area by shipping. So you had a region that was supported by maritime links with large economic powers overseas, and then you had a region that was not, and was dominated by local cultures.<BR/><BR/>I don't advance that as a proof, of course. I'm not a historical scholar. But it certainly makes me wonder.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com