West began
career advantage, not because Westerners were smarter, but because the original kernel West was much more favored in terms of natural resources than the other six regions where it was developed agriculture. Of the 56 species of plants with larger and more nutritious grains, which are domesticated, 32 grew wild in the western nucleus, in East Asia, only six. Another advantage: moving from wild to domestic wheat wheat only required a mutation. Skip the ancestor of maize, a plant of small hard grains, corn today, took several dozen. Of the 14 mammal species have domesticated, 7 living in the wild in the western nucleus, compared with 5 in East Asia. Of the five most important domestic animals (sheep, goat, cow, pig and horse), only the horse was not in the fertile crescent. With these advantages, it is not unusual that the West take the lead, nor assume that the East is a worthy second place. Compared with, for example New Guinea, which lacks domesticated mammals, East also had a comparative advantage, although not as big as the West.
way Morris has a vision of history: all mankind is under pressure from the weather and geography and all mankind is moved by the same imperatives (greed, laziness and fear .) Consequently, progress leads us all on the same path. What are the rates differ. Take the Neolithic. Both East and West reached the following milestones: domestication of the dog, domestication of plants, construction of big temples, construction of defensive fortifications, domestication of animals, human sacrifice, intensive agriculture, invention of pottery, creating large human settlements lavish burial (indicating the beginnings of social differentiation). Varied the order and time in which these milestones were reached. Usually, but not always, reached the West, 2,000 years earlier than the East, but both overtook them. Morris does not mention it, but it is expected that this pattern will recur in the other five regions where agriculture was developed independently.
The first states began to appear in the West in the fourth millennium. The cooling that occurred from 3800 BC meant that decreased rainfall in Mesopotamia and became more irregular. Emigration was not an option because the fertile crescent was already overcrowded. The Mesopotamian cities chose to congregate and cooperate to build large irrigation systems. This implies a greater social division and the birth of writing, a necessity in a society that had become more complicated. A phenomenon similar occurred in the Nile Valley, which was also affected by changes in rainfall patterns. For the 2,500 both the Nile Valley and Mesopotamia had been unified by two great empires, that of the pharaohs and the Akkadians. And yet, by the end of the third millennium, the West had capsized.
chaos This period coincided with a period of drought that led to the extreme western societies. Divine kingship system created by the pharaohs and Mesopotamian Sargon dynasty no longer sufficient to handle more complex societies that were in crisis. The priests and nobles and kings did not obey. Migration caused by a drier climate, came to complicate the situation. The result was the fragmentation of both regions in several states.
However, all of these conditions do not hurt the growth of the West, as measured by Morris in 2000 BC, the degree of social development of the West was 50% higher than who had been in 3000 BC Morris attributes it to the West has expanded to a new periphery. The peoples who inhabited the periphery had an advantage against those who had horses Egyptian and Mesopotamian were ill-prepared. Thus the second millennium saw the rise of the Humans, the Hittites and the Hyksos. He also saw the growing importance of trade. Suddenly the Mediterranean Sea, recently joined the Western core asset became a key geographical and live near large rivers lost relative.
Meanwhile China had entered the Neolithic Age of 2,000 years late day or so, with respect to the West. Between 2,500 and 2,000 BC started the proto-states emerge, in which the ancient shamans had managed to become in the ruling elites. Between 1900 and 1700 came the first real city, Erlitou. Archaeologists debate whether it could have been the capital of semi-mythical Xia Dynasty. As in Mesopotamia, Erlitou also had its problems with neighboring barbarians, the Shang, who eventually defeated at the 1,600 and began to expand using the most refined methods Erlitou was developed first. The shang in their own way and independently replicated the divine dynasties system perfected by the Egyptians and Mesopotamians.
By 1250 West had reached the 34 social development points three times in 5,000 BC The Egyptian energy and Mesopotamian average was about 20,000 calories a day. The largest cities had populations of about 80,000 inhabitants. There was a large class of scribes. The greatest empires armies could deploy up to a thousand chariots. And then there was the invasion of the Sea Peoples, which resulted in epidemics and large population movements. The Hittite empire disappeared, Egypt lost its possessions in Asia and retreated to Africa where the country ended fragment. Assyria was plunged into darkness. For 1000 the social development of the West had retreated levels in which he was 600 years earlier. West would need 500 years to recover 24 points of social development that had been in 1300. To date there is a clear explanation of what it was that launched the invasions of the Sea Peoples, but Morris was suspected of an episode of climate change behind, plus a law that defines it this way: "The paradox of development social development-the tendency to generate the same forces that weaken, more cores means that create more problems for themselves. " For optimists Morris has one consolation: larger and more complex societies are also able to answer more effective and refined to the problems they face.
headaches the Sea Peoples were the Egyptians and Mesopotamians were the zhou in China's north that were given to the shang. Zhou brought the new technology of chariots and his victory was due to a combination of powerful armies and the division of shang. But the replacement of by shang zhou was not accompanied by any collapse in the East. This would help close the gap with East West. Instead of a 2,000-year delay, the delay now would be measured in a few hundreds of years.
Both West and East grew during the first millennium BC In the 700 West surpassed the barrier of 24 points and did the 500 East. For the first century BC, the West had overcome the barrier of 35 points and East was not far behind. Morris said that both achieved a high degree of social development without further collapse, because they changed strategy, both opted for the creation of organized states rather lax States that had existed before. This new model required a more centralized state, a bureaucracy, a standing army ... It is a state model that requires many more resources, but also a model capable of generating much more revenue. The lax state model is based on feudal and decentralized structures. It is inexpensive, but very productive and is inherently unstable, since much depends on individuals.
early AD West was unified under the Roman Empire and East under the Han empire began in both empires timidly experimenting with new energy sources: coal, natural gas, water and wind. Since 200 BC, the Earth had entered a warm period milder winters, which made it more productive agriculture in places as varied as England, France and Manchuria. Took place then the first indirect contact between Rome and China.
And when everything seemed to be going well, you fucked the invention. Between AD 200 and 500 degree temperatures dropped. There were repeated epidemics in Rome and China, that Morris attributed to that among the things they exchanged when they came into contact, the microbes were specific to each region. And to top it off, came the barbarians, who were stripping of cold in northern latitudes and sought saqueables cozy. Both East and West returned a more liberal states, less complex economies and societies that are less refined.
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