Quote:
Originally posted by theboys
Hey Dan-ref, I'll bite. The premise sounds interesting. Why did the Europeans come west, instead of vice-versa?
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Essentially this:
1. Climate/topography plays a big role in early widespread use of plants that were nutritous, could be domesticated, improved on, and could be stored for a long time (not nearly as common as you might think).
2. Variety of large mammals that would accept domestication for work and improvement by breeding in captivity (also rather rare).
3. After generations of living closely with domesticated animals people become mostly immune to very nasty diseases that cross from animal to human.
The first 2 factors let some civilizations "advance" at a faster rate than others and explorers tended to carry germs that wiped out huge numbers of the population they visited. Doubtless the Inca would have carried new diseases to Spain, but they didn't get the chance. Particularly nasty were the "animal" diseases they carried.
Notice that there is nothing concerning "superior" ability in this argument, just the luck of the draw as to where you happened to settle. It's a good book and a pretty easy read.