The World Until Yesterday
What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?
Ratings6
Average rating3.3
From the author of No.1 international bestseller Collapse, a mesmerizing portrait of the human past that offers profound lessons for how we can live today Visionary, prize-winning author Jared Diamond changed the way we think about the rise and fall of human civilizations with his previous international bestsellers Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse. Now he returns with another epic - and groundbreaking - journey into our rapidly receding past. In The World Until Yesterday, Diamond reveals how traditional societies around the world offer an extraordinary window onto how our ancestors lived for the majority of human history - until virtually yesterday, in evolutionary terms - and provide unique, often overlooked insights into human nature. Drawing extensively on his decades working in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, Diamond explores how tribal societies approach essential human problems, from childrearing to conflict resolution to health, and discovers we have much to learn from traditional ways of life. He unearths remarkable findings - from the reason why modern afflictions like diabetes, obesity and Alzheimer's are virtually non-existent in tribal societies to the surprising benefits of multilingualism. Panoramic in scope and thrillingly original, The World Until Yesterday provides an enthralling first-hand picture of the human past that also suggests profound lessons for how to live well today. Jared Diamond is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the seminal million-copy-bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel, which was named one of TIME's best non-fiction books of all time, and Collapse, a #1 international bestseller. A professor of geography at UCLA and noted polymath, Diamond's work has been influential in the fields of anthropology, biology, ornithology, ecology and history, among others.
Tags
Genre
Reviews
Popular Reviews
Reviews with the most likes.
Very interesting content, but it was just too repetitive and boring for me to get through.
Jared Diamond's laatste in twee regels: “Kunnen we dingen leren van traditionele samenlevingen genre !Kung en Yanomami? Welja, we kunnen daar sommige dingen van leren.”
Diamond heeft tientallen jaren gespendeerd bij verschillende stammen van Nieuw-Guinea, en hij heeft veel gesproken met antropologen en dingen gelezen, en dan heeft hij, niet écht gehinderd door enorm veel kennis van zaken, een boek geschreven dat een mengeling is van persoonlijke herinneringen, notities over het dagelijkse leven zoals hij dat ervaart, en niet meteen wetenschappelijk gefundeerde opinies.
Niet dat ik een nieuwe Guns, Germs and Steel verwachtte, maar het voortdurende over-en-weer-schipperen tussen anecdotes zonder echte historische context over “primitieve” maatschappijen en veralgemeningen zonder echte diepgang over “onze” maatschappij werd redelijk snel redelijk vermoeiend. En saai.
En, net zoals ik mensen die “Micro$oft Windoze” schrijven zeer moeilijk ernstig kan nemen, had ik het ook heel erg moeilijk van zodra hij consistent “WEIRD” begint te gebruiken als acroniem voor “Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic societies”.
Afijn. Hier en daar wat boeiende stukken, maar na meer dan 500 bladzijden vond ik: niet echt de moeite waard. En ook: schrijf in ‘s hemelsnaam een autobiografie, dat zou vele keren boeiender zijn.
Much of this is material you know: agriculture, state societies, atypical, etc etc. Where Diamond differs is in his unromanticized analysis and recommendations: it's not useful to pretend that we'd be better off as noble savages, but there are important lessons we can (re-)learn about managing risk, pursuing justice, raising children, and living better in our circumstances. Diamond's illustrative anecdotes from his field work in New Guinea are profound and, IMO, helpful.
Sadly, this book will never reach policymakers or influencers. So it's up to us to recommend it, discuss its lessons, live by example and hope the next generations pick something up.
Oh, and it's slow going but worth toughing out to the end.
