Lockett Western Civ

We watched more of the video today. Some of the answers to the questions we were asking were answered. The answers were too simple. The progress of nation partly depends on geographic luck but that is not the whole answer. Another part of it is animals. We have domesticated many animals to help with work, food, and agriculture. New Guineans only have pigs. Pigs are not very useful when it comes to helping out with land. Other animals in New Guinea are very hard to domesticate. Such as, zebras. Zebras would be ideal, but since they are constantly in a predatory environment, they are violent and skittish. They have a mean streak that would be very difficult to tame.

We took a pop quiz on the video and I think I did very poorly. It was not my best moment. We rewatched some of the video in class today. It was a lot easier to hear and understand since we watched it as a class and I did not need headphones. I retained more information and overall learned more from the video today.

Today we watched a video called Guns Germs and Steel. I didn't have headphones so I turned on closed captions and put my volume very low. It was focused on New Guinea and indigenous people. There was a man named Jared Diamond. He was a serious bird watcher and wanted to "explore the roots of human history." Even massive scholars find it very difficult to determine the exact ways of life of indigenous people. New Guineans had very little cargo. When white pioneers came, there was mistreatment. They believed power had to do with race. A main question that arises when focusing on this topic is: Why did the New Guineans never adapt or progress?