Bellwrite #55: What is noise? What noise--literal or metaphorical--is there in your life? What kind of music is in your life? How does it make you feel?
We read together Screwtape Letter 22. We listened to a couple of music samples to note the differences in how they affected us.
We also began to watch a documentary, "Guns, Germs, and Steel: Episode 3." Because this is the third episode, I gave some background on the theory of the author, Jared Diamond. He set out to understand why there are such vast differences in lifestyle (technology and economics) in the world. He found that three forces gave Europeans a great advantage which allowed them to conquer and colonize much of the world: guns, germs, and steel.
How did Europeans gain these advantages? He gives three reasons:
1) Agriculture: Eurasia (Mesopotamia in particular) was blessed with the right crops and climate to produce plenty of food, allowing many people to engage in activities other than farming. This gave Europe a great head start in technology.
2) Domesticated animals: Of the 14 large animals that have ever successfully been domesticated, 13 came from Eurasia and only 1 came from the Americas (the llama). Animals could do much more agricultural work than human-powered machinery. Likewise, living with domesticated animals exposed Europeans to germs to which they built up an immunity over the years. These germs would then be passed from Europeans to those they conquered in the Americas and South Africa.
3) Continental orientation: Because trade is easier between civilizations from similar climates, the Eurasian continent, which is oriented west-to-east, fostered more trade. This trade encouraged an interchange of ideas and technologies, which in turn fostered rapid technological progress. In contrast, the Americas are oriented north-to-south, meaning that trade was less likely across such dramatic changes in climate, limiting the exchange of ideas.
With this background in mind, we watched the first 20 minutes of the documentary (link) and students took notes.
No new homework. Memorization due Tuesday.
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