The literary era since 1979

Chapter 271 Guns, Viruses, and Steel

Chatting with Bo Yang, speaking dialect was not very enjoyable.

There were many things he didn't say, and he didn't use his full firepower. After all, if he said it, it would be too hurtful to the old man.

If something bad happens to me because of anger, or even I die from anger, I will definitely not bear the blame for it.

If I replace him with someone younger, it would be such a pain in the ass!

But no matter what, the topic of this report meeting finally has an idea. Originally, I wanted to talk about nationality and worldliness.

Now, let’s join the discussion about the superiority and inferiority of nations.

With this thought in mind, Fang Yan stayed in his bedroom, picking up a pen and writing on paper:

"Foreword."

"——Questions about Bo Yang."

"For different peoples in different parts of the world, in the 13,000 years after the end of the last Ice Age, some parts of the world developed industrial and agricultural societies using metal tools and writing, while other parts of the world still retained hunting and gathering societies using stone tools..."

"I recently discussed the issue of ethnic superiority and inferiority with Mr. Bo Yang. His view is that all ethnic groups in the world have their own characteristics, but when talking about some ethnic groups in Africa and America, especially the Chinese, we have great differences and deviations."

"........."

“Why can white people manufacture modern industrial products, while black people in Africa can only be enslaved and indigenous peoples in the South Pacific are still in primitive society?”

“It connects to a larger set of disparities in the modern world. Peoples from Eurasia, especially those who still live in Europe and East Asia and those who migrated to North America, control the world’s wealth and power. Other peoples, including most Africans, have escaped European colonization but still lag far behind in wealth and power.”

"Some peoples, such as the indigenous peoples of Australia, America and southern Africa, were no longer the owners of their own lands, but were massacred, conquered and sometimes even exterminated by European colonialists."

"Why is the distribution of wealth and power the way it is? Why didn't it happen that Indians, Africans and Aboriginal Australians killed, conquered or exterminated Europeans?"

"For this question, we can look back at history. Starting from 1500 AD..."

The book written in Fangyan is "Guns, Germs, and Steel". As far as I remember, it won many awards including the Pulitzer Prize and the British Popular Science Book Award.

In the previous life, this was no less than world-class bestsellers such as "How to Win Friends and Influence People" and "The World is Flat".

The views of this book can be summarized in one word: "environmental determinism" or "geopolitical determinism."

In other words, the ecological environment is the basis of human survival, and the geopolitical environment determines the development of civilization.

However, I do not completely agree with a lot of the content, especially the parts about China and Asia.

Moreover, the text is too wordy, and I don't have much detailed information at hand, so I can only simplify it a lot.

As for the problems concerning China, I am prepared to discuss them at length, but of course it is impossible to write "The Threat Theory" or "The Collapse Theory".

Instead, it explains the revival of China from the perspective of Chinese history, culture, and geography.

If I were in China, I would not be able to write this book at all, otherwise I would not be able to explain why I am so familiar with the world.

But now it is at the University of Iowa, and Iowa happens to be the place where Indians were exiled, which fits with the fact that "Guns, Viruses, and Steel" begins with Indians, and there are a lot of data, materials and works in the museums and libraries.

What Fangyan needs to do now is to make the forward-looking and pioneering views self-consistent and logically consistent.

That is, first shoot the arrow, and then draw a bull's eye where the arrow hits.

If such a great work on human history that "denies racial determinism" were dropped into the United States where the civil rights movement is surging, those civil rights activists who shout "racial equality" would probably go crazy about it. Maybe the scholars would also like it.

…………

After working in the room for a whole day, I finally finished writing the preface, outline and the main text of the first chapter.

At this moment, Pan Yaoming pushed open the door, followed by Bai Ruoxue, Nie Hualing, Paul Angel and others.

Nie Hualing smiled and said, "I heard from Yaoming that you are writing something big now?" Fangyan said that he got an inspiration from chatting with Bai Yang and was preparing the topic for the next report.

"Don't bother with Mr. Bai. He has been incarcerated for too long. He is a bit extreme and impulsive."

Nie Hualing said: "Even I, who has lived in the United States for a long time, know that the United States is not as beautiful as he thinks, and the Chinese people and culture are not as ugly as he says."

Fangyan curled his lips, "He cursed to his heart's content and felt relieved, but the impact was really too bad."

Nie Hualing was also somewhat dissatisfied with Bo Yang. "So how are you going to refute him at the report meeting?"

Fangyan pointed to the manuscript on the table and said, "I'm writing now."

Bai Ruoxue asked curiously: "Teacher Fang, is this what you talked about last time?!"

Nie Hualing was very curious: "Can you let me see it?"

"Of course." Fang Yan handed over the manuscript.

Nie Hualing opened the manuscript and started reading.

The more Paul Angel listened, the more he fell into deep thought.

"Because of the vastness of the European continent, there are a lot of easily domesticated plants and animals."

"The east-west axis also reduced barriers to the spread and exchange of crops, plants and animals."

"These factors gave humans in Eurasia a leading edge in the transition from hunting and gathering to agricultural civilization and even industrial civilization, which in turn influenced the progress of civilization around the world."

I know every word, but I don't understand them when they are put together.

"Are you going to analyze and discuss all the nations in the world?" Paul Angel was surprised.

“I dare not say it is an analytical discussion, I can only say it is popular science.”

Fangyan waved his hand, saying that he was not yet capable of analyzing all the ethnic groups in the world.

“That’s pretty amazing too!”

Everyone looked at each other in shock.

Paul Ingres, in particular, because of his interest in Indian masks, has more or less learned about Indian civilization. He also has some knowledge of world history and world nations, and is quite aware of the knowledge reserves and broad horizons required here.

"I don't dare compare myself with those great people."

Fang Yan smiled and said, "Besides, I only have opinions now. I urgently need all kinds of information to consolidate the foundation and make it reasonable and well-founded."

"I can lend you my library card,"

Nie Hualing said that if the University of Iowa doesn't have it, you can go to the public library in Iowa.

"I am really looking forward to your report meeting this time."

Paul Angell said: "If this book is published, please remember to mail me a copy."

"That will take a long time, and it will require translation."

Fang Yan turned his head to Bai Ruoxue and said, "When the time comes, you will have to work hard again."

"It's not hard, Teacher Fang."

Bai Ruoxue smiled and said, "I also want to thank you for letting me gain some fame from your book."

Fang Yan said: "Not only the translation of the manuscript, but also the translation for me during the report conference and speech, thank you for your hard work."

(End of this chapter)