278 Chapter 11
evolutionto the understandingof humanbeings.”^53 Pinkeris definitelycorrectabout
socialDarwinismbeinga smear,but his presumptionaboutSpencer’s philosophybeing
“pseudoscientific” is unfair,giventhatSpencerhad anticipatedideasexploredby Pinker
andhis fellowevolutionarypsychologists.Remember,fromchapter3, our observation
thatSpenceranticipatedthe thesisof Pinker’s bookThe BetterAngelsof OurNaturewhich
is that as a societyadvances,it commensuratelybecomesless proneto violence.
Meanwhile,WilliamGrahamSumneranticipatedthe mainpointof a 1997Pulitzer
Prize-winningpopularsciencebookthat receivedpublicapplausefromE. O. Wilson^54 —
Guns,Germs,and Steelby governistUCLAgeographerJaredDiamond.Conservativecom-
mentatorDineshD’SouzaveryaccuratelysummarizesDiamond’s workby notingthatit
contendsthat“culturesare the productof locationand naturalresources,and whethera
culturedevelopsor remainsstagnantdependson suchfactorsas the availabilityof miner-
al resources,climate,proximityto rivers,and such.”^55 In its ownwords,Guns,Germs,and
Steel—whichI shallabbreviateasGGSorGuns—statesthat“the strikingdifferencesbe-
tweenthe long-termhistoriesof peoplesof the differentcontinentshavebeendue not to
innatedifferencesin the peoplesthemselvesbut to differencesin theirenvironments.”^56
Granted,Diamond’s bookconteststhe eugenicisttenetof genetics-basedpsychological
determinism,thatgeneticscan renderone ethnicgroupmoreinherentlyrationalor com-
petentthananother.In considerationof that,it is temptingfor a PC partisanto propound
that Diamond’s theorybearsno similarityto any of Sumner’s ideas.But Diamond’s point
actuallyrepeatsthe entirethemeof Sumner’sFolkwaysin thatit professesthata culture’s
set of customsare a humansocialgroup’s volitionallychosenadaptationsto the geo-
graphicenvironmentthat this groupinhabits.IfFolkways’s thesisis fundamentallysocial-
ly Darwinian,thenso too is Diamond’s Pulitzer-winningtome.FolkwaysandGunsad-
vancethe samepoint.Thelatterworkis acclaimed.By contrast,the formerworkis
ignoredmostlyon accountof intellectualsbeingtold,whethertheyreadit or not, that it is
bigoted.
Thereis, however,a hugeshortcominginGGSthatdoesnot existinFolkways. Di-
amonddoesnot merelyconcludethateveryethnicgroup’s customswerelargelyshaped
by the geographiccircumstancesit livedunderpriorto the IndustrialRevolution.Di-
amondgoesas far as propoundingthatthe ascensionof Westerncommercialsocietywas
chieflythe consequenceof dumbluck.The luckin this caserefersto Diamond’s allegation
thatWesternsocietyhas cometo dominatethe globeprimarilyfor the reasonthatthe
geographyof Europegavethosewhosettledon the continenta headstart.TheEuro-
peans’ headstart,Diamondargues,gavethema privilegedpositionwhenit cameto
developingvariousimportanttechnologiessuchas farmingandtool-making.^57 We re-
futedthat claimin BookTwo.
We alsouncovera muchmoreminor—but still-existing—unpaiddebtto Sumnerin
this incrediblestatementfromGGS—”My ownimpression,fromhavingdividedmy life
betweenUnitedStatescitiesandNewGuineavillages,is thatthe so-calledblessingsof
civilizationare mixed.For example,comparedwithhunter-gatherers,citizensof modern
industrializedstatesenjoybetterhealthcare,lowerrisk of deathby homicide,and a longerlife-
span, but receivemuchlesssocialsupportfromfriendshipsandextendedfamilies”^58
(emphasisadded).Diamond,whodoesnot acknowledgeany obvioussuperiorityin long-
er life expectanciesand a “lowerrisk of deathby homicide,” wasoverfive decadesof age
whenGGShit the bookstores.If he did not haveaccessto the amenitiesprovidedby the
verysameIndustrialRevolutionhe findsho-humat bestandtroublesomeat worst,Di-
amondwouldnot havesurvivedlongenoughto haveGunspublished.The UCLAgeog-
rapher’s insinuationthatindustrializationhas renderedlife moreantisocialis exposedas
fatuouswhenone realizesthatlivingin an industrialrepublicdoesnot precludea man
fromassociatingwithextendedfamilymemberswhowant to spendtimewithhim.