[SustainableTompkins] Diamond's Graphic of Collapsed Civilizations

[Simon St.Laurent]

northsheep at juno.com wrote:
 > But what the NYT review reveals most is the disarray that has
 > characterized anthropology in recent decades. Opinions are
 > all over the lot, often contradicting one another. Much of
 > the critique from anthropologists is so superficial as to be
 > embarrassing for the discipline.

My background was in history, where we usually shook our heads at the 
anthropologists, and they shook theirs back at us.

Reading the article gave me a painful sense that Diamond is looking 
through one end of a telescope at the world while his critics are 
looking through the other.  Diamond's wide-angle view makes it easier to 
tell a single broadly consistent story, while his opponents' close up 
gives them a lot of different perspectives.

I'm not sure that's particularly damning for either side.  (But no, I 
don't find the chart that useful either.)

Thanks,
Simon