Question+your+question

The book (and PBS series), //[|Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies]// is one big inquiry. First of all it's interesting to note that the book idea begins when he's in New Guinea studying something else 25 years before he wrote the book; this is a good lesson about inquiry because the book began because of a question he hadn't thought of before. He starts with Yali's question: "Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own?"

Diamond rephrases and refocuses the question: "Why did wealth and power get distributed the way it did? Why didn't Native Americans decimate Europe, for instance?" ... "we can rephrase the modern world's inequalities as follows: why did human development proceed at such different rates on different continents?"

This in turn causes Diamond to consider the value of his questions, in effect he questions his own questions; he talks about why it is of "overwhelming practical and political importance." (many of the conflicts around the world still involve indigenous peoples with descendants of invading conquerors). A question for your question: why is your question important? Obviously it's important to you, the individual, but why would it be important to others?

"Before seeking answers to Yali's question, we should pause to consider some objections to discussing it at all." What objections would people have to you seeking answers to your question?

Next he asks, "Does Yali's question really need another book to answer it? don't we already know the answer? If so, what is it?" A question for your question: Has someone already answered your question? Or at least partially answered? If so, what is it? Who answered it? That might be a good place to refine your question and continue your research.

Diamond concludes: "Until we have some convincing, detailed, agreed-upon explanation for the broad pattern of history, most people will continue to suspect that the racist biological explanation is correct after all. That seems to me the strongest argument for the writing of this book." A question for your question: What is your strongest argument for wanting to find answers to your question?