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Aug. 23rd, 2007 10:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
semperfionaI borrowed Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ona_tangent and scottak several months ago, probably even a year. I finally started reading it a couple days ago, and I can hardly put it down. I find his overall premise fascinating and very credible, but I'm having difficulty with one thing.
He talks about how the ability to write down information was a factor in the conquest of the Inca Empire by the Spanish, and mentions repeatedly that the Incas had to transmit information (about the Spanish invaders, for example) by word of mouth alone.
But never once does he mention the quite sophisticated records system that the Incas did have-- the quipu (tying knots in string!)--not even to discount it for this purpose. I'm having a very hard time finding Diamond credible on everything else he discusses is due to the fact that he seems to lack knowledge of something I myself know only a very little about but enough to believe it applies.
ona_tangent and scottak several months ago, probably even a year. I finally started reading it a couple days ago, and I can hardly put it down. I find his overall premise fascinating and very credible, but I'm having difficulty with one thing. He talks about how the ability to write down information was a factor in the conquest of the Inca Empire by the Spanish, and mentions repeatedly that the Incas had to transmit information (about the Spanish invaders, for example) by word of mouth alone.
But never once does he mention the quite sophisticated records system that the Incas did have-- the quipu (tying knots in string!)--not even to discount it for this purpose. I'm having a very hard time finding Diamond credible on everything else he discusses is due to the fact that he seems to lack knowledge of something I myself know only a very little about but enough to believe it applies.
