Jared's argument tells us world domination is not a function of racial superiority, but one of geographically enabled knowledge transfer. He argues geographic proximity enabled trade in skills, technology, and biological development, by which he means bacterial and viral immunity.
Of course Jared's award winning books are old news, and I'm not suggesting you run out and buy them, or set your sights on world domination (but if you really want to buy one, e-mail me and I'll send you a copy).
Rather, I want to share the perspective that we are currently today somewhere in the lifespan of history's most influential revolution. Some call it the 'fourth industrial revolution,' others the 'communications revolution.'
I prefer the latter, and I'm convinced it's a renaissance. Which means not only are we are experiencing today conditions that can and likely are increasing the evolution of the human species at speeds exponentially faster than ever before, but also that this evolution will have a net positive progressive outcome.
We can therefore expect in years to come, as an outcome of instantaneous, low barrier global communications, more efficient healthcare, more equitable human rights, better utility yielding international laws, reduced global conflict, and, of course, higher standards of living.
However, achieving these net positive global outcomes is not going to just happen. It's going to happen reflexively, which means because we are going to make it happen. That's going to require some effort on our part as human beings. We can't just sit back and do nothing. We do have to take up the standard of humanitarian progress and carry it forward.
Fortunately, those of us who cannot do the heavy lifting, like creating big time foundations, or working in them, can still make a difference by reaching out via the technologies our forefathers and peers have provided us and sharing our views and our knowledge with others.
What Jared taught us, is that knowledge transfer improves lifestyle. Now we have most of us access to exponentially higher powered knowledge transfer capacity. We can teach each other, learn from each, and share our knowledge - and this will prompt, and is prompting, the most rapid evolution the human species has ever known. Moreover, because progressiveness relative less of it drastically improves utility, it's more likely to flourish in renaissance, which is what we are in.
Remember to think about the positive impact you can have by sharing information, knowledge, and skills with others around the world via today's modern technologies. Now make that happen.
Here are a few clips from Jared Diamond's, "Guns, Germs And Steel":
