Agriculture Quote by Jared Diamond
“Twelve thousand years ago, everybody on earth was a hunter-gatherer; now almost all of us are farmers or else are fed by farmers. The spread of farming from those few sites of origin usually did not occur as a result of the hunter-gatherers' elsewhere adopting farming; hunter-gatherers tend to be conservative… Instead, farming spread mainly through farmers' outbreeding hunters, developing more potent technology, and then killing the hunters or driving them off of all lands suitable for agriculture.”
About This Quote
Source Book: Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond, 1997
Human societies shifted from hunting to farming, driven by farmer expansion and displacement of hunter‑gatherers.
In simple terms: Farming spread by farmer dominance, not hunter adoption.
Key Takeaway
Recognize how power dynamics shape cultural change.
Themes
history
agriculture
power
technology
culture
Mood
reflective
analytical
Type
historical
sociological
When to use this quote
- Policy development
- urban planning
- environmental conservation
- education curricula
Key Concepts
Domestication
population pressure
resource competition
Questions to Reflect On
- How do modern agricultural policies reflect ancient power shifts?
- What alternatives could support hunter‑gatherer knowledge today?
A Different Perspective
Assumes uniform farmer advantage, ignoring local resistance.
