--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All human societies contain inventive…" description: "\"“All human societies contain inventive people. It’s just that some environments provide more starting materials, and more favorable conditions for util..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d8/jared-diamond-2519_innovation_all-human-societies-contain-inventive-pe_783571.png" --- # All human societies contain inventive people. It’s just… ![“All human societies contain inventive people. It’s just that some environments provide more starting materials, and more favorable conditions for utilizing inventions, than do other environments.” quote by Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d8/jared-diamond-2519_innovation_all-human-societies-contain-inventive-pe_783571.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d8/jared-diamond-2519_innovation_all-human-societies-contain-inventive-pe_783571.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d8/jared-diamond-2519_innovation_all-human-societies-contain-inventive-pe_783571.png) > ““All human societies contain inventive people. It’s just that some environments provide more starting materials, and more favorable conditions for utilizing inventions, than do other environments.”” [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Societies differ because environments supply varying resources and conditions, influencing the capacity to innovate and adopt inventions. **In simple terms:** Environment shapes innovation. Key Takeaway Leverage local resources. Themes innovation environment technology Mood analytical inquisitive Type academic explanatory When to use this quote - urban planning - education policy - entrepreneurship - technology adoption Key Concepts Anthropology economics Questions to Reflect On - What resources does your environment provide? - How can you create favorable conditions for invention? A Different Perspective Resource scarcity limits progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Human Societies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-societies-249068/) [Innovation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innovation/) [Inventions Environments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inventions-environments-6032544/) [Inventive People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inventive-people-4826017/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Societies Contain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/societies-contain-6032546/) [Utilizing Inventions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utilizing-inventions-6032545/) ## Related quotes > [Human societies vary in lots of independent factors affecting their openness to innovation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/human-societies-vary-in-lots-of-independent-factors-affecting-their/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [People with a lot of money don't dress as well as people who have to make do, who have to be inventive. Those are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-apfel/people-with-a-lot-of-money-don-t-dress-as-well-as-people-who-have-to/) [Iris Apfel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-apfel/) > [“At some point you have to set aside snobbery and what you think is culture and recognize that any random episode of Friends is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/at-some-point-you-have-to-set-aside-snobbery-and-what-you-think-is/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [All human societies go through fads in which they temporarily either adopt practices of little use or else abandon practices of considerable use.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/all-human-societies-go-through-fads-in-which-they-temporarily-either/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [For anyone inclined to caricature environmental history as 'environmental determinism,' the contrasting histories of the Dominican Republic and Haiti provide a useful antidote. Yes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/for-anyone-inclined-to-caricature-environmental-history-as/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [Think how different human societies would be if they were based on love rather than justice. But no such societies have ever existed on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mortimer-adler/think-how-different-human-societies-would-be-if-they-were-based-on/) [Mortimer Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mortimer-adler/) > [The numbers of distinct human societies or nations, when our race is twice its present age, may be far greater than the total number…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/the-numbers-of-distinct-human-societies-or-nations-when-our-race-is/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [I think a lot of things will be self-correcting, even in America. After all, human societies are essentially self-organizing emergent systems. The catch is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howard-kunstler/i-think-a-lot-of-things-will-be-self-correcting-even-in-america-after/) [James Howard Kunstler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-howard-kunstler/) > [I am fundamentally an anthropologist and a rationalist. What I say is that human societies are very different from what specialists call 'animal society'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rene-girard/i-am-fundamentally-an-anthropologist-and-a-rationalist-what-i-say-is/) [Rene Girard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rene-girard/) > [Its likely that a general pattern of behavior among threatened human societies is to become more blindered, rather than more focused on the crisis,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-ayres/its-likely-that-a-general-pattern-of-behavior-among-threatened-human/) [Ed Ayres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-ayres/) > [Human societies as temporally and spatially far-flung as the Mesopotamians, Mayans, and Easter Islanders likely came to ruin by expanding beyond the capacity of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-e-rees/human-societies-as-temporally-and-spatially-far-flung-as-the/) [William E. Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-e-rees/) > [“we are here confronted with an irreducible oddity about all human societies: all are strung around figments of the human imagination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-crone/we-are-here-confronted-with-an-irreducible-oddity-about-all-human/) [Patricia Crone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-crone/) > [Religion is everywhere. There are no human societies without it, whether they acknowledge it as a religion or not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/religion-is-everywhere-there-are-no-human-societies-without-it/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) > [...no matter how complex or affluent, human societies are nothing but subsystems of the biosphere, the Earth's thin veneer of life, which is ultimately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-smil/no-matter-how-complex-or-affluent-human-societies-are-nothing-but/) [Vaclav Smil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-smil/) > [Capacity of human societies both to absorb and to discard cultures is much underestimated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-davies/capacity-of-human-societies-both-to-absorb-and-to-discard-cultures-is/) [Norman Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-davies/) ## More by Jared Diamond > [Bird taxonomy is a difficult field because of the severe anatomical constraints imposed by flight. There are only so many ways to design a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/bird-taxonomy-is-a-difficult-field-because-of-the-severe-anatomical/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [What did the last Easter Islander say as he chopped down the last tree? The Easter Islanders didnt have anthropologists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/what-did-the-last-easter-islander-say-as-he-chopped-down-the-last/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [“We come to conquer this land by his command, that all may come to a knowledge of God and of His Holy Catholic Faith;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/we-come-to-conquer-this-land-by-his-command-that-all-may-come-to-a/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [“With the rise of chiefdoms around 7,500 years ago, people had to learn, for the first time in history, how to encounter strangers regularly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/with-the-rise-of-chiefdoms-around-7-500-years-ago-people-had-to-learn/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [Human societies vary in lots of independent factors affecting their openness to innovation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/human-societies-vary-in-lots-of-independent-factors-affecting-their/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [No government is here forever. And there are other forces - the most potent force in our society, in fact, big business - doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/no-government-is-here-forever-and-there-are-other-forces-the-most/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [“Those parasites pass to a person from an eaten animal, but the virus causing laughing sickness (kuru) in the New Guinea highlands used to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/those-parasites-pass-to-a-person-from-an-eaten-animal-but-the-virus/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [“...invokes the supposed stimulatory effects of their homeland's cold climate and the inhibitory effects of hot, humid, tropical climates on human creativity and energy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/invokes-the-supposed-stimulatory-effects-of-their-homeland-s-cold/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [“Throughout the Americas, diseases introduced with Europeans spread from tribe to tribe far in advance of the Europeans themselves, killing an estimated 95 percent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/throughout-the-americas-diseases-introduced-with-europeans-spread/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [History followed different courses for different peoples because of differences among peoples' environments, not because of biological differences among peoples themselves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/history-followed-different-courses-for-different-peoples-because-of/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [We study the injustices of history for the same reason that we study genocide, and for the same reason that psychologists study the minds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/we-study-the-injustices-of-history-for-the-same-reason-that-we-study/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [I decided that now is the time to start doing the things that really interest me and I find important. It was in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/i-decided-that-now-is-the-time-to-start-doing-the-things-that-really/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [“As a result of that confined distribution, peoples who pride themselves on being civilized have always viewed writing as the sharpest distinction raising them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/as-a-result-of-that-confined-distribution-peoples-who-pride/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [Infectious diseases introduced with Europeans, like smallpox and measles, spread from one Indian tribe to another, far in advance of Europeans themselves, and killed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/infectious-diseases-introduced-with-europeans-like-smallpox-and/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [In fact, everywhere in the world there has been a flux between big and small societies. Big political units are constantly being formed, later…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/in-fact-everywhere-in-the-world-there-has-been-a-flux-between-big-and/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) [Explore all 161 Jared Diamond quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) ## More Innovation quotes > [Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/our-inventions-are-wont-to-be-pretty-toys-which-distract-our/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [ Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. Before then \[these?\],… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/next-came-the-patent-laws-these-began-in-england-in-1624-and-in-this/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [I believe that one defines oneself by reinvention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/i-believe-that-one-defines-oneself-by-reinvention/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [“In the innovation age customer experience is key. Your impression defines their expression”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fela-durotoye/in-the-innovation-age-customer-experience-is-key-your-impression/) [Fela Durotoye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fela-durotoye/) > [“Incrementalism never allows innovation to flourish.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhishek-ratna/incrementalism-never-allows-innovation-to-flourish/) [Abhishek Ratna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhishek-ratna/) > [I have tremendous admiration for companies with the kind of pioneering spirit and innovation eBay has demonstrated from day one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-hammer/i-have-tremendous-admiration-for-companies-with-the-kind-of/) [Bonnie Hammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-hammer/) > [Real breakthroughs are not found because you want to develop some new technology, but because you are curious and want to find out how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-zeilinger/real-breakthroughs-are-not-found-because-you-want-to-develop-some-new/) [Anton Zeilinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-zeilinger/) > [Why is it that, when we want to think outside the proverbial box, we often put ourselves in one? We gather our team in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-best/why-is-it-that-when-we-want-to-think-outside-the-proverbial-box-we/) [Charles Best](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-best/) > [We have to be innovative, we have to be fresh, we have to be new. People are counting on that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-barthel/we-have-to-be-innovative-we-have-to-be-fresh-we-have-to-be-new-people/) [Sarah Barthel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-barthel/) > [All of the barriers to innovation in the energy sector are arguments for a big commitment to public investment. Only the public sector can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nordhaus/all-of-the-barriers-to-innovation-in-the-energy-sector-are-arguments/) [Ted Nordhaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nordhaus/) > [I'd take garbage, and I'd glue them together and create inventions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-makosinski/i-d-take-garbage-and-i-d-glue-them-together-and-create-inventions/) [Ann Makosinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-makosinski/) > [“Some innovations just don’t attract enough economic or social demand: just as supersonic flight and manned space flight stagnated after the 1970s, today (in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-j-rees/some-innovations-just-don-t-attract-enough-economic-or-social-demand/) [Martin J. Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-j-rees/) > [We're focused on providing innovations in software, driving the continuous improvement for a much better experience, and there's a lot going on here that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/we-re-focused-on-providing-innovations-in-software-driving-the/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Other things being equal, it is the person who can lift his work up to the plane of the intuitional and inspiration who achieves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanwood-cobb/other-things-being-equal-it-is-the-person-who-can-lift-his-work-up-to/) [Stanwood Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanwood-cobb/) > [Let art, then, imitate nature, find what she desires, and follow as she directs. For in invention nature is never last, education never first;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/let-art-then-imitate-nature-find-what-she-desires-and-follow-as-she/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) [Browse all 4,437 Innovation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innovation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“All human societies contain inventive people. 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