Re:We should discuss soil as much as coal (2019)
by throwaway894345 on Monday August 17, 2020 @10:34PM
(#24194707)
> The introduction of the potato reshaped Europe and boosted European population by 25%.
I think you missed the parent’s explicit point or I missed your point. The parent wasn’t saying potatoes aren’t efficient; only that they didn’t spread widely throughout the new world due to geographic factors.
As for the rest of your post, I’m really not sure what point you’re making by focusing on the Inca. Specifically what about Diamond’s thesis are you refuting? Note that I’m not partial to “Guns, Germs, and Steel”; I just want to understand the criticism better.
Re:We should discuss soil as much as coal (2019)
by AlotOfReading on Monday August 17, 2020 @11:26PM
(#24194954)
The GP simply made a mistake. Potatoes can't grow in hot equatorial climates and never made the jump to the north. Two more American crops are essentially as productive as potatoes and did spread widely before Europeans. Sweet potatoes were grown as far north as Mexico / the Gulf and Maize was growing from Canada down all the way through Argentina.
Re:We should discuss soil as much as coal (2019)
by 29athrowaway on Tuesday August 18, 2020 @12:53AM
(#24195393)
Potatoes were not a panamerican crop, but they were grown in Spain and the British Isles as soon as they were introduced.
The Inca had a population of 10,000,000, and warehouses with surplus food that could sustain the empire for over 10 years.
Re:We should discuss soil as much as coal (2019)
by throwaway894345 on Tuesday August 18, 2020 @04:08AM
(#24196305)
I think this is consistent with Diamond’s thesis—the New World didn’t have “guns, germs, and steel” because important developments (like potato agriculture) remained localized. But again, it’s not clear to me if your goal is to criticize Diamond’s thesis or not.
The introduction of the potato reshaped Europe and boosted European population by 25%. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xROmDsULcLE
> The Inca didn't have horses, only llamas. Horses were militarily very important.
The horse is a valuable animal given a favorable terrain. But with elevations such as the Andes, a horse is not as useful. And wheels are a similar story.
Horses were useless in the Battle of Ollantaytambo, where the Inca used terraces to their advantage, but proved very useful in the defense of Lima (a coastal city) against the forces of general Quizquiz.
> After initially being defeated, acquiring guns, steel, and horses from the Spanish and then rebelling against them.[1]
The Mapuche did not "acquire" guns or steel. They could not manufacture them, but they became aware of them and developed techniques against them.
They knew harquebuses were not waterproof, and if they would prefer to engage during rainy weather. They knew that trying to pierce through steel was ineffective, so they prefered to stun.
They also became aware of the usage of cattle and they frequently raided cattle and set structures on fire.