Scientists put Jared Diamond’s continental axis hypothesis to the test.

Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs and Steel in the Gödel, Escher, Bach of anthropology. It’s just some shallow clown without a damn clue what he’s talking about bloviating endlessly and without a shred of sense or evidence. But don’t believe me — believe an actual team of anthropologists.

The researchers discovered that these environmental barriers do not consistently favor Eurasia over other continents. This finding directly challenges Diamond’s assertion that Eurasia’s geographic orientation provided a unique advantage in the spread of agricultural and other critical innovations.

Instead, the study indicates that the facilitation of cultural spread by geographical and ecological conditions is a global phenomenon, with no clear bias towards Eurasia.

Guns is one of those books that sounds right if you’re a complete dumbass. Which most people are, so that explains its popularity. It is pseudo-intellectual balderdash designed to appeal to those poor souls suffering from white guilt. That’s all.