ASEBL Journal – Volume 10 Issue 1, January 2014
lifestyle definitely fall into the latter category. After giving the standard advice about
limiting one’s intake of calories, exercising more, not smoking, and eating more fruits
and vegetables, Diamond admits: “This advice is so banally familiar that it’s
embarrassing to repeat it.” Although he then goes on to justify his conclusions by
stating that “it’s worth repeating the truth,” this reviewer at least was left thinking:
“Yes, your prescriptions in this area are quite banal, aren’t they?” (451).
One wonders how the average reader of Diamond’s book could implement some of
his other most worthwhile suggestions. Many readers will agree that bilingualism is
important, but immersing children in multiple languages early in life is extremely
difficult in countries with one dominant language unless a family has the money to
hire caregivers who speak a foreign language and/or send their children to a special
school. Much of Diamond’s advice for childrearing is equally difficult to follow.
Although a large percentage of his readership could presumably implement alloparenting to some extent, few harried parents are in a situation where they can engage
in continuous nursing or have constant skin-to-skin contact with their child. Diamond
himself acknowledges that at least one of the lessons taught by traditional societies,
the methods that many of them use to resolve conflict peacefully, is a change that
should be adopted more at the societal rather than the individual level.
The World until Yesterday does a good job of providing an overview of differences
between traditional and state societies in the areas that Diamond chooses to highlight.
But the lessons that he argues modern individuals and societies should glean from
traditional groups are often either trite or too difficult for the average person to
implement.
- Eric Platt
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