The World Until Yesterday

What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?

By: Jared Diamond

Narrated by: Jay Snyder

Length: 18 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's Summary

Most of us take for granted the features of our modern society, from air travel and telecommunications to literacy and obesity. Yet for nearly all of its six million years of existence, human society had none of these things. While the gulf that divides us from our primitive ancestors may seem unbridgeably wide, we can glimpse much of our former lifestyle in those largely traditional societies still or recently in existence. Societies like those of the New Guinea Highlanders remind us that it was only yesterday - in evolutionary time - when everything changed and that we moderns still possess bodies and social practices often better adapted to traditional than to modern conditions. 

The World Until Yesterday provides a mesmerizing firsthand picture of the human past as it had been for millions of years - a past that has mostly vanished - and considers what the differences between that past and our present mean for our lives today. 

This is Jared Diamond’s most personal book to date, as he draws extensively from his decades of field work in the Pacific islands, as well as evidence from Inuit, Amazonian Indians, Kalahari San people, and others. Diamond doesn’t romanticize traditional societies - after all, we are shocked by some of their practices - but he finds that their solutions to universal human problems such as child rearing, elder care, dispute resolution, risk, and physical fitness have much to teach us. A characteristically provocative, enlightening, and entertaining book, The World Until Yesterday will be essential and delightful listening.

©2012 Jared Diamond (P)2012 Penguin Audio

A visit with our ancient ancestors

Jared Diamond is patient with the non-academic reader. He presents his intriguing ideas in story form with a minimum of statistics and dry facts. He shares his insights from a long career of living among primitive people in several areas -- mostly Papua New Guinea. He tells about the similarities and differences of their lives compared to ours. Then he asks, "Could they have been onto something that we could revisit in our own lives?" It is a good question and one that stays with the reader long after the book is finished.

One example: in primitive groups, children spend a lot of time in age-mixed groups which allows the younger kids to learn from the older ones and the older ones to feel pride and accomplishment when they teach the younger ones. In our culture, children are separated into age-specific groups and taught together by an adult. The age segregation continues outside school in team sports and play dates. With small families, some children do not have experience with children of other ages -- often until they become parents themselves. As I was reading this, my 10-year-old grandson was playing with his 1-year-old cousin, showing her new ways to play with her "baby" toys. She was delighted with his attention and soon turned her push-car upside down as he had done, spinning the wheels with her hands. Later, the 10-year-old went to a museum with his 20-year-old cousin to see dinosaurs. The 20-year-old grew up in this town and had visited the museum many times, so he was an expert in the eyes of the 10-year-old and he seemed to enjoy the adulation.

This book made me think about the "advances" we have made in our culture and question it. Most of it has been good (sanitation, public health, medical care) but some of the old ways have merit and deserve examination. After all, they were in practice until "just yesterday" and helped us survive and evolve to what we are today.

An eye opener

Up until a few tens of thousands years ago all humans lived in bands consisting of up to a few dussin people. Thus during almost our entire evolutionary past we lived in an environment very different from the one we live in today. To understand the evolutionary pressures that have shaped our behavior and our cognition we need to look at the way our ancestors lived. This is of course more or less impossible because written history did not appear until very recently. However, there are people alive today, who live in a manner we think is very similar to the way all humans used to live. This book is about these peoples. How do they live and think, what are the similarities and differences between us and them? What can we learn from the way they live?

This book shows that the life of our ancestors was not, as some people (especially Disney employees) like to think, all romantic and in harmony with nature etc. Personally I would never switch my life in a civilized western nation for a life in the jungles of New Guinea, and I think that any informed person would be inclined to make the same choice. The life expectancy is about half of what I have now. They are also much more likely to be murdered because crime rates in such societies is extremely high compared to any state nation. Also they have no Wi-Fi, and that would suck too.

In short, life was not better before, it is better now, much better. With that said, there are many lessons to learn from traditional societies and lifestyles. Jared Diamond in “The world until yesterday” goes through many aspects of life, including but not limited to health, crime, diet, child rearing and care for the elderly. Consistently, there are things that we do better in modern western societies and to his credit Diamond points this out. However, there are also lessons to be learned from people living in traditional societies.
The justice system is good example. Crimes in traditional societies are dealt with by the community. There are no absolute laws. For example, murder is sometimes seen as justified and therefore not punished. If someone accidentally causes the death of another person then it may be sufficient for the perpetrator to pay sorrow money to the victims family. Western societies on the other hand see crimes as committed against the community and a perpetrator cannot walk away even if the victim forgives him (yes it is usually “hims”). What lessons can we derive from this. It is probably the case that we can learn things from traditional societies about finding common ground between perpetrator and victim. Grudges are usually resolved one way or another. However, in traditional societies it is also much more common that people take justice into their own hands, which can and do have fatal outcomes.

In some areas the conclusion that progress have been made is inescapable. One perhaps unexpected example of this is wars. The first time I heard about the relative casualty rates in traditional and modern “total” wars I was rather surprised. I had always thought that the second world war was the worst war in the history of mankind, however, if one compares the casualty rate in the second world war with the casualties in wars between traditional tribes it is actually much higher in the latter. In some traditional wars the casualty rate reaches one percent of the population annually whereas Germany and Russia (the two worst hit nations) saw casualty rates of about 0.16 percent annually during the second world war. In other words, you would be much more likely to die in a “traditional war” than in WW2… One factor here is also the fact that whereas children in western societies are taught that killing is wrong and often feel bad after having killed another person (even in wars), children in traditional societies are sometimes taught to feel pride upon killing an enemy. Taking into account wars as well as violence that occurs between wars, it is crystal clear that we are much better off in our modern world. As Jeff Niehaus, who was teaching developmental psychology at UCSB once said, downtown Chicago is actually really peaceful if you compare it to traditional societies.

I guess that it is clear to the reader that I feel quite fortunate that I live in a modern society and not in the jungles of New Guinea. In a few respects however the sometimes cannibalistic tribes outperform us. One obvious example is language. An average New Guinean knows five languages, which is rather impressive. I personally know only three and I think that is probably better than the average person in modern societies. Diamond argues that we should try and preserve languages which are otherwise bound to go extinct. I was not entirely convinced by his arguments. I accept that bilingualism is associated with performance on other types of tasks, delayed dementia etc, however, I also think that it would be desirable if communication between different peoples of the world was easier. Maybe there is a compromise between extinction of all languages except english (or chinese), and the ability of people to talk to each other (I’ll have to return to that topic).

In one of the last chapters Jared Diamond compares the health of people in modern and traditional societies, with mixed conclusions. Once again it is absolutely clear that we live longer in western societies. This ought to be problematic to explain for those who like to claim that a “natural” lifestyle is preferable and more healthy in general. Even though we are using more and more “chemicals” (everythings is chemicals really), we also live longer and longer. If chemicals kill us, then why do we live longer? In some respects our modern lifestyle is not so good however. We do consume too much salt and sugar. Diabetes is pretty much unheard of in some traditional societies, and high blood pressure (which occur if we eat too much salt), is also extremely uncommon. So one lesson we can learn is to eat less sugar and salt.

There are many more interesting topics in this book. One that I found particularly interesting was child rearing practices where people in traditional societies spend much more time which their kids and have much more skin to skin contact, an approach I personally do believe in to a certain extent. I also liked the discussion about treatment of the elderly which ranges from leaving them to die when they go dement (this was the practice of Swedish natives), or killing them when they are no longer of any use, to chewing their food for them when they have no teeth (yuk).

Overall I liked this book. It was 20 hours well spent although I think Diamond could have excluded certain parts that were personal and not so interesting if you are not extremely interested in Diamonds personal life. However, I did learn a lot that I did not know before and it gave me some new perspectives and it even made me want to change a few things in my own life. Above all however, the book reminded me of the privileged life I live. I live in peace. I have a family that I love (and I am under the impression that they like me too). I have a stimulating job that I like, and I am able to explore the world in a way that would be completely unimaginable to 99.99% of all humans that have existed on this planet. I really did win the lottery in the most important sense. Lucky me =)

Fascinating!

I'm a great fan of Diamond and I enjoyed this book a lot and learned from it. The topic is one I've thought of often-- the world has recently changed so much (cell phones, Internet, pavement, airplanes, cars, movies, television, immense variety of food, medicine) but people haven't changed. Our basic needs are the same and it's not clear how well modern society fulfills some of them even while other needs are satisfied beyond the dreams of our ancestors. The two things that weren't excellent were (a) the section on diet. This is a topic that has been written about extensively all over the place so there wasn't anything new as there was in other sections and (b) the narrator was very good but not, I felt, a good match to the book, since he sounded like a young man (30s or 40s), yet the book was written in the first person by Diamond who mentioned repeatedly that he's 75 years old. I think a narrator with an older but still energetic sound would have fit better. Those minor points aside, I loved the book and recommend it highly.

Removing the Mystery

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

This book was a disappointment compared to a few other Diamond titles I have read. I wouldn't particularly recommend it.

Did The World until Yesterday inspire you to do anything?

(1)Write succinctly and to the point. (2) Attempt to be humble and open-minded toward others whose beliefs are different than my own. Both of the above very much unlike the attitude of the author in this book.

Any additional comments?

Due to having enjoyed GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL and COLLAPSE, I expected more from "Traditional Societies" than what Diamond delivered. Generally, I agree with what many others have said in their reviews. I especially felt that many of his conclusions tend toward the obvious (What? I shouldn't eat these foods?). Hardly worthy of wading through such a long-winded analysis!

I listened to the audiobook version and appreciated the narration. I also appreciated the Anthropology 101 lessons near the beginning of the book describing the differences between bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and nations, and how these categories overlap and interact with decision-making structures, governments, war, agriculture, etc. I also was challenged by some of Diamond's thoughts about not taking unnecessary risks, child-rearing, and multilingualism as a preventative for Alzheimers.

I'll limit the rest of this review to express disappointment in Diamond's treatment of religion. Everyone has the right to believe what they want, but Diamond is way out of his league on the topic of religion. His presentation is elementary, one-sided, and tends toward being downright arrogant. Diamond would be well served by considering the last chapter of C.S. Lewis' THE ABOLITION OF MAN (available for free on line), which while not treating the subject of religion specifically, discusses the limits of the scientific method and the relevance of natural law. Quantum physicists (string theorists and others) have been grappling with some of these implications in recent years. Simplifications which help scientists do science sometimes break down in the end. There is still room for "mystery."

Another great Diamond book

I love Jared Diamond. I enjoy how he sees the world, how he explains complex material and makes it understandable. He makes a great deal of sense. This one is about tradition living as exemplified primarily by villages in Papua New Guinea (with scattered examples elsewhere) compared to the modern western world. While Diamond clearly admires some aspects of the traditional cultures he has experience over the decades, this is no sonnet to the noble savage. He brings out the infanticide and elder murder as easily as the community relationships and natural multi-lingualism. Highly entertaining, it will seep into your sub-consciousness and influence how you think about a great many things, and help you appreciate the glorious state that allows us to walk around and not kill or be killed by the strangers that walk by us in the mall. (Read the book; you'll get it.)

Listening to learn Material

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. This book holds your ear. It is not hard to follow from chapter to chapter. This is Cultural Anthropology at its contemporary best.

Have you listened to any of Jay Snyder’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. But this book will make me look for his other works.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. This book holds your attention

Any additional comments?

Refreshing. A book with a I.Q.

Grazing at the jungle buffet

I was really pleased when I discovered that another Jared Diamond book was available in audio. ‘Guns, Germs and Steel’ and ‘Collapse’ made a big impact on my world view, and so I was excited to realise I had a whole new JD book to listen to. It was written in 2012, so I probably should have been aware of its existence earlier, I just didn’t think to look.

Anyway, this book is an interesting and worthwhile listen, but it doesn’t pack the punch carried by the two prior books. Diamond looks at a range of traditional small scale societies, some of the few remaining people on earth who still live pretty much as our pre-civilisation ancestors would have done. He acknowledges that these hunter-gatherer and subsistence farmer societies are not absolutely pristine and unaffected by the modern world – it is impossible to escape some small degree of ‘contamination’ by modernity - but their cultures and lifestyles are still predominantly traditional.

He examines the various cultures from the perspective of how these societies cope with a number of different universal human problems; resolving disputes; raising children; treatment of elders; dealing with danger, etc, and the point of the book is to discuss whether we moderns could learn from these traditionals.

And of course in some ways we can. There are numerous examples where the book helps you to recognise that we could adopt a different approach (e.g. in justice, where traditional societies sometimes successfully use mediation and compensation instead of punitive measures) – but there are also cases where these societies have got it badly wrong due to the lack of scientific knowledge (e.g. infectious diseases caused by poor sanitation).

From a pragmatic point of view, the difficult part is, firstly, to decide what traditional practices are worth incorporating into our modern cultures, and then secondly, even trickier, deciding how to go about this. Unlike the two earlier works, both of which had one central idea brilliantly demonstrated through the book, this book is a buffet of offerings. You hover at the table and think ‘hmmm, that looks OK, I wonder if I should have some…or shall I have a bit of this instead.’

The chapter on religion gives some illuminating ideas about how religion came to be a feature of all societies, and the section on the deleterious effects of Western diets is very interesting, if not particularly groundbreaking. There’s also a slightly bizarre chapter about the value of multilingualism, which is apparently very good for your brain.

So – the book is very enjoyable and carries a lot of valuable insights, but it has a lot to live up to compared to his earlier works, and although I recommend it unreservedly, I think I will probably have forgotten about it in a few audiobooks’ time.

Great idea, poorly executed

Though an excellent concept, The World until Yesterday drones on, wallowing in poor analogies and disjointed stories. Not enough insight and "big picture" ideas, difficulty tying it all together.

A review from the developing countries

I always wondered what is the significance of alot of our traditions ?

being born Egyptian in the 90's then the introduction of internet and globalization for us in 2000 and then I moved to a developed country : brought up to my mind millions of unanswered questions and they were always beginning as "why are we doing ....this/that..... ? and other people they dont ?

this book really answered most of my questions and opened for me a wide spectrum of directions to think about the rest of the attitudes and traditions and what can be their possible causes .

A well written book with great narration

The narration was outstanding and the story was for the most part very engaging to listen to.