[Kad5]

Anyone care to pour their knowledge on me?

I'm sure we have some historians here on GAF.

Was it capitalism or mercantilism?

[Escape Goat]

they killed the less advanced and took their shit.

[Boozeroony]

Guns, Germs & Steel.

[Futureman]

The book "Guns, Germs and Steel" will give one perspective on this. Check it out!

[ConfusingJazz]

Read Guns Germs and Steel, get back to us in a week.

http://www.amazon.com/Guns-Germs-Ste...6497683&sr=8-1

[shamanick]

Great book with some interesting theories on this question.

Edit: I guess it's also a popular book.

[SUPREME1]

Guns, Germs & Steel.

Collapse.

[Kinyou]

Industrial revolution

[jufonuk]

imnotsayingitsaliensbutitsaliens.jpg

Advancements in WWII helped in the developement of the computer

[Imbarkus]

Star Trek inspired the smartest among us to invent all the stuff they saw in Star Trek.

[krameriffic]

Go play a game of Civilization and watch the tech path.

[JGS]

War & Money

[ezrarh]

I came here to say Guns, Germs, and Steel but beaten like Sansa.

[Lich_King]

Jules Verne inspired the smartest among us to invent all the stuff they read about in his books.

Fixed for 19th century

But the real answer is war.

[ChuyMasta]

Didn't you watch transformers?
Megatron is being kept underground and we are reverse engineering everything from it.

[Borgnine]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connect...28TV_series%29

[Napoleonthechimp]

At a guess I would say: The increase in mercantilism led to an accumulation of wealth and the need to ensure that was passed on to future generations. They invested in the education of their children and eventually from that accumulation of wealth and knowledge was born the industrial revolution.

Also: Those people wanted more which meant taking what others had (ie war).

[Guevara]

Came here to say Guns, Germs and Steel. An imperfect book but does the best job I've seen of attributing differences between cultures without resorting to racist "lol those guys r lazy" comparisons.

[Jeff-DSA]

I'll tell you how...

USA! USA! USA!

[Rhomega Beta]

Free market

[op_ivy]

Guns, Germs & Steel.

came to post this. also, geographic luck.

[charsace]

Mathematics and War.

[vicissitudes]

Didn't you watch transformers? Megatron is being kept underground and we are reverse engineering everything from it.

[Steelrain]

War, war and more war.

[Napoleonthechimp]

War, war and more war.

People have been warring with each other since the beginning of the human race. You've got to have some kind of advantage before you begin to steadily dominate other countries.

The industrial revolution combined with complete domination of the seas helped the British Empire.

[Goya]

Gun, Germs, and Steel is not the final word on the topic, by any means. Just google "great divergence."

[Tashbrooke]

Go play a game of Civilization and watch the tech path.

[Mgoblue201]

Guns, Germs, and Steel is the best book on the subject (it essentially argues that geography is the most important determining factor in the fate of civilizations), but the topic is far too comprehensive for any single explanation. Other possible explanations include the development of sophisticated financial systems in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, the population density that came from urbanization starting in the Industrial Revolution (which leads to greater innovation), and the advent of liberalizing political reforms during the Enlightenment.

[shadyspace]

Black people?

[Talon]

The Islamid world was far ahead of western Europe in terms of science and mathematics up until the 12th century, when (simplification) fundamentalists came in charge and burned down a bunch of libraries and destroyed records.

China also has a history of self-destruction with isolation in the 18th century.

Of course, these are but a handful of aspects. Europe benefited from ease of navigation, free exchange of ideas, Enlightenment, natural resources, etc.

[Hari Seldon]

Guns, Germs, and Steel, from what I recall, doesn't explain why the East didn't rise to dominance before the West in the 18th and 19th centuries.

[ElTopo]

Mathematics.

Well, the real answer is significantly more complex, as one has to explain the development of scientific communities under the influence of the political and social developments of the past. You really can't put that into a few sentences.

[scosher]

You could make the argument that the Cold War really pushed both the US and Soviet governments to more far-reaching advancements than we might have otherwise seen in the 70's and 80's. From there, once the market realized it could make a huge profit with the digital revolution, capitalism took over.

[Hasardeur]

the constant warfare between the European nations is believed to be one of the leading causes for the Western dominance, if I remember correctly

and this thread convinced me to finally read "Gun, Germs, and Steel'

[teruterubozu]

We never showered.

[Arnie]

We traded it with Aliens in return for our co-operation.

[iNvid02]

Guns ger...

Fffuuuu

[SoulPlaya]

I'll save you a long read.

It's farming.

[The Lamp]

Imperialism, Protestant-like work ethic, industrial revolution, disease killing indigenous populations, etc. etc.

[digita1alchemy]

[FStop7]

Check out the book Guns, Ger-

god damn it

[Mgoblue201]

Guns, Germs, and Steel, from what I recall, doesn't explain why the East didn't rise to dominance before the West in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Diamond does make the argument that China - just to take the most powerful example - was so united that its leaders basically doomed the entire country by choosing a path of technological regression around the 15th, 16th century. This is in contrast to Europe, which was so divided that the bad choices of one country would not necessarily doom any of the others (Diamond uses the example of Columbus, who was rejected by many of Europe's rulers before he finally found funding for his voyage). Of course, this explanation, if one accepts it, is highly contingent on the circumstances. In many cases, unity can be a good thing, helping to accomplish what a more divided country or continent cannot do.

But anyway, I think an argument can be made that Diamond's thesis is most applicable for the earlier stages of human civilization. Once we reach the Renaissance, and humanity begins to understand the concept of technological and scientific development, a more conscious form of progress, in which humans can imagine future innovation, begins to take hold.

[RELAYER]

Endless warfare.

[astroturfing]

snowball effect strengthened by imperialism.

[Bo-Locks]

Does anybody really believe Guns, Germs and Steel? It's an interesting book, but I just don't buy it. I think it's heavily biased and the author defiantly romantacises some civilisations that have been destroyed. It does make some interesting points, but I just find it hard to take it seriously.

The Age of Discovery, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution are the four major periods that cemented Western power. They would appear to be highly spontaneous events, but many factors (both by chance and societal evolution) created the right conditions and gradually pushed the boundaries of society and technology.

I think the rise of Western dominance was cyclical and exponenential in its nature. One significant period directly led to another, and as such the dominance of the West simply grew and grew.

[Arcteryx]

[Loofy]

Immigrants.

[sflufan]

Or try "Why the West Rules--for Now: The Patterns of History, and What They Reveal About the Future"

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0374290024

Or "Civilization: The West and the Rest"

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1594203059

[Kad5]

I guess now i'm wondering if the "Western Nation" will decline at some point and China or the Islamic Nations for example will come on top at some point?

[el retorno]

Or try "Why the West Rules--for Now: The Patterns of History, and What They Reveal About the Future" http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0374290024 Or "Civilization: The West and the Rest" http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1594203059

those two seem to be pretty much geography vs. culture and actions

I guess now i'm wondering if the "Western Nation" will decline at some point and China or the Islamic Nations for example will come on top at some point?

why would they decline? the worlds ever more interconnected. The others will rises and humanity will probably be on pretty even footing in 200 or so years. And the Islamic world? what gives you the idea theyd be world leaders anytime soon?