Guns, Germs, and Steel

If you haven't read Guns, Germs, and Steal, please do. For me it is just the very beginning that is a little off. I will find some research to show what I think is more likely and then I'll write my own book.

Here is the beginning of my book: "Have you ever thought about the oldest living trees on the planet? Bristlecone Pine Trees in Great Basin National Park are known to be close to 5,000 years old... and one that is still standing but dead should give a record of the previous 5,000 years... this makes for 10,000 years of history. What is the oldest extent language? Chinese. How old is it? Nearly 5,000 years old. What might be a common historical activity for the death of one tree, the birth of another, and the birth of the Chinese language?"

Back to Guns, Germs, and Steal - which is about why and how we earthlings have developed such diverse cultures from hunter-gatherers to industrialized nations... why did one continent develop more quickly than another? How was it that one culture can overtake another? What is the origin of these empires of today?

I like the game Settlers of Catan because it shows the answers to these questions in a small way, especially the Cities and Knights of Catan.

I haven't finished reading the book, but I have some questions I hope he will address:

1. Why does one culture often set the pace for the world?
2. Technology has been such a great divide, especially the internet age... What will be the next great leap forward and how will that separate or combine cultures?
3. How can we keep ancient cultures alive, while learning and adapting to the cultures we learn?
   

Maybe I'll post more questions later.