THE SHAPE OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR
By comparison, the climate varies greatly when traveling from
north to south. Just imagine how different the weather is in Florida
compared to Canada. You can be the most talented farmer in the
world, but it won’t help you grow Florida oranges in the Canadian
winter. Snow is a poor substitute
for soil
. In order to spread
crops
along north-south routes, farmers would need to find and domesticate
new plants whenever the climate changed.
As a result, agriculture spread two to three times faster across Asia
and Europe than it did up and down the Americas. Over the span
of
centuries, this small difference had a very big impact. Increased food
production allowed for more rapid population growth. With more
people, these cultures were able to build stronger armies and were
better equipped to develop new technologies. The changes started out
small—a crop that spread slightly farther
, a population that grew
slightly faster—but compounded into
substantial differences
over
time.