Jared Diamond

Jared Diamond: Geographer, Author, etc.http://www.nationalgeographicexpeditions.com/assets/images/170/expert-header.jpg 

Jared Diamond: Ornathologyhttp://s3.amazonaws.com/dk-production/images/2580/small/jared_diamond.jpeg?1343924458         Jared Diamond graduated from Cambridge University and, in 1968, he became a professor of physiology at UCLA Medical School. Jared developed a parallel job, specializing in ornithology and ecology, studying in Papua New Guinea. When he was fifty, he developed a third career as a professor of geography, and this is where he made his largest mark. Not to downplay the magnitude of his achievements in his other specializations, Jared received the Elliot Coues Award from the American Ornithologists Union, along with many awards for his scientific contributions, such as the National Medal of Science in 1999. Jared Diamond has received twenty-four awards. These are all very notable achievements and a part of what makes Jared Diamond so great, but his most crucial and in a sense, “heroic” contribution to the progress of humanity, is his book, "Guns, Germs, and Steel; A short history of everybody for the last 13,000 years".

         A hero, in my eyes, requires this set of traits: They must be aware of the world around them, they must be able to express empathy, and they need to have the drive to try and change the world in how they see fit. How I see it, Jared Diamond has done that with his book and documentary. This book by itself has won four awards, including the Pulitzer Prize in 1998, the most prestigious award in journalistic writing, which is certainly deserved.  In the book, Jared forms a thesis, and proceeds to explore, verify, and prove his thesis correct. Additionally, the documentary that was filmed involved him traveling to all the places that his points were made, including Africa, when he visited Zambia, and made his final statement, and this is what I find most heroic about Jared Diamond. I am not trying to imply that a heroic trait is someone who visits Africa, but how Jared truly brought this message of hope, and spread awareness is what I find heroic. “I would say that the message is a hopeful one, it’s not a deterministic fatalistic one that says, ‘forget about Africa and underdeveloped years.’ Instead, it says, ‘there are specific reasons why different parts of the world ended up as they did and with understanding of those reasons we can use that knowledge to help the places that were historically at a disadvantage.’” (Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel) I personally take this statement into very high regard, because not only did this documentary force the viewers to see the unfortunate and awful states that other places have been put into for no reason other than luck, but this quote encourages those people to help. This message states that it is our job as humans to support other humans, and that is the only way to break the system that we have put in place. A system in which there is a bold line between the rich and prosperous and the poor and unfortunate.

         It is important to establish that his writing of the book is what I find heroic about Jared Diamond, and the determination he had and the example that he sets is a heroic one. Jared Diamond, while not a hero to all, is certainly a hero for some. Jared Diamond is one of the few people who can stare the rest of the world in the eye and say, there is still hope, and it is your job as a human being to fulfill that hope. If everyone in the world approached problems using the example Jared has displayed, then the world would be a much better place. The largest problem with the people of today is their unwillingness to take action on the problems they very willingly point out. No one ever thinks of a concept like hope. We seek out problems to complain about and make statements on, but never start to try and solve the problem ourselves. I think we do this because when we see a problem with the government, or poverty or rape, we assume the problem is too big for one person to make a difference, but when I look at what Jared has done in just that one quote, it is much bigger than most people could take credit for.

         If I look around, I see incredible efforts to help those around us. I see charities for the poor, I see influential figures like Bill Gates holding a charity with his wife to donate to Africa, but they are not the majority, even though they should be. A world in which people would rather give to others instead of themselves is what Jared wants, which is shown in the quote above, which features an inspiring message that it is our duty to help those less fortunate.

         To repeat, a hero in my eyes strives to make a change in the world when he/she sees a problem with it, and I feel that that is exactly what Jared Diamond has done. It does not matter whether or not they are successful, what matters is that they try to change it, and do not stop just because they are one person. Someone who firmly believes in what they are doing, and will not quit just because it is not working out just yet. Jared Diamond has proven himself true to these things, therefore, making him my hero.

Bibliography:

Jared Diamond, jareddiamond.org/Jared_Diamond/Welcome.html.

PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/.