Driven: How Human Nature Shapes our Choices

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WHY SO MUCH DIVERSITY?

If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.

—JOHN F. KENNEDY

 

If we are right that all humans share a common set of innate drives and related skill sets that help explain much of their behavior in our modern world, how can there be so much diversity? It turns out that environmental contingencies can account for most of the great variety that is readily observable among human cultures, organizations, and individuals. We will start with Jared Diamond, a physiologist at the UCLA Medical School, who has done a remarkable job of pulling together all the evidence of the major influence of biogeographical differences on the form and pace of cultural development around the world. ...