正文翻译

Why did prosperous and advanced civilisations begin in Eurasia and not in North America several millennia ago?为什么繁荣和先进的文明始于欧亚大陆，而不是几千年前的北美？原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处

评论翻译Earyl civilisations definitely did develop once humans had migrated to the Americas, but why didn't North American empires ever grow to become as developed and as technologically advanced as Eurasian societies that would later grow to colonise and subjugate their lands in the middle of the second millennium? Did the original North American inhabitants lack the resources? Did they lack political unity? Were they not motivated to build empires that could rival Eurasian ones? Technically, rapid technological advancements happened in the industrial era, but when taking about the timespan from the birth of Yeshua to the 1400s, why didn't North America ever develop any empires as powerful as Eurasian ones like China, Britain, France, Spain etc.?随着人类移民到美洲，该地区早期的文明也确实发展了起来，但为什么北美帝国没有发展到像后来在第二个千年中期殖民和征服其土地的欧亚社会那样发达和技术先进？北美原住民是否缺乏资源？他们是否缺乏政治上的团结？他们是否没有动力去建立可以与欧亚大陆相抗衡的帝国？从技术上来说，快速的技术进步发生在工业时代，但从耶稣诞生到1400年代的时间跨度来看，为什么北美没有发展出像中国、英国、法国、西班牙等欧亚帝国那样强大的帝国？jklmcc56Horses are probably the biggest factor. In general, domesticated animals. Eurasia also had better geography that allowed for more trade. Competition breeds more ideas, more innovation, and better technology. Parts of Asia and Africa that had limited contact with the rest of their continent were also on the same level as tribes in the Americas.马可能是最大的因素。或者总体来说是：家养动物。欧亚大陆也有更好的地理条件，有利于更多的贸易。竞争孕育了更多的想法，更多的创新，以及更好的技术。亚洲和非洲与大陆其他地区接触有限的部分地区也与美洲部落处于同一水平。eepos96Two thingsAmerica did not have large herd animals that could be easily dometicated aside from lamas when eurasia had pigs, horses, cows, donkeys, chickenSecond, eurasia was a somewhat connected place. Invetions and ideas would spread but they would never arrive to americas since they were not part of global trade.They were highly advanced but did not use wheels nor metallurgy.两件事：第一，当欧亚大陆有猪、马、牛、驴、鸡的时候，除了羊驼之外，美洲没有可以轻易驯化的大型群居动物。第二，欧亚大陆是一个有一定联系的地方。发明和思想会传播，但他们永远不会到达美洲，因为他们不是全球贸易的一部分。他们其实非常先进，但没有使用车轮或冶金。archosauria62They did use wheels, they were just useless because they had no animals to pull vehiclesAnd also they did have metallurgy in south and meso-america, this misconception comes from the fact that eastern north america didn’t have it, which is where the british colonised the land他们确实有使用轮子，只是没什么用，因为他们没有动物来拉动车辆另外，他们在南美洲和中美洲确实有冶金业，这种误解来自于北美东部没有冶金术的事实，也就是英国人殖民的地方。eepos96Really? Goes to show how much impact popular culture has on us.Wouldn't cart still be usefull? Even human powered one? Maybe differemces in height made it inpractical? But they did have advanced roads.They did have lamas?Didn't meso americans use obsidian tools etc? They had gold and jewelrery. It does count as metallurgy but they did not discover iron I think?真的吗？这说明了流行文化对我们的影响有多大。就算没有动物驱动，车子不还是很有用吗？甚至可以用人力来驱动？也许是地区海拔使它不实用？但他们确实有先进的道路。而且他们不是有羊驼吗？中美洲人不是使用黑曜石工具等吗？他们有黄金和珠宝。这的确算得上是冶金学，但我认为他们并没有发现铁。archosauria62Yeah they didn’t smelt ironGold, silver, copper and platinum(in fact they were the first to process platinum) was highly advanced. Metals were mainly for ornaments but tools existed as well.One oddity with the americans compared to the rest of the world is that despite having metals stone tools were still used alongside metal onesAnd llamas are not good draft animals, and human pulled carts aren’t really common in afro-eurasia as well. ‘Human powered’ vehicles were usually just a chair on sticks. It was only for extremely privileged people like royalty是的，他们没有熔炼铁的技术但他们熔炼金、银、铜和铂金（事实上，他们是第一个加工铂金的人）的技术是非常先进的。金属主要用于装饰品，但也有用于工具的。与世界其他地区相比，美洲人的一个奇怪之处在于，尽管有金属，但石头工具仍与金属工具一起使用。羊驼并不是很好的役畜，而人力拉车在非洲-欧亚大陆也不太常见。人力驱动的车辆通常只是架在棍子上的椅子。只有像皇室这样的极端特权人士才能使用。GhigsThe wheel is a trivial invention, known for millenia. The durable and low friction wheel bearing is the real invention that most people talk about when talking about wheels. Without refined metals that really can't happen.轮子是一项微不足道的发明，已有数千年的历史。耐用且低摩擦的车轮轴承是大多数人在谈论车轮的重要性时真正发挥作用的发明。但如果没有精炼金属，这种事情就没办法做到。Also native americans discovered astrology and farming on their own. Not a small feat.Affectionate9695Yeah, it's cool that you read Guns, Germs, and Steel, but it's been mostly discredited.是的，看出你读过《枪炮、病菌与钢铁》了，但它的大部分观点都受到了质疑。eepos96Has everything Icsaid fully discredited?I am notnsaying they were not advanced. They were. Simply opportunity did not reveal itself for them.哦，那这本书的一切就都完全失去信誉了吗？我不是说他们不先进。他们是先进的。只是机会没有向他们显现。Norman_MacleanThe Americas did have incredibly advanced, powerful, and prosperous civilizations. The engineering, science, hygiene, agricultural advancements were world. The Inca (south america) ruled 10-12m people by some estimates and Tenochtitlan rivaled populations of Paris etc. They had empires, record keeping etc.The framing of this is incredibly subjective unless we're talking specifically about why American empires didn't cross the ocean to conquer the world. Europeans best weapon against natives in America was smallpox, flu, and the like.美洲确实有令人难以置信的先进、强大和繁荣的文明。工程、科学、卫生、农业方面的进步都是世界级的。据估计，印加人（南美洲）统治着1000-1200万人口，特诺奇蒂特兰的人口与巴黎的人口相当。他们有帝国，有史书等等。除非我们具体讨论为什么美洲帝国没有漂洋过海去征服世界，否则这个问题的框架是非常主观的。欧洲人在美洲对付土著人的最好武器是天花、流感等。Moogatron88I've heard that part of the reason they didn't go further is because they didn't have horses or any other easily rideable animal to help knowledge and troops spread further, faster. Some native groups definitely had forms of writing.The Incan stoneworking is something amazing to behold. They made buildings that would remain firmly held together without any mortar. Just gravity and extremely precise stone cutting.我听说他们没有走得更远的部分原因是因为他们没有马或任何其他易于骑乘的动物来帮助知识和军队传播得更远、更快。一些土著群体肯定有了某种书写形式。印加人的石砌工艺令人惊叹不已。他们建造的建筑不需要任何灰浆就能牢牢地固定在一起。只靠重力和极其精确的石头切割。Arclet__It's also worth noting two more things.First, the fact that the Americas run South-North rather than East-West means that trading grain was harder, since what grows down south might not grow up north (because climate changes a lot in that direction) while what grows on the east probably grows on the west, because the seasons/climate remain stable at similar latitude. So trade between empires made more sense in Eurasia, and with trade comes exchange in technologies and ideas that speed up discovery.Second, civilizations in the Americas what is now USA didn't really discover smelting to make tools (which to do so you just have to be lucky), this meant they had no bronze tools and therefore were limited in what they could actually develop, since working with non-metal tools is just harder.还有两件事值得注意。首先，美洲自南向北而不是自东向西的事实意味着谷物贸易更难进行，因为在南方生长的东西可能无法在北方生长（因为气候在这个方向变化很大），而在东方生长的东西可能在西方也能生长，因为在相似的纬度上季节/气候是保持稳定的。因此，帝国之间的贸易在欧亚大陆更容易进行，而随着贸易的加深，技术和思想的交流加快了发明的速度。第二，在美洲（即现在的美国）的文明并没有真正发现冶炼来制造工具（要做到这一点，你必须有足够的运气），这意味着他们没有青铜工具，因此在他们能够实际开发的东西方面受到限制，因为使用非金属工具是比较困难的。archosauria62My heavens why is this metallurgy misconception literally everywhere in the comments. They did have metallurgy. They did make metal tools as well. Just because the eastern north americans didn’t have it doesn’t mean everyone didn’t have it我的天，为什么在评论中到处都是这种对美洲冶金学的误解。他们确实有冶金学。他们也确实制造出了金属工具。北美东部土著没有金属工具并不意味着所有人都没有金属工具。Arclet__Yeah, my bad, I meant to speak about North America (and with North American I mean the ones that were in modern USA) in that second part rather than the whole Americas, since that's what OP originally asked about. Nations further south definitely had more advanced metallurgy, especially the Incas.It ties back a bit with the reduced trade leading to less exchange of technology, since a trade route between the Incas and North American tribes would have made less sense than the Chinese and the Romans for example.Thanks for point out my mistake是的，我的错，我的意思是第二点说的是北美（北美是指现代美国的范围），而不是整个美洲，因为那是楼主最初问到的地方。更南的国家肯定有更先进的冶金技术，特别是印加人。这与贸易减少导致技术交流减少有关，因为印加人和北美部落之间的贸易路线比中国人和罗马人之间的贸易路线更难以开通。谢谢你指出我的错误lemanruss4579The Mississippian culture absolutely had metallurgy, large cities (Cahokia, across the river from modern day St. Louis), built mounds larger than the Great Pyramid of Giza, etc. This Euro centric idea that First Nations were primitive, Tolkienesque elves living at one with nature is nonsense.密西西比文化绝对有冶金术，有大型城市（卡霍基亚，与现代圣路易斯隔河相望），建造了比吉萨大金字塔更大的土丘，等等。这种以欧洲为中心的想法，认为原住民是原始的、托尔金式与大自然融为一体的精灵，是无稽之谈。