Caravan, with a drum solo

Although I am familiar with the book, I cannot state with absolute certitude that I've read Guns, Germs, and Steel.  I know I've read one or two of Diamond's other works but not that one.  Since I don't have a copy I don't think I've read it and I have no plans to read it now despite the fact that I enjoyed his other works.  I remember reading a lot of stuff by another guy around the same time I was reading Diamond, Victor Davis Hanson.  I preferred his stuff at the time but don't recall any details except that he was somewhat right-wing, dealing with a lot of military history.  I suppose he and Diamond are still at it but I have no idea what they've written lately.

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Mr. Beagles' link to the caravan article was welcome; I don't have any significant news feeds and some things simply fall through the cracks.  This was the first article I've read that had some real numbers, such as the caravan members are 70% male and mostly young, between the ages of 18 and 26 if I recall correctly.  According to another recent article the caravan isn't the unruly mob that has been portrayed in the media; there is a surprising amount of organization and self-regulation.

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Why did it take so long to discover agriculture?

I can't say but it must not have been easy.  Suppose we three crafty old gents were plopped down in the middle of a wilderness.  I think we'd starve before we figured out what was safe to eat without our prior knowledge.  We have an understanding of how seeds work and plants propagate but our ancient ancestors didn't.  The fact that they figured it out is somewhat miraculous, in my opinion, passing the information across generations without the benefit of any written language.  As far as survival is concerned they did a much better job of it than I could have.

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Uncle Ken's enthusiasm for math continues unabated which is fine; I don't mind at all.  There's a lot to be enthusiastic about but I wonder if he has a favorite branch of mathematics.  I like geometry and algebra the most, with trigonometry being a distant third.   I know enough about the calculus to know that I understand very little about it.  I reach a certain point and then my brain fogs over and I am lost.  There are limits (see what I did there?) that I cannot overcome.

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In case you were following the online arguments as to whether or not a hot dog is a sandwich the answer is in.  It's not a sandwich, it's a taco.