However, the causes given above are only immediate causes, not ultimate causes. One can and should ask the question of what events or circumstances drove these proximate causes? Why did the Spaniards have better technology? A simple analysis might conclude that the event that caused the Spaniards to have the superior technology was the original development of writing. But once again, the same question can be asked. What caused writing to develop in Spain? Why did writing not arise in the Inca empire? This process of analysis and discovery of proximate causes resulting from more ultimate causes forms the basis of Jared Diamond's book - Guns, Germs, and Steel.

The transformation of a society of nomadic hunters and gathers to stable farmers is one of the most important events in human history. As hunters and gathers, a society must constantly move from area to area in search of food. As a result, living standards remain at the subsistence level and political organization is primitive. Factors that influenced the transformation to a farming society include the decline in the availability of wild foods, the increased availability of domesticable wild plants, and the development of farming technologies (i.e. technologies used for the collection, processing, and storage of wild foods). When a human society switched to farming, a more sedentary life was at hand. Instead of moving from place to place, farmers settled down in certain fertile areas (i.e. Fertile Crescent in ancient Eurasia) and raised domesticated animals and crops. As the productivity of food production in the case of farming is higher and more reliable than hunting and gathering, a society of farmers is able to support so-called specialists - people dedicated and skilled in certain subjects and tasks that are not directly food-producing. Examples of specialists can be scientists and historians. With the rise of specialization, the seeds of innovation were placed into the ground and soon flowered. One of the most important of these innovations was writing.

In addition, the ease of movement between continents is of importance. In this case, the rate of diffusion has varied as some continents are more isolated than others. For example, throughout the past ten thousand years, it has been relatively easy to travel and communicate between Eurasia and Africa. As a result, Africa received most of its domesticated species of livestock from Eurasia, enabling African societies to become more farming-based. On the other hand, a continent such as Australia is more isolated from other major population centers. As a result, it did not benefit as much from innovations and resources originating elsewhere.

With the recent World Trade Organization summits and the NAFTA agreements, it is clear that human society is on a trend to increasingly integrate the diverse economies into an efficient global network where political bounds possess less importance compared to the past. A case in point is the European Union and their efforts at introducing a new single currency for its member countries called the Euro. With the Euro, a person can freely conduct commerce within the Union without fear of regional excises and duties - paving the way to smoother commerce. As time goes on, the integration of the global economy may well become an ultimate cause for the rapid expansion of global economic output and rise in overall living standards.

Some topics in this essay:
Fertile Crescent, North America, European Union, Eurasia Africa, France Latino, Native American, Euro Euro, Americas North-South, Trade Organization, Americans Spaniards, ultimate causes, native americans, domesticated animals, human society, hunters gathers, food production, wild plants, immediate causes, diffusion migration, living standards, alignment continental axes, species suitable domestication, wild plants animals, past ten thousand, rise food production,