Diamond considers the introduction of agriculture to be the worst mistake in the history of the human race. The shift from hunting and gathering to agriculture was a bad idea because it led to sexual inequality and class division, agriculture-based societies risked starvation, and it led to poor nutrition. The introduction of agriculture dates back 10,000 years and led to the domestication of plants and animals. While humans thrived on hunting and gathering in the Paleolithic, agriculture in the Neolithic caused a sudden change in the roles of men and women in society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The agricultural revolution changed the roles of men and women in society because there was sexual inequality and class division. Diamond states that “in agricultural societies, women were sometimes transformed into beasts of burden” (Diamond 4). Many women struggled to carry crops while men carried light items or walked empty-handed. This shows how men and women had different roles than before, because in a hunting and gathering society, men typically went hunting while women did the gathering. Another point presented by Diamonds is that “agriculture has helped bring another curse on humanity: deep class divisions” (Diamond 4). Hunting and gathering societies relied on frequent travel to hunt animals or gather wild plants, but did not rely on stored food. On the other hand, agricultural societies had social class divisions and there was a wide gap between the powers of kings and peasants. Many farmers worked hard to produce food and support society, but kings could easily confiscate food from others, based on what Diamond mentions. While hunting and gathering societies thrived well in small groups where they could divide roles and feed people, kings in agriculture-based settlements were dominant and had power over others, which is unfair. Furthermore, Reilly mentions how “There was relatively little variation in the wealth of power, because everyone did more or less the same job, hunting and gathering, and everyone worked together” (Reilly 3). Another important point is that “the division of labor between men providers and women and domestic servants first arose in agricultural societies” (Stockard & Johnson 104). These ideas support the fact that there were no class divisions in hunting and gathering, and men and women had similar roles unlike in agricultural settlements. Societies based on agriculture risked starvation if a crop failed and this could affect the entire society. Diamond states that “due to dependence on a limited number of crops, farmers were at risk of starving if a crop failed” (Diamond 3). Since many farmers usually depended on a number of major crops, environmental conditions could easily affect the entire society. The climate could affect crops if there was too much rain, or a drought could easily cause a famine. Hunters and gatherers, on the other hand, did not depend on a single crop because they could easily hunt animals or choose from a wide selection of wild plants to eat. An example of hunters and gatherers who relied on wild plants are the Bushmen who said, “Why should we plant, when there are so many mongongo nuts in the world?” (Richard Lee 93). Another disadvantage of farming is that the soil can change and in one case, “After some”..