Through his book "The World Until Yesterday", Jared Diamond says that the modern world could learn a thing or two from traditional societies, conflict resolution being one of them.

Jared Diamond's "The World Until Yesterday" tells the story of a young boy who was killed in a traffic accident on his way home from school in Papua New Guinea. The story goes on with relatives and friends of the driver who was driving the truck that hit the boy and the family of the dead boy meeting and talking together. By doing so "they reached emotional reconciliation" which according to Diamond is 'unthinkable in California" especially in this modern world.

"We shouldn't romanticize traditional societies," Diamond says. "We shouldn't condemn them as brutes and barbarians. But there are things that are wonderful, and there are things that are dreadful about them."

Diamond says that in the modern world if someone kills a person's son, there's definitely not going to be a peaceful confrontation. The minimum would be a lawsuit for damages followed by a life-long hatred from both sides. However, in traditional societies, Diamond argues, when everyone knew everyone and they all knew they had to live with one another, disputes were peacefully settled keeping people's feelings in mind.

Talking about how children were raised in New Guinea, Diamond reveals that unlike America when the only adults that influence a child's upbringing is either his parents or baby sitter, children born in the traditional society of New Guinea is influenced by every other adult and siblings in the village

"So, for example, the son of an American missionary who had grown up in New Guinea told me that in the afternoon in New Guinea, he would have dinner not necessarily in his parents' house. He had dinner in whatever house he happened to be, whatever hut he happened to be near in the village. And so he referred to all adults as aunt and uncle," says Diamond

"And for him, one of the biggest shocks in coming back to the United States was the loss of all these adult social models associated with ... the shared ownership of kids. ... All these models means a lot more social stimulation and more models to choose among."

However, Diamond also states that the American of Western society also has some good things to boast about, anonymity being the best. For example, a person can walk into a café, enjoy a cup of coffee without being bothered by his or her friends or relatives.