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I'm curious why you assumed it was more due to cultural exchange? I always assumed the reverse because agriculture increases surpluses that lead to more births
by akiselev 5y ago
I'm curious why you assumed it was more due to cultural exchange?
I always assumed the reverse because agriculture increases surpluses that lead to more births, more specialization (which leads to improved warfare vs hunter gatherers), and more land pressure that forces outward migration. AFAIK most of the hunter gatherers didn't convert to farmers, but they were squeezed out by those that did because they grew much more slowly. I didn't think cultural exchange was a major factor until much later when large agricultural societies started to colonize and "modernize" the rest of the planet.
- throwaway894345 5y agoNaïveté mostly. I didn’t understand how relatively rigid culture is and how change happens largely through displacement. E.g., farmers largely out-bred hunter-gatherers to produce a largely agrarian world, rather than cultural exchange.