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So why was mankind perfectly satisfied with stasis for tens of thousands of years and then suddenly decide to get their proverbial shit together and become rele

So why was mankind perfectly satisfied with stasis for tens of thousands of years and then suddenly decide to get their proverbial shit together and become relentless and driven ~6000 years ago?

dendriti 5y ago
This question assumes a lot... and that isn't what happened.
- missedthecue 5y ago
  I don't think it's assuming much, except that the first human civilizations were around 4000 BCE, which is consistent with the archeological record. This means for tens of thousands of years, humans lived in a pre-civilization environment. What made them start civilization?
  - liketochill 5y ago
    Beer. People stopped being nomadic when there were all of the ingredients and technology in the same place to brew beer. Then they didn’t leave because if they did there was no beer there. So they stayed near the beer.
    - WalterBright 5y ago
      Haha. Sort of like what drove the great expansion of the internet in the 90's? The dirty secret is it was online banking/trading, and porn. Porn drove the development of streaming technologies. Nobody likes to talk about it, though.
    - dotancohen 5y ago
      To those who think that this is a joke: Beer leading to civilization is actually an idea that is accepted in the field. Beer might not be the only factor, but it is almost certainly a contributing factor. Consider that beer is safer to drink than the sources of water that were available, and the pleasing intoxicating effects. Possibly also the alcohol addiction to an extent. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/opinion/sunday/how-beer-gave-us-civilization.html https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/opinion/sunday/how-beer-g...
      - Alan_Dillman 5y ago
        I've long wondered about the generational effects on human physiology and cognition from pregnant women drinking alcohol. Excessive consumption causes Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, but there is no sharp cut off.
      - akvadrako 5y ago
        Not just that, but beer can make you braver and more willing to challenge the status quo.
        dotancohen 5y ago
        Ah yes, the Beer Hall Putsch!
Alan_Dillman 5y ago
They weren't. Its just an incredibly hard climb. That primitive technology guy on youtube spent several years trying to climb out of his personal stone age. Even with actual knowledge and a path forward, the most he got was a few iron prills after hours of hard labour. I could get that much iron out of dirt in a few minutes by running a magnet through it. We've come a long way, and its easy to forget how much our process relies on 6000 years of "ah-ha!" and hard labour.
astrange 5y ago
We spent ~millions of years before that only occasionally changing the shape of our stone tools, and it seems like we had full power brains for much of that time. Sometimes you just don't have the spare calories.

So why was mankind perfectly satisfied with stasis for tens of thousands of years and then suddenly decide to get their proverbial shit together and become relentless and driven ~6000 years ago?

dendriti 5y ago

This question assumes a lot... and that isn't what happened.

missedthecue 5y ago
I don't think it's assuming much, except that the first human civilizations were around 4000 BCE, which is consistent with the archeological record. This means for tens of thousands of years, humans lived in a pre-civilization environment. What made them start civilization?
- liketochill 5y ago
  Beer. People stopped being nomadic when there were all of the ingredients and technology in the same place to brew beer. Then they didn’t leave because if they did there was no beer there. So they stayed near the beer.
  - WalterBright 5y ago
    Haha. Sort of like what drove the great expansion of the internet in the 90's? The dirty secret is it was online banking/trading, and porn. Porn drove the development of streaming technologies. Nobody likes to talk about it, though.
  - dotancohen 5y ago
    To those who think that this is a joke: Beer leading to civilization is actually an idea that is accepted in the field. Beer might not be the only factor, but it is almost certainly a contributing factor. Consider that beer is safer to drink than the sources of water that were available, and the pleasing intoxicating effects. Possibly also the alcohol addiction to an extent. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/opinion/sunday/how-beer-gave-us-civilization.html https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/opinion/sunday/how-beer-g...
    - Alan_Dillman 5y ago
      I've long wondered about the generational effects on human physiology and cognition from pregnant women drinking alcohol. Excessive consumption causes Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, but there is no sharp cut off.
    - akvadrako 5y ago
      Not just that, but beer can make you braver and more willing to challenge the status quo.
      - dotancohen 5y ago
        Ah yes, the Beer Hall Putsch!

Alan_Dillman 5y ago

They weren't. Its just an incredibly hard climb. That primitive technology guy on youtube spent several years trying to climb out of his personal stone age. Even with actual knowledge and a path forward, the most he got was a few iron prills after hours of hard labour. I could get that much iron out of dirt in a few minutes by running a magnet through it. We've come a long way, and its easy to forget how much our process relies on 6000 years of "ah-ha!" and hard labour.

astrange 5y ago

We spent ~millions of years before that only occasionally changing the shape of our stone tools, and it seems like we had full power brains for much of that time. Sometimes you just don't have the spare calories.