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>Or exactly the other way around - the better the person is at producing, the earlier they managed to switch to agriculture. Or in less politically correct term

>Or exactly the other way around - the better the person is at producing, the earlier they managed to switch to agriculture. Or in less politically correct terms, the smarter the people, the more they make today, and the earlier they managed to figure out agriculture. It might have more to do with when they first had to switch to agriculture. Paleolithic hunter-gatherers had a better lifestyle and better nutrition than early farmers, so why start farming if you don't have to? Farming is tedious, backbreaking labor which gives you grass seed to eat, while hunting is something men do for fun even when they don't have to, and gives you meat. I don't really see the connection between farming and intelligence. Which would you rather trust a stupid person to do: plow a field or kill a lion with a spear? My first thought was that adapting to the tedious, persistent labor of farm life would lead to useful traits in a modern economy, unlike hunting, which is more like a leisure activity.

ars 18y ago
"Paleolithic hunter-gatherers had a better lifestyle and better nutrition than early farmers" I don't think that is true. Early farmers also hunted plus they had the grown food, so they did better. "I don't really see the connection between farming and intelligence. Which would you rather trust a stupid person to do: plow a field or kill a lion with a spear?" Kill a lion with a spear would be my answer - that requires strength and agility - but not much in the way of intelligence (witness animals that hunt). Farming does require intelligence, when to water, when to plant, what to plant, when to harvest. The calendar was invented specifically to help with those. After a while anyone could do it (which is why you think it's for stupid people) - but at the start? That took quite a lot of thinking, and experimenting.

ars 18y ago

"Paleolithic hunter-gatherers had a better lifestyle and better nutrition than early farmers" I don't think that is true. Early farmers also hunted plus they had the grown food, so they did better. "I don't really see the connection between farming and intelligence. Which would you rather trust a stupid person to do: plow a field or kill a lion with a spear?" Kill a lion with a spear would be my answer - that requires strength and agility - but not much in the way of intelligence (witness animals that hunt). Farming does require intelligence, when to water, when to plant, what to plant, when to harvest. The calendar was invented specifically to help with those. After a while anyone could do it (which is why you think it's for stupid people) - but at the start? That took quite a lot of thinking, and experimenting.