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> So no need for complex societies There was no need for complex societies anywhere ever. You can find primitive peoples in pretty much any environment on eart

> So no need for complex societies There was no need for complex societies anywhere ever. You can find primitive peoples in pretty much any environment on earth (hot, cold, wet, dry, etc). I think it’s much more likely there were complex societies we never heard of that have vanished over the centuries. 200,000 years is a long time (and that date only goes further back as our understanding increases). How long would it take for remnants of our civilization disappear if an apocalyptic meteor hit? A complex society or a natural disaster (a la dinosaurs) wiping out megafauna sounds much more plausible than the equivalent of the primitive societies we see today.

dingnuts 1y ago
> How long would it take for remnants of our civilization disappear if an apocalyptic meteor hit? Eons, the nuclear testing in the twentieth century left traces identifiable worldwide as I understand it, hence pre war steel and all that. We can confidently say we're the first nuclear civilization on this planet at least
etangent 1y ago
> A complex society or a natural disaster (a la dinosaurs) wiping out megafauna sounds much more plausible than the equivalent of the primitive societies we see today. The problem with your argument is best illustrated with that famous picture of airplane with bullet holes; the only primitive societies you see today are those that are more or less sustainable; any unsustainable primitive society would have gone into a conflict with a major industrial power and ended up being wiped out. That of course does not prove that unsustainable primitive societies never existed; in fact I would say they were the norm as humans were expanding (when the frontier is constantly expanding, there is no need to sustain anything!).
fsckboy 1y ago
>There was no need for complex societies anywhere ever. there is no need for life at all life exists because it replicates and multiplies while testing variations. apparently complex society variants do a great job of that.

dingnuts 1y ago

> How long would it take for remnants of our civilization disappear if an apocalyptic meteor hit? Eons, the nuclear testing in the twentieth century left traces identifiable worldwide as I understand it, hence pre war steel and all that. We can confidently say we're the first nuclear civilization on this planet at least

etangent 1y ago

> A complex society or a natural disaster (a la dinosaurs) wiping out megafauna sounds much more plausible than the equivalent of the primitive societies we see today. The problem with your argument is best illustrated with that famous picture of airplane with bullet holes; the only primitive societies you see today are those that are more or less sustainable; any unsustainable primitive society would have gone into a conflict with a major industrial power and ended up being wiped out. That of course does not prove that unsustainable primitive societies never existed; in fact I would say they were the norm as humans were expanding (when the frontier is constantly expanding, there is no need to sustain anything!).

fsckboy 1y ago

>There was no need for complex societies anywhere ever. there is no need for life at all life exists because it replicates and multiplies while testing variations. apparently complex society variants do a great job of that.