Thread: the spread of agriculture and the rise of the state.
You have probably heard some variation of this argument:
“Humans are bad in some way—violent, rapacious, hierarchical, etc—because bad social structures outcompete good social structures.”
Violent societies outfight and conquer peaceful societies. Agricultural societies outbreed and swamp non-agricultural societies. Hierarchical societies mobilize more labor and resources and bludgeon egalitarian societies. It’s a sort of folk-Game Theory argument that’s quite popular in certain misanthropic circles, especially among people who enjoy feeling holier-than-thou without explicitly resorting to racist myths or social Darwinism.
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HeavenlyPossum /
npub1s0…rzz9t
2024-07-28 13:20:55
Author Public Key
npub1s029r5gtznh06wkxnae2yud5rps7c2ny9re68xakczxfh9w3pfysfrzz9tPublished at
2024-07-28 13:20:55Event JSON
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"content": "Thread: the spread of agriculture and the rise of the state.\n\nYou have probably heard some variation of this argument:\n\n“Humans are bad in some way—violent, rapacious, hierarchical, etc—because bad social structures outcompete good social structures.”\n\nViolent societies outfight and conquer peaceful societies. Agricultural societies outbreed and swamp non-agricultural societies. Hierarchical societies mobilize more labor and resources and bludgeon egalitarian societies. It’s a sort of folk-Game Theory argument that’s quite popular in certain misanthropic circles, especially among people who enjoy feeling holier-than-thou without explicitly resorting to racist myths or social Darwinism.\n\n1/12",
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