| Search for Jared Diamond (polymath author of many great books) on agriculture as a mistake, e.g. https://equitablegrowth.org/agriculture-the-worst-mistake-in... https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/the-worst-mist... Agriculture made us a lot unhealthier and shorter in stature (monoculture/unbalanced diets), and it also lead to massive power imbalances -- modern people spend more of their lives working. This is a very mainstream observation -- it's also supported by Sapiens, the popular human history book of the last 5 years (recommended by Obama, Gates, etc.). David Graeber's recent book argues that many early human societies purposely avoided agriculture, and then got "trapped" into the inequality of agriculture. The argument is that there is enough for everybody, but agriculture leads to power imbalances, which make most people's lives miserable. It's true that they were more miserable say in the 1500's in Europe than today. We have "recovered" from Europe of the 1500's, but that doesn't mean that this is the best time ever! |