[simonh]

There’s more to knowing how to manage seeds effectively than knowing plants grow from them.

>why…when you get enough..

That’s the problem, you don’t always get enough, and when you don’t people die. Usually the children and old folks first. Creating your own food supply reduces that risk.

>ultimately end up destroying…

You think they could anticipate those future outcomes hundreds of years ago? Wow.

[abdullahkhalids]

What statistics do we have of how many people pre-farming (before~7-10k BC) died early due to starvation or malnutrition?

[jojobas]

We know they voluntarily killed ~30% of all newborn, so there's that. Perhaps another 30-50% died before age 18.

These numbers are not unique to Australia, it's considered to be commonplace in hunter-gatherer societies.

[fmbb]

> You think they could anticipate those future outcomes hundreds of years ago? Wow.

Crops destroying native life is immediate, not years in the future. It’s not like there was nothing before on that acre you cleared for planting.

[simonh]

Hunter gatherers range over vast expanses of territory, they have to. A few fields is insignificant in comparison. Of course that grows with the population, but that’s the far future for anyone trying to survive right now at the point agriculture becomes an option.