Reading Note: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (2)

One again, I saw the controversial topic: the agricultural revolution is the biggest trap in human history.

Before Homo sapiens adapted to the life of farming, they lived the life of foragers and gatherers. They spent on average 3 hours per day for gathering food, and the rest of their day at their leisure. They took in multi-nutritional food and lived free life. Compared to our ancestors' life, the agricultural Homo sapiens lived more miserably. Their whole life was tied to the growing of wheat, rice, potatoes, and other staples, spending endless hours toiling under the sun.  They had less leisure time, and their single source of food--wheat/rice--made them malnutrtional, whereas their ancestors were able to gather and hunt all types of food, wild berries, figs, wheat, nameless vegetations and mammals.

The tie to a single source of staple, though in total sum exceeded what gathers could have gathered in the wilderness, nonetheless made human lives less secure. A band of gatherers were able to move to the next stop when the current stop ran out of food, but farmers were tied to their lands. When a famine stroke, they were doomed. They also suffered more from home-borne diseases. Smallpox and many other horrifying epidemics were transmitted from home pests to Homo sapiens. In comparison, hunter-gatherers were always on the move, so there's less time for diseases to spread. Even if a whole band was struck down, they were separated from other bands; thus, epidemics would be less likely to foment.

The controversy of agricultural revolution is essentially a discussion on the significance of individual sufferings and species prosperity. It is tempting to say now, thousands of years after the revolution, that the revolution is the necessary foundation for the current wealthy society, but remember, to a starving man thousands of years ago because of famine, you would never convince him:"You suffering is necessary for my wealthy life thousands of years later."

It is thus insufficient to measure the success of a species solely by the number of living units that carry the species' DNA. Individual life quality also matters. Chickens and cattle are probably one of the most successful species from evolution and natural(human) selection, as they are populated over the world, but, individual chick or cattle suffered. Chicken raised for their meat are slaughtered when they are a few months of old, while they could have lived for years. Female cattle are constantly fertilized throughout their life for milk. Their offsprings are usually separated from their mothers the time they were born. Some cattle are raised in a small cage, so their muscle are not grown, so they can turn into juicy steaks in plates. Are they successful? Yes, and no.