Pandora's Seed: The Unforeseen Cost of CivilizationTen thousand years ago, our species made a radical shift in its way of life: We became farmers rather than hunter-gatherers. Although this decision propelled us into the modern world, renowned geneticist and anthropologist Spencer Wells demonstrates that such a dramatic change in lifestyle had a downside that we’re only now beginning to recognize. Growing grain crops ultimately made humans more sedentary and unhealthy and made the planet more crowded. The expanding population and the need to apportion limited resources created hierarchies and inequalities. Freedom of movement was replaced by a pressure to work that is the forebear of the anxiety millions feel today. Spencer Wells offers a hopeful prescription for altering a life to which we were always ill-suited. Pandora’s Seed is an eye-opening book for anyone fascinated by the past and concerned about the future. |
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Contents
25 | |
Diseased | 61 |
Demented | 92 |
FastForward | 123 |
Heated Argument | 152 |
Toward a New Mythos | 184 |
Acknowledgments | 211 |
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Africa agriculture allowed American ancestors Angkor animals artists average beads become behavior blood bone carbon Çatalhöyük cells Chapter Charlie Charlie's child chromosome clearly climate change complex corn countries created culture developed world diabetes diet disease disorder domestication early effect energy eruption European evolution evolutionary explain Facebook farming Fertile Crescent FIGURE fish FOXP2 Funafuti genes global warming Gugging Hadzabe happened Homo human genome human population hunter-gatherers hunting increase infection Islamic island known lactase last ice age levels lifestyle living malaria Mehrgarh Middle East million Mount Tambora mutations mythos Natufians natural Neanderthals Neolithic period Neolithic Revolution obesity Paleolithic past pattern percent perhaps plants Pritchard produce result seems set in motion simply social society species technologies teosinte thousands tion Toba traits trend Tuvalu Tuvaluans twenty-first century typically ultimately United Upper Paleolithic Whitakers Younger Dryas