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    6 views10 pages

    Sapiens

    Uploaded by

    utama 3002

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    of 10
    Yuval Noah Harari ae The Agricultural Revolution Sapiens Ne A Brief History of Humankind 5 History’s Biggest Fraud FOR 2.5 MILLION YEARS HUMANS FED chemselves by guchecing plants and hunting animals that lived and bred without thelr intervention, Home ‘ces, Homo eps and the Neanderthals plocked wild igs and hunted wild sheep without deciding where fig tres would take root, in which meadow & Iherd of sheep should graze, or weieh billy goat would insersnate which amy got. Home spins spread from East Altea to the Middle Eat, to ‘Burope and Asa, nd lly to Ausra and America ~but everywhere they went, Sapiens too continued to lve by gathering wild plants and hunting ‘wld animals. Why do anything elae when your lietye feds you amply and supports a rich world of social structures religious beliefs and polieal éymamics? ‘All this changed about 10,000 yenrs ag, when Sapiens began to devote almost all her time an efor: to manipulating the lives of afew animal and plant epeces.Fom sunrise 1 sunset humans sowed seed, watered plants, licked weed from the ground and In sheep to prime pastures, This work ‘they thought, would provide chem with more fut grain and meat. K was 2 evolution in dhe way humane lived the Agricultural Revolution. ‘The transition to agriculture began around 9500-8500 cin the ill eum: ‘uy of south-eastern Trkey, western Iran andthe Lavan. Ic began slowly and in a rested geographical ara. Whost and gots were domeetiatd by ‘ppcoximately 9000 oc: peas and lentils around 8000 te: olive trees by 5000, 16 horses by 4000 ac; and grapevines in 3600 vc. Some animals and plans, such as camels and cashew nuts, were domesticated even later, bu by 3800 fe the main wave of domestication was over. Even today, with all our auanced technologies, mote than 90 percent of the alores that feed ‘humanity come fom dhe hundfl of plants that our ancestors domesticated ‘berween 9500 and 3800 oc - wheat, res, maize (called ‘com’ Inthe US), potatoes, millet and barley No ntewerthy plant or animal hs been demes” ‘cate In he Last 2,000 years. IF our minds are those of hunter-gatherer, ‘ur eulsine is that of ance farmers ‘Scholars once believed hat aiulture ape frm single Middle East- ern polat of exgin to the four corners of the woe. Today, scholars agree thas agecultureaprng up in other parts ofthe world not by the ation of Middle Easier farmers exporting thes revelation but entielyindependent- 1s. Pople in Central America domesticated malze and beans without know- ing aaything about wheat and pea culation in the Middle East. South ‘Atercan learned how to rise potatoes and are, unaware of what was s2lng om in ether Meco or she Levan. China's Sst revoltionares domes: seated rice, nllet and pigs. North America's ist gardeners were thoes who tire of combing the undergrowth fr edible gourds and decided to cut te pumpkins New Gaineans tamed sgar cae aed bananas while the fst ‘est Avean farmers made Afican mile, Afcan Hee, sorghum and wheat conform other needs From these inital focal points, agriculture spread far nd wie. By the Bret century AD the vast majority of people throughout most ofthe word were agrcatuits ‘Why did aricutural resolutions crop inthe Middle East, China and (Central America but not in Auris, Alaska or South Aca? The reason is simple: mos species of plants and animals can't be domesticated. Sapiens ‘could dig up delicious trues and hunt down srolly mammoths, but ddomestcating either species was out ofthe question The Fung were fr too elusive, dhe glan beasts too ferocious. Of the thousands of species that our snessors hunted and gathord, only «few were stable canddaes fr farm- ing and herding. Those few species lived in particular places, and those are ‘the places whete agricultural revolutions occurred. Scholars once proclaimed that the agricultural evolution was great leap focwrd for humanity, Tey told tale of progres feleé by human brain power. Evolution gradually produced ever more intelligent people Eventual 1s, people were so smart that they were able to dedpher nature's secrets enabling them to tre sheep and cultivate wheat AS Soon as this happened, they cheerfully abandoned the grueling, dangerous, and often spartan life of Inuntenguberes, setling down to enjoy the pleasant, sited life of fam- echidna rent Sa ey Lectin dt fee eins The tse, he ma common recon eon a wets cree (ps bye one) “That alee fancary. There eno evidence that people Became more int! Jigen wich time. Forages knew the secrecs of nature long before the Agi- ‘ulturl Revolution snc thelr survival depended on a intimate knowledge (ofthe animals they hunted and the plans they gathered. Rather tan heal ing @ new era of easy living, the Agricultural Revolution lft farmers with lives generally mote aiffcult and less satsjing than those of foragers ‘Hlunergatheers spent their me in more stimulating and varied waye, and ‘were lee in danger of starvation and disease. The Agricalsral Revlon ‘erttnly enlarged the sum total of food atthe disposal of humankind, bt ‘he extra food did noe wanslate into a beter diet of more leisure, Rather, it teanelated Inco population explosions and pampered eltes, The average farmer worked harder than the average forages, and got a worse dit in ‘return, The Agricultural Revoltion was story's biggest feud ‘Who was responsible? Nether kings, nor priests, nor merchant. The culprits were a handful of plant species including wheat, rice and potatoes. ‘These plants domesticated Homo sapiens, rather than vice versa ‘Think for a moment about the Agicultorl Revolution fern the view: point of wheat. Ten thousand years ago wheat was juste wild grass, one of ‘many, confined to a small range in the Middle East. Suddenly, within just 2 few short millenia, it was growing allover the world. According tothe baie ‘voluionary rtra of survival and reproduction, wheat has become one of ‘the most successful plants in the history of the earth In areas such a5 the (Great Plaine of North America, where nota single wet stalk grew 10,000 yeas ago, you can today wall for hundreds upon hundreds of miles without fcncountering any ther plant. Worldwide, wheat covers about 870,000 quate miles ofthe globe's surface, almost ten times the siz of Beitan. How id his grass ten from insigalian wo ublgulous? ‘Wheat di it by manipulating Homo sapow to its advantage. This ape had been living a fly comfortable ie hunting and gathering until about 10,000 years ago, but thon began to invest more and more effort in exlivating wheat. Within a couple of millenia, humans in many parts of the weld were doiag Ile fom dawn to dusk other than taking cre of wheat plants. Te wasn't cary, Wheat demanded 2 lot of them. Wheat dit ike rocks and pebble, xo Sapiens broke their back clering fds. Wheat dda’ ike shar- ing it space, water and utsients with other plant, 29 men and wornen laboured long days weeding under the scorching sun. Wheat go sek, 80 Sapiens had to keep 2 watch out for worms and blight. Wheat was attacked by rabbits and locust swarms, co the farmer built fences and stood guard over the elds. Wheat was thirsty, so humans dug iigaton canals or lugged heavy buckets fom Ue well to water it Sapens even collected animal faces to nourish the ground in which wheat gre. “The body of Ham spies had not evolred for such tanks, It was adapted to climbing apple tres and running after guzel, not to clearing rocks and canying water buckets. Human spines, knees, necks and arches paid the price, Studies of andent skeletons Indicate chat the transition wo agiculre brought about a plethora of ailments, auch slipped dies, ath and her- ‘as. Moreover, the new agricultural tasks demanded so much time that peo- ple were forced to seule permanently next to their wheat Belds. This completly changed their way of lie. We did not domestcate wheat. It domaine us The word ‘Gomesticat” comes fom the Latin domes, which means ‘house. Who's the one living ina house? Not the wea. e's the Sap How did wheat convince Homo sepa to exchange 2 rather god life for @ more miserable existence? What dit ofer in reuen? It id not offer «be ter diet Remember, himans are omnivorous apes who thrive on wide vari= cy of foods. Grains made up only a smal fraction of the human diet before the Agricultural Revolution. A diet based on cereals is poor in minerals and sitarins, hard to digest, and eeally bad for your teeth and gums. ‘Wheat didnot give people economic securing The life ofa peasant is ess secure than that ofa hunter-gatherer. Fragers relied on doven of species to survive, and could therefore weacher dificult yeare even without socks of preserved food. If the avallabliy of one species was reduced, they eould father and hunt more of ether species. Farming societies have, until very ‘cently, relied for the great bulk of chek aoe intake ona smal variety of ‘domesticated plants. In many areas, they relied on just singe staple, such ‘as wheat, poeztoes or rice. Ifthe rains fled or clouds of locust arrived or iF | fangus infected that staple apecea, peasants died by the thousands and nillon. [Nor could wheat offer security against man violence. The early farmers were at Jeast 26 violent as theic forage ancestors, if mot moreso. Farmers ‘had more possesions and needed land for planting. Te loss of pasture and to eading neighbours could mean the difference between subsistence and starvation, eo there was much les room for compromise. When a foraging ‘band was hard-pressed by astonger cal it could usally move on It was

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