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The Road Not Taken: What If Agriculture Never Took Off the Way It Did?

For most of human history, agriculture did not exist.

For tens of thousands of years, Homo sapiens lived as hunter-gatherers—small, mobile bands embedded deeply in their ecosystems. They followed seasonal rhythms, knew hundreds of plant species, and relied on social bonds rather than stored surplus. Then, roughly 12,000 years ago, something curious happened. Humans began domesticating wheat, rice, maize, and animals. Villages grew. Fields spread. Granaries filled. Hierarchies hardened.

We call this moment the Agricultural Revolution, and we usually describe it as progress.

But what if it wasn’t?

[Read more…] about The Road Not Taken: What If Agriculture Never Took Off the Way It Did?

Happy New Year!

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Here’s to a better year ahead.

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