Astral Codex Ten Podcast

Your Book Review: The Dawn Of Everything

Jun 12, 2022
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INSIGHT

Third Way Prehistory

  • The Dawn of Everything offers a third perspective on prehistory, challenging the Rousseau-Hobbes spectrum.
  • Criticizing thinkers like Pinker and Diamond, it argues prehistoric humans consciously chose diverse political arrangements.
ANECDOTE

Contrasting Foragers

  • Californian foragers, the Uroc, were puritanical, while Northwest Coast Native Americans embraced excess.
  • The latter practiced chattel slavery, rivaling even Classical Athens.
INSIGHT

Slow Agriculture

  • Agriculture wasn't a sudden revolution, taking millennia to fully domesticate plants.
  • This slow transition challenges the idea of agriculture as a parasitic invasion.
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