Chapter 5: The Last Ice Age and the Birth of Agriculture
Jared Diamond called agriculture 'the worst mistake in the history of the human race.' The skeletal evidence supports him -- and the consequences are still unfolding in your body.
◆ Key Insights
Hunter-gatherers worked 15-20 hours per week, ate 100+ species, and were taller and healthier than early farmers
Agriculture caused heights to drop 10-15 cm, dental disease to skyrocket, and infectious disease to proliferate from animal proximity
A lost continent called Doggerland -- larger than modern Britain -- connected Europe to England before a catastrophic tsunami drowned it in 6150 BCE
Perhaps only 10,000 humans survived in all of Europe at the glacial maximum -- and the pressure made them smarter and more creative
Agriculture didn't make individuals healthier; it made civilizations possible -- and civilizations crushed everything else
Read the full chapter to understand why the foundation of civilization was experienced as a catastrophic decline in human health.
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