| Chapter eleven in Global Brain by Howard Bloom. 1st ed. copyright 2000, Jack Wiley & Sons, Inc.
"Mankind has always feared the darkness, so he scrapes away at its edges with fire."
--Rei Ayanami, Neon Genesis Evangelion, ADV trans.
Around 130,000 years ago, diversity generators and creative bickering caused Neolithic humans to create what anthropologists have termed "moieties." Moiety members were not allowed to marry, and this strategy helped to prevent inbreeding. After several generations, a moiety turned into a new kind of social unit, a clan.
Finally, about ten thousand years ago, the first Neolithic cities, such as Jericho, began to dot the Earth. The benefits of city life were many and diverse, but chief among them was the ability to specialize in a trade or lifestyle, such as "farmer," "potter," "weaver," or "priest," as opposed to the old system, where a person pretty much had to know how to do a little bit of everything.
Bloom cites numerous examples of early urban life, with a particular focus on early trade. This is important, because, even though early humans were defining themselves apart from one another, they still functioned as a whole society, facilitated by trade, much as we still do today.
Back to chapter 10:Diversity Generators: The Huddle and the Squabble--Group Fission
On to chapter 12: The Weave of Conquest and the Genes of Trade
Up to the Index. | 
