A Brief History of the Future: A Brave and Controversial Look at the Twenty-First Century Read Free Page A

chapter begins.
    Around 160,000 years ago, still in Africa and on another evolutionary branch of Homo sapiens , the first modern man appears, the physical and intellectual fruit of the demands levied on nomads — Homo sapiens sapiens . His brain is much more sophisticated than that of the other primates. He is organized into vaster groups, in which women are responsible for raising children. For him everything is living. He buries his dead, and cannibalism is no doubt still very prevalent. Average life expectancy is less than twenty-five years. In the Middle East as in Europe, human groups wander. They accumulate nothing, save nothing, keep nothing in reserve. They own nothing that cannot be transported — fire, tools, weapons, clothing, knowledge, languages, rites, stories. Now begins trading in objects, women, and prisoners — the first markets. And no doubt the beginnings of slavery.
    Around 85,000 years ago, the world climate becomes colder, and Homo sapiens sapiens builds less rudimentary shelters in which he lives for longer periods. He travels less and still coexists with several other species of primate. These diverse primates fight one another for shelter, women, or hunting areas. Their conflicts obey a few simple principles, their authenticity established for us in rediscovered vestiges — terrify, launch surprise attacks, cut the enemy’s lines of communication, leave him no respite. Betraying allies is common, and so are engaging in simulated flight and attacking from behind. Cannibalism is still abroad, its aim still ingestion of thestrength of the ancestors and ritualization of the human relationship with death. Eating life to evade death, an instinct that still prevails today.
    About 45,000 years ago, the primate lives in caves in winter and spends his summers in huts. He makes increasingly specialized tools. Work is divided among members of the group — and with it comes unemployment for those who no longer directly produce their own food.
    About the same time, the climate warms. Like the other animals, primates leave their shelters and begin to wander again. Now Homo sapiens sapiens penetrates Europe, Asia, and even Australia, which (in an extraordinary marine pilgrimage reaching far beyond the horizon) might already have been visited by other primates. He also reaches the Americas, perhaps by crossing the land bridge on the Bering Strait. In Europe, one branch of Homo sapiens sapiens (now known as Cro-Magnon man) encounters Homo neandertalis , who has been there for 250,000 years and is dominant every-where. These diverse primates coexist for more than ten millennia, still wandering over vast territories they leave only in case of dire need.
    Thirty thousand years ago, quite rapidly and without our knowing exactly why, every species of primate (including Homo neandertalis ) vanishes — with the exception of Homo sapiens sapiens .
    Henceforth he alone will be able to transmit his knowledge from generation to generation. Man’s history can begin. Everything that he has learned until now, over two million years, will serve him to build what we are. And what we will become.
Ritualization, Sedentarization
    At that moment, 30,000 years ago, certain humans begin to dream of an ideal afterworld, where every form of scarcity has disappeared and where they will be able to meet their ancestors. At the same time, the idea of a supreme and vital power emerges, of a God who at first stands alone. Cannibalism begins to lose ground to its own ritualization in religious sacrifice — devouring the body of a man sent to God in hopes of drawing closer to Him. Notions of ownership are clarified; languages diversify; work divisions become more complicated. One builds huts, another sews clothing or carves stones, while still others manufacture tools and weapons, hunt, tell stories, care for one another, pray. Men seize power over women, giving responsibility over their mothers and sisters to brothers and cousins. Vetoes