The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race

Very interesting article in which Diamond questions the progressivist view that the Agritcultural Revolution put us on the path toward a better life. He argues that the shift from hunter gatherer to agriculture actually led to poorer nutrition, more disease, and the rise of social and gender inequality.

In the U.S it is easy to say that we are so much better off but as Diamond points out, that's because we are part of the elite in the world and really the majority of the progress was made very recently. As for life expectancy, it wasn't until the 1800s that is surpassed that of the hunter gatherers.

The interesting question is then why and how were we tricked into the agricultural revolution and is the same thing happening with AI? At the time agriculture probably looked like a no brainer...more food, less work..who wouldn't take that? The problem is we often ignore or aren't aware of the second and third order consequences. And even if you are aware of them, if everyone else makes the switch, you can be left "behind".