Our next transition, from homo erectus to homo sapiens, which took place around 2–300,000 years ago, led to many innovations, including language and our ability to practice more settled farming techniques, beginning around 10,000 years ago. This break with our predominantly hunter-gatherer-planter practices led to the widespread domestication of plants and animals and the creation of large cities.
Fast-forward to more recent history: the spread of cities and the rise of hierarchical societies. While these developments created abundance for some, they also led to widespread conflict, genocide, forced resettlement, and eventually, colonialism. These societies generated mass inequality, often built on forced labor and the exploitation of enslaved people. As new dominator cultures emerged, fear and scarcity became tools for accumulating power and controlling others—a dynamic still present today in the form of nation-states, corporations, and often, mass media. This is why, despite certain forms of progress, fear continues to underpin many of our societal structures. Moreover, civilization has left us all as inheritors of deep historical trauma, as most of our traditional knowledge systems have been lost over the past few thousand years.
