34894Y182 It all began about 70,000 years ago, ...
Q&@
WHEN
THE COGNITIVE REVOLUTION
ENABLED SAPIENS TO START TALKING
ABOUT THINGS THAT EXISTED ONLY IN THEIR OWN IMAGINATION?!
For the ensuing 60,000 years Sapiens wove many fictional webs, but these remained small & local!
The spirit of a revered ancestor worshipped by one tribe was completely unknown to its neighbours,
and seashells valuable in one locality became worthless once you crossed the nearby mountain range.
Stories about ancestral spirits and precious seashells still gave Sapiens a huge advantage, because they
allowed hundreds & sometimes even thousands of Sapiens to cooperate effectively, which was far more than
Neanderthals or chimpanzees could do?! Yet as long as Sapiens remained hunter-gatherers they could not co-
operate on a truly massive scale, because it was impossible to feed a city or a kingdom by hunting & gathering.
Consequently the spirits, fairies & demons of the Stone Age were relatively weak entities? The Agricultural Revolution,
which began about 12,000 ago, provided the necessary material base for enlarging & strengthening the intersubjective
webs then encountered a new obstacle! In order to preserve the collective myths & organise mass cooperation, the early
farmers relied on the data-processing abilities of the human brain, which were strictly limited. Farmers believed
in stories about great gods. They built temples to their favourite god, held festivals in his honour, offered him
sacrifices, & gave him lands, tithes & presents. In the first cities of ancient Sumer,
about 6,000 years ago, the temples were not just centres
of worship, but also the most important political
& economic hubs. The Sumerian gods
fulfilled a function analogous
to modern brands
& corporations
...
Asih, man, 79 jaar
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