A Brief Natural History of Civilization

Continuing the line drawn by the classics of popular science literature Jared Diamond and Yuval Harari, honorary professor of biology at Brown University Mark Bertness considers the history of civilization as a continuation of natural history. Thus, evolution is not only Darwinian struggle for existence within the framework of natural selection, but also mutually beneficial interspecies cooperation, which lies at the foundation of all processes on Earth, from the emergence of life to the formation of culture. This means that human civilization is neither an accident nor the embodiment of a brilliant idea, but an evolutionary destiny.
• Why have the processes that contribute to biological diversity played a crucial role in extricating humans from the food chain?
• Why is social hierarchy and economic inequality the price that every civilization pays?
• How did Homo sapiens become a species capable of myth-making?
• Are opioids a source of human spirituality?
• What is the tragedy of the commons and what threat does it pose to civilization?