Novara Media Novara FM: Who Dares To Rewrite 40,000 Years of History? w/ David Wengrow
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Jan 25, 2024 David Wengrow, archaeologist and co-author of The Dawn of Everything, challenges conventional narratives of human history, discussing topics such as the origins of inequality, misconceptions about the agricultural revolution, contradictions within the family unit, interpreting violence in prehistoric societies, reimagining human nature and history, and the experience of co-writing the book with David Graeber.
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Complex Early Human Histories
- The traditional story about human history from hunter-gatherers to agriculture to hierarchy is false.
- Instead, there's a complex and multi-faceted history of human experimentation with social living.
Questioning Inequality's Origin
- The question of 'origins of inequality' presupposes an original egalitarian state that lacks evidence.
- Rethinking this question reveals how human history has been misunderstood and oversimplified.
Flawed Origin Stories
- Conventional narratives claim hunter-gatherers were egalitarian and agriculture caused hierarchy.
- Both Rousseau and Hobbes presented opposing but equally flawed stories about human nature and society.