I was reading this piece titled, “The Dawn of Fertilization”, which had an interesting theory by a man named Jared Diamond.

First, a little background.
Humans started out as nomadic hunter-gathers, never staying in one place for long. They hunted and gathered all the food in an area, and than move on to newer grounds. For hundreds of thousands of years this was the life for humans. Then, about 11,000 years ago, in an area known as the Fertile Crescent (Middle East), everything changed. They stayed put, stopped moving. But why?

Let me sidetrack for a second here, and speak of plants. Plants must spread their seeds in order to successfully reproduce. There are numerous ways that this is accomplished.

• Many plants use wind or water to carry their seeds, which are attached to fine, fluffy fibers that act as parachutes.
• Hitchhikers have miniscule hooks attached to the seed capsule so that they can grab onto the fur of passing animals or the clothes of people, to be scratched or pulled off later.
• Then there are the leapers, seeds that bounce or jump away from the parent plant.
• What we think of as fruits are actually seeds surrounded by sweet pulp that animals like to eat. Animals often take their food to a safer location to feed, and the pit is discarded after the animal consumes the pulp. If the seeds are small, they are swallowed whole and then excreted, usually far from the parent plant.

Now, back to our original train of thought. Why did they stop moving around 11,000 years ago?

Well, eventually, as they moved from location to location, year after year, generation after generation, they often returned to areas where they (or their ancestors) had hunted/gathered before. Over time they started to notice a high concentration of plants in specific areas of these old camp sites. What were these specific areas? The latrine areas!

Over time, generations even, these people started to realize that they had the power to grow plants and harvest food on their own schedule. That changed everything. Farming brought food surplus, which meant no hurry to move on to newer grounds. That in turn, meant more permanent settlements, leading to towns and cities. Which resulted in culture, government, writing, etc …. Basically, life as we know it!
All because of … poop!

So the next time someone says, “shit happens”, you be sure to reply, “Thank God!”

No related posts.