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Have you ever wondered why society is the way it is? We used to think we had the answer, but now it seems we’ve been looking at it all wrong.
In our special issue on civilization (see The civilization myth: How new discoveries are rewriting human history), we explore the changes that human societies have undergone over the past 10,000 years and what existed before that. We delve into new evidence that explains why many of us transitioned from hunting and gathering to a life of farming, urbanism, and bureaucracy. We also examine the reasons behind the increased inequality and hierarchy in societies, including the impact of war and religion on these transformations.
The answers to these questions are…
