Layer by layer, life evolved peacefully in its course. Then came humans. The first humans were more like apes. They ate what they found on the ground or in the trees, and they hunted what they could. They cooperated, but they acted purely on instinct.
But humans are not like other animals. They discovered that to increase their chances of survival, they should focus on developing their intellect rather than their bodies. As a result, they learned how to make weapons for hunting, instead of using their hands or rocks. They also learned how to use vessels for gathering and storing food. Over time, humans improved the use of their intellect, which enhanced their chances of survival even more. Thus, gradually, the human race became ruler of the earth.
The ability to use tools to increase food production and to build better shelters offered us a unique possibility, unavailable to other creatures: we found we could change our environment to fit our needs, instead of changing ourselves to fit nature’s dictates. This has been the key element in the evolution of humanity ever since.
The realization that we could change our surroundings to suit our desires changed the future of the human race forever. We were no longer dependent on nature, but on our own resourcefulness. That tipping point was the birth of what we now refer to as “civilization.”
The dawn of civilization, approximately ten thousand years ago, was beautiful. We improved our hunting tools, developed agriculture, invented the wheel, and saw life merrily rolling along from good to better. The only hitch in the ability to constantly improve our lives was that this ability made us feel far more powerful than we really are; we began to feel superior to nature, and this would prove to be the root of all ills.