>>12976082Whether it's preferable is subjective. It's made life far more miserable for people but the overall collective power, numbers, and knowledge of humanity today is unrivaled by anything our ancestors had to offer. But again all the knowledge and power of civilization might’ve been a total mistake if climate change or nuclear war destroys us.
The pre-agriculture life wasn’t perfect, people were stilled by animals or cuts or whatever. But all these things still happen today and in larger numbers, although deaths back then would’ve been more serious since a tribe of a hundred needs everyone alive. Hunter-gatherers probably also abandoned anyone who couldn’t travel anymore, so the old who could no longer move were probably just left behind (or maybe carried, we don’t know).
There were things like infections from cuts, but since people back then were far healthier and stronger they had a higher chance of survival than a sedentary peasant in ancient Babylonia would’ve, probably higher than an American citizen in the early 19th century as well. Most of modern medicine is simply dealing with all the health problems created by the unhealthy existence created by the agricultural revolution.
But again agriculture was enforced on humanity, or at most humanity was tricked into adopting it. Mindsets like needing to work harder and harder to have enough for the future were unknown to most of our ancestors and are simply a product of the more and more work needed for agriculture.
But only time will tell if it was all worth it. Maybe we’ll get to a point where civilization can offer some future civilization an existence far more free and rewarding than anything hunter-gatherers had, who knows.
