Every society has a problem: how do we organize the thinking of the people within it? How do you create an identity? In modern society, there are three institutions that create a collective identity. * Public Schools: You're here to learn about the history of China, to learn about

We are starting an overview of Greek history. We remember the story so far: we talked about the Bronze Age, where Mycenaean Greece was trading and fighting with the rest of the world. Then the Bronze Age collapse happened, and Mycenaean Greece came to an end. Because of its destruction,

Greek civilization is incredible. It is the greatest, most creative, most significant civilization in human history. The Greeks created Western civilization, and not only were the Greeks the greatest civilization, but there has also not been a second great civilization. Let's think about how incredible the Greeks were.

Let's paint a picture of the world in about 1200 BC. The center of this world was what we call Mycenaean Greece. Across the Aegean Sea from Mycenaean Greece is Anatolia, which today we refer to as Turkey. In Anatolia, the Hittite Empire ruled. Further south was a

Anthropologist Marija Gimbutas makes the argument that for the longest time—for most of its history—Europe was egalitarian, peaceful, and artistic. Today, however, we live in a patriarchy with a lot of inequality, and we are always at war with each other. So, what changed? Old Europe was conquered

The story so far is that 200,000 years ago, we humans, Homo sapiens, were born in Africa. Then, about 50,000 years ago, because of climate change, we started to spread around the world. We went into Europe, then into Asia, then we crossed the Bering Strait into North

For most of human history, we have been peaceful, egalitarian, and artistic. About 300,000 years ago, our species, Homo sapiens, was born in Africa. Then, 50,000 years ago, due to climate change, we started to spread around the world. Throughout most of our history, we have been hunter-

We previously discussed three prehistoric sites: Göbekli Tepe, Jericho, and Çatalhöyük. The argument I made, which is the general scholarly consensus, is that what compelled the transition to agriculture was the religious beliefs of the people at that time. It was humanity's religious impulse that drove our transition

Why did humanity transition from a hunter-gatherer society to agriculture? In the traditional paradigm—a sophisticated word that just means story, model, or understanding—we transitioned because we were first hunter-gatherers. We lived in groups of about 20 to 50 people and roamed the land looking for food.