The Sapient Paradox: How Humans Became Trapped in Prehistory.
The sapient paradox questions why prehistoric humans waited for millennia to start civilization despite being genetically and intellectually equivalent to modern humans. Recent discoveries suggest that prehistory may not have been as uneventful as it is often presented, with prehistoric social hierarchies being surprisingly complicated and diverse. The agricultural revolution played a crucial role in transforming human society by allowing humans to live in larger groups, live longer, and establish sustained contact with other communities, making it easier for us to preserve and transmit knowledge. Scholars have proposed various hypotheses, including the gossip trap, which suggests that humanity's propensity for gossip may have played a role in keeping civilization from escaping prehistory.