Podcast: A New Theory on The Broadest Patterns of History

Listen (1h08): Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Youtube | Other players

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Persians. Romans. Chinese. Guptas. Abbasids. Mongols. British.

The list of the world’s largest empires is a list of different peoples of Eurasia. With the sole exception of ancient Egypt, the Eurasian landmass has been the breeding ground for the largest empire of each moment in history.

Why has Eurasia been so prone to large empires? Similarly, why did so many technological breakthroughs — from writing to gunpowder — occur in Eurasia? And how did these broader patterns of Eurasian history enable the dark chapters of European colonialism?

These questions constitute some of the “broadest patterns of history”, to quote Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel. Indeed, these are not only the broad contours of the last few millennia: searching for answers, we need to dig deep into the origins of agriculture and beyond.

My guest today, ⁠Ideen Riahi⁠, has been digging very deep indeed.

Building on Diamond’s original project, Riahi has been tracing the deepest roots behind Eurasia’s outsized power in human history. And if he is correct, these roots extend to periods way before the dawn of agriculture.

In this episode, we discuss topics such as:

• The “Why Eurasia?” questions: What does it mean? What answers do we have? And is this a meaningful question to start with?

• Environmental determinism vs environmental realism

• Did the activities of our Ice Age ancestors prepare Eurasian lands for farms, cows, and cavalries?

• Riahi’s case against genetic explanations of Eurasian dominance and Europe’s rise

As always, we finish with my guest’s reflections on humanity.

I hope you enjoy the episode!

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You can listen to the episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Alternatively, you can find On Humans wherever you get your shows and find episode #50.

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Useful Links

Riahi’s general theory

• How Hominin Dispersals and Megafaunal Extinctions Influenced the Birth of Agriculture (2020)

• Why Eurasia? A Probe Into the Origins of Global Inequalities (2022)

• Macroevolutionary Origins of Comparative Development (2024)

Riahi’s papers against genetic explanations

• Colonialism and Genetics of Comparative Development (2022)

• Colonization and Genetics of Comparative Development (2013)

Other relevant articles

• Melinda Zeder and Bruce Smith: A Conversation on the Origins of Agriculture (2009)

• See also Zeder’s Pathways to Animal Domestication (2009), which explores long-term co-evolution between humans and wildlife as a precursor of agriculture.

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Mentions

Scholars

• Jared Diamond (author of Guns, Germs, and Steel)

• Daron Acemoglu ( co-author of Why Nations Fail, guest in episode #26)

• Alfred Crosby (author of Ecological Imperialism)

• Vernon L Smith

• Melinda Zeder

• Bruce Smith

• Richard Dawkins (author of Selfish Gene)

• Oded Galor (author of Journey of Humanity, guest in episodes #12 and #13)

Ethnic groups

Natuffians | Aztecs & Tlaxcalans

Technical terms

Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) | Niche construction | herd management | commensal pathway | Modern evolutionary synthesis | extended evolutionary synthesis | niche construction

Keywords

History | social science | comparative economics | comparative history | imperialism | colonialism | technology | ancient civilisations | agricultural revolution | neolithic revolution | human migration | wealth of nations | global inequality | indigenous cultures | epidemics