3 OOPS, WE DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING

CHAPTER 2 OOPS, WE DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING

On day one, we will hike through a wild forest, climb trees, look for mushrooms, and set up camp on the riverbank. On day two, we will canoe down the river, learn how to fish, and build reed huts on the shore of a small lake. On day three, we will climb a hill, collect flint stones, and learn how to make arrow-heads and shoot bows. On day one, we will get to the village, grind wheat grains for ten hours, and sleep in the village. On day two, we will go to the nearby fields, dig little holes in the ground for ten hours, and return to the village for the night. On day three, we will go to the fields, dig an irrigation ditch for ten hours, and return to the village.

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES magine your parents want to take you on a family trip. They hand you a tourist brochure with two options: join a band of gatherers, or stay in a village with ancient farmers. Which trip would you choose? Seems like an easy choice, right? And yet our ancestors stopped roaming freely through the forests and started toiling in the fields. Why? Well, it's quite simple: they weren't given a brochure in advance. When they made the crucial choice, they didn't know what they were in for. Do you sometimes plan something very carefully, but in the end, things happen in a completely different way? Like, say you have a pet rabbit called Bobo who you love very much. But you think Bobo might be lonely because he usually sits by himself in his cage nibbling on a carrot, so you decide to persuade your parents that Bobo needs a friend. You beg your parents, make all kinds of promises, and they eventually agree to get you a second rabbit—on the condition that you take really good care of them. Wonderful! Your plan worked!

You're very happy playing with your two rabbits, and they seem very fond of each other too. But after a while you notice that Bobo's friend is growing really big. And then, one morning, there are five sweet baby rabbits in the cage. At first, you like the cute little furballs. You now have seven rabbits! Wow! But soon things get complicated. The baby rabbits keep growing and you need more cages. Somebody also needs to clean the cages and take away all the rabbit poop once a week. And of course, all the rabbits need to eat. Your parents say it was your idea and you have to take care of it. So you have to spend a couple of hours a week cleaning the cages—and a couple more hours earning money to buy more and more carrots. You wash your mom's car, walk your neighbor's dog, and water the plants for the couple down the street. And it works. But that's not what you signed up for! You just wanted a companion for poor Bobo! And what if one day there are even more little bunnies?

When you do one thing and it causes other, unexpected things to happen, those unexpected things are called unintended consequences. Your rabbit plan worked—but your life is now much more stressful because of the unintended consequences. Something like this happened to our ancestors during the Agricultural Revolution. They had a big plan too: work harder and get a better life. But it didn't turn out exactly as they'd hoped. They definitely worked harder, but they didn't always get a better life. They got a lot of unintended consequences instead. SKELETON STORIES When archaeologists find the skeletons of ancient people, they can often see differences between gatherers and farmers. Gatherers' skeletons are usually taller, they have more teeth, and they show fewer signs of starvation and illness. Farmers' skeletons are usually shorter, many of their teeth are missing, and they show more signs

of famine and disease. Many have twisted spines, ruined knees, and damaged necks. If a gatherer's skeleton met a farmer's skeleton, perhaps in some archaeologist's lab, their conversation might go like this: "Hi, buddy," Gatherbone the gatherer skeleton would say. "What happened to your spine and knees? You and your farmer friends look terrible!" "Well, that's because we worked so hard!" Farmskull, the farmer skeleton, would reply. "You try digging holes and ditches all day, and let's see how you look!" "And how come you farmer skeletons have so many teeth missing?" asked Gatherbone. "And why are you so short?"