Yuval Noah Harariの "Sapiens" を読んでいます。 'History's Biggest Fraud' の章に興味深い記述がありました。
The body of Homo Sapiens had not evolved for such tasks. It was adapted to climbing apple trees and running after gazelles, not to clearing rocks and carrying water buckets. Human spines, knees, necks and arches paid the price. Studies of ancient skeletons indicate that the transition to agriculture brought about a plethora of ailments, such as slipped discs, arthritis and hernias. Moreover, the new agricultural tasks demanded so much time that people were forced to settle permanently next to their wheat fields. This completely changed their way of life. We did not domesticate wheat. It domesticated us. The word 'domesticate' comes from the Latin domus, which means 'house' Who's the one living in a house? Not the wheat. It's the Sapiens.
人間は多くの動物を家畜化しましたが、一方で植物が人間を食料の採集動物から、植物の栽培人間に変えたとは目から鱗です。 英英辞書には "domesticate" を次の様に説明していました。
・Oxford English Dictionary:
1. to make a wild animal used to living with or working for humans: Mammals were first domesticated for their milk.
2. to grow plants or crops for human use, especially for the first time: be domesticated: Corn was domesticated more than 6000 years ago.
3. domesticate somebody (often humorous) to make somebody good at cooking, caring for a house, etc.; to make somebody enjoy home life: Some men are very hard to domesticate.
The body of Homo Sapiens had not evolved for such tasks. It was adapted to climbing apple trees and running after gazelles, not to clearing rocks and carrying water buckets. Human spines, knees, necks and arches paid the price. Studies of ancient skeletons indicate that the transition to agriculture brought about a plethora of ailments, such as slipped discs, arthritis and hernias. Moreover, the new agricultural tasks demanded so much time that people were forced to settle permanently next to their wheat fields. This completely changed their way of life. We did not domesticate wheat. It domesticated us. The word 'domesticate' comes from the Latin domus, which means 'house' Who's the one living in a house? Not the wheat. It's the Sapiens.
人間は多くの動物を家畜化しましたが、一方で植物が人間を食料の採集動物から、植物の栽培人間に変えたとは目から鱗です。 英英辞書には "domesticate" を次の様に説明していました。
・Oxford English Dictionary:
1. to make a wild animal used to living with or working for humans: Mammals were first domesticated for their milk.
2. to grow plants or crops for human use, especially for the first time: be domesticated: Corn was domesticated more than 6000 years ago.
3. domesticate somebody (often humorous) to make somebody good at cooking, caring for a house, etc.; to make somebody enjoy home life: Some men are very hard to domesticate.
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