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Comment by missedthecue | Hacker News Reader

I don't think it's assuming much, except that the first human civilizations were around 4000 BCE, which is consistent with the archeological record. This means for tens of thousands of years, humans lived in a pre-civilization environment.

What made them start civilization?

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Beer. People stopped being nomadic when there were all of the ingredients and technology in the same place to brew beer. Then they didn’t leave because if they did there was no beer there. So they stayed near the beer.

Haha. Sort of like what drove the great expansion of the internet in the 90's? The dirty secret is it was online banking/trading, and porn. Porn drove the development of streaming technologies.

Nobody likes to talk about it, though.

To those who think that this is a joke: Beer leading to civilization is actually an idea that is accepted in the field. Beer might not be the only factor, but it is almost certainly a contributing factor.

Consider that beer is safer to drink than the sources of water that were available, and the pleasing intoxicating effects. Possibly also the alcohol addiction to an extent.

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/opinion/sunday/how-beer-g...

Not just that, but beer can make you braver and more willing to challenge the status quo.

Ah yes, the Beer Hall Putsch!

I've long wondered about the generational effects on human physiology and cognition from pregnant women drinking alcohol.

Excessive consumption causes Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, but there is no sharp cut off.

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