The Worried Scavenger/Hunter Becomes The Worried Top-Predator
Genus Homo’s position in the food chain was, until quite recently, solidly in the middle. For millions of years, humans hunted smaller creatures and gathered what they could, all the while being hunted by larger predators. It was only 400,000 years ago that several species of man began to hunt large game on a regular basis, and only in the last 100,000 years - with the rise of Homo sapiens - that man jumped to the top of the food chain. That spectacular leap from the middle to the top had enormous consequences.
too much havoc.
As lions became deadlier, so gazelles evolved to run faster, hyenas to cooperate better, and rhinoceroses to be more bad-tempered.
In contrast;
Humankind ascended to the top so quickly that the ecosystem was not given time to adjust. Moreover,humans themselves failed to adjust .
Most top predators of the planet are majestic creatures. Millions of years of dominion have filled them with self-confidence. Sapiens by contrast is more like a banana republic dictator.
Having so recently been one of the underdogs of the savannah, we are full
of fears and anxieties over our position, which makes us doubly cruel and
dangerous. Many historical calamities, from deadly wars to ecological
catastrophes, have resulted
from this over-hasty jump.
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
https://www.amazon.com/Sapiens-Humankind-Yuval-Noah-Harari/dp/0062316095
