Join Notes
A batch of the best highlights from what Tristan's read, .
That spectacular leap from the middle to the top had enormous consequences. Other animals at the top of the pyramid, such as lions and sharks, evolved into that position very gradually, over millions of years. This enabled the ecosystem to develop checks and balances that prevent lions and sharks from wreaking too much havoc.
Sapiens
Yuval Noah Harari
Compared to foraging, early farming usually required higher human energy inputs—but it could support higher population densities and provide a more reliable food supply.
Energy and Civilization
Vaclav Smil
The truths of mathematics appeared to be enduring and universal because they persisted with great efficiency within the states of matter and space-time. But there was a built-in flaw in the whole idealization of distinct objects, and the point where the concept finally cracked open was the defect Alison and I had found in our volunteers’ data, which appeared to any macroscopic test as the border between contradictory mathematical systems.
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