How rice farming remade East Asians
How rice farming remade East Asians We see the past from a biased point of view. The present comprises societies that have survived, whereas the past comprises those that have not. There were many paths. But most led to dead ends. Written by Peter Frost Why are East Asians more collectivistic? Why is their approach to thinking more relational and less abstract? They may have been pushed in that direction by the requirements of rice farming. Rice farming, Ming dynasty (Wikicommons) We humans have adapted not only to nature but also to culture—in short, to ourselves and our creations. This is seen in our genetic evolution, which accelerated more than a hundred-fold when hunting and gathering gave way to farming, which led to further changes in our cultural environment. For example: Population growth The rise of villages, towns, and cities The formation of the state and its monopoly on violence The resolution of disputes through codified law and state-imposed justice The development...