"The Significance of Learning: The test will measure whether you are an informed, engaged, and productive citizen of the world, and it will take place in schools, and bars, and hospitals, and dorm rooms, and in places of worship."

"Human Evolution and Innovation: In a mere 15000 years, humans went from hunting and gathering to creating such improbabilities as the air plane, the internet, and the 99¢ double cheeseburger."

"Thoughts on Abundance and History: And most importantly, should I be delighted or alarmed to live in this strange world of relative abundance?"

"Understanding Early Human Lifestyle: "While we tend to think that the lives of foragers were nasty, brutish, and short, fossil evidence suggests that they actually had it pretty good. Their bones and teeth are healthier than those of agriculturalists, and anthropologists who've studied the remaining forager peoples have noted that they actually spend a lot fewer hours working than the rest of us, and they spend more time on art, music, and storytelling."

"Food Production in an Increasing Population": "In order to keep feeding people as the population grows, you have to radically change the environment of the planet. Especially if you grow grain, you can create a food surplus, which makes cities possible, and also the specialization of labor."

"Impact of Agriculture on the Planet: Some would say that large and complex agricultural communities that can support cities and eventually inexpensive meat sandwiches are not necessarily beneficial to the planet or even to its human inhabitants."

"Herding Challenges and Advantages: The advantages of herding are obvious. First, you get to be a cowboy. Also, animals provide meat and milk, but they also help out with shelter because they can provide wool and leather. The downside is that you have to move around a lot because your herd always needs new grass, which makes it hard to build cities unless you are the Mongols."

"Agricultural Revolution Theories: Charles Darwin, like most 19th century scientists, believed agriculture was an accident, saying, a wild and unusually good variety of native plant might attract the attention of some wise old savage."

"Evolution of Early Agriculture: So early farmers would find the most accessible forms of wheat and plant them and experiment with them. Not because they were trying to start an agricultural revolution, because they were like, you know what would be awesome? More food."

"Agriculture's Impact on Civilization: Many historians also argue that without agriculture, we wouldn't have all the bad things that come with complex civilizations like patriarchy, inequality, war, and unfortunately famine."