These aren't primitive people. They're specialists in being human.
And here's what really messes with our modern assumptions: they achieved something we're constantly told is impossible. They created societies without bosses, without cops, without prisons, without wealth inequality—and they worked for millennia.
How? Through what anthropologist Christopher Boehm calls "reverse dominance." They were, in his words, "fiercely egalitarian." When someone tried to get too big for their britches, the group had tools to cut them down to size. First tool: ridicule. Public humor. Making fun of the would-be alpha until their ego deflated.
References:
How Hunter-Gatherers Maintained Their Egalitarian Ways
Amazing Hunter-Gatherer Societies Still In Existence
This is Heliox: Where Evidence Meets Empathy
Independent, moderated, timely, deep, gentle, clinical, global, and community conversations about things that matter. Breathe Easy, we go deep and lightly surface the big ideas.
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We make rigorous science accessible, accurate, and unforgettable.
Produced by Michelle Bruecker and Scott Bleackley, it features reviews of emerging research and ideas from leading thinkers, curated under our creative direction with AI assistance for voice, imagery, and composition. Systemic voices and illustrative images of people are representative tools, not depictions of specific individuals.
We dive deep into peer-reviewed research, pre-prints, and major scientific works—then bring them to life through the stories of the researchers themselves. Complex ideas become clear. Obscure discoveries become conversation starters. And you walk away understanding not just what scientists discovered, but why it matters and how they got there.
Independent, moderated, timely, deep, gentle, clinical, global, and community conversations about things that matter. Breathe Easy, we go deep and lightly surface the big ideas.
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