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IlyaShpitser comments on How minimal is our intelligence? - Less Wrong
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Given that the neolithic revolution happened in more than one place, I don't see how it could be a very significant filter. Or are you referring to "civilization" in a sense not achieved by the Incans or the Aztecs? It's interesting to wonder how far the Aztecs & subsequent civilizations could've gone if they hadn't been interrupted by the Europeans.
The Aztecs were an interesting society. I wonder how much of their gratuitous sacrifices were politically calculated to keep the city states in line, and how much was due to their genuine and profound existential anxiety ("we owe the Gods for their continued sacrifice to keep the world alive -- so we better keep sacrificing to them or the sun may not come up tomorrow!")
I don't think Aztecs are a good candidate for an alternative history civ, they feel to me like a failure mode. Incas make more sense (they also had potatoes, quinoa, llamas, etc.)
Both Judaism and Hinduism also started out as cosmic maintenance religions, so that might be a stage that civilizations need to pass rather than a specific failure mode of only one of them.