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Epictetus comments on Stupid Questions June 2015 - Less Wrong
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You don't need a whole group to choose to switch to agriculture; just one innovator to show that it works better and the others to not burn that person at the stake for doing it. I say agriculture; but it could be as simple as. I try to encourage this plant to grow more by spreading its seeds, Oh look we have lots of food-plant-X now. Or:
My point (which I am really not showing well) is that the early stages of agriculture are pretty easy to slip into if you have spare thinking space. And after you have them; what you do with your spare time is up to you...
I see two failure modes for agriculture:
Unsuitable land. A tundra or desert would be an extreme example. Something like a steppe could lack arable land and almost require a nomadic lifestyle.
Land of plenty. If food is easy to come by and hunger almost non-existent, agriculture might not be worth the effort in the short-term.
in mode 1: those who can conserve food resources and potentially grow food where it would be naturally scarce will survive.
in mode 2: the population should expand to meet the available food and force scarcity eventually.