The World's Construction Mechanism: Trajectories, Imbalances, and the Future of Societies 9781119706786, 9781786305152

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The World’s Construction Mechanism

I wish to warmly thank Taous Achi-Barnouin, Françoise Dureau, Georges Guille-Escuret, and the employees and management of ISTE for their support and assistance.

Interdisciplinarity Between Biological Sciences and Social Sciences Set coordinated by Georges Guille-Escuret

Volume 4

The World’s Construction Mechanism Trajectories, Imbalances and the Future of Societies

Jacques Barnouin

First published 2020 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address: ISTE Ltd 27-37 St George’s Road London SW19 4EU UK

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street Hoboken, NJ 07030 USA

www.iste.co.uk

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© ISTE Ltd 2020 The rights of Jacques Barnouin to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Library of Congress Control Number: 2019952968 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978-1-78630-515-2

Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Chapter 1. History of Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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1.1. Linnaeus and us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2. Ultraviolet and melanin . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3. The skin map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4. New World Drama. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5. Foundations of an unfounded theory . . . . 1.6. Deviations in the 19th and 20th Centuries . 1.7. Symbols and fantasies . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8. Whiteness, blondness and blueness . . . .

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Chapter 2. Geoclimate and Prosperity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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2.1. Comparisons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2. More comfortable in the cold than in the heat . 2.3. Delights of thermal comfort. . . . . . . . . . . 2.4. Temperate life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5. Time and temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Chapter 3. Pathway of Societal Precociousness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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3.1. From climate to history . . . . . 3.2. Original migrations . . . . . . . 3.3. The corridor effect . . . . . . . . 3.4. On the road to human societies . 3.5. Obsessive obsidian. . . . . . . .

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3.6. From self-service to production control 3.7. A crescent… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.8. …fertile in ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.9. The emergence of the alphabet . . . . .

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73 79 81 86

Chapter 4. Diffusion of Societal Achievements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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4.1. The notion of diffusion . . . . . . . 4.2. Initiation of diffusion . . . . . . . . 4.3. Dynamics of diffusion . . . . . . . . 4.4. From diffusion to prosperity . . . . 4.5. Other migration and other diffusion 4.6. The steppe issue . . . . . . . . . . .

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Chapter 7. Other Potential Reasons for Societal Imbalances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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143 146 155 158 162

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7.1. Inter and intra variation . . . . . . . 7.2. WCM and income inequality . . . . 7.3. Factors of income inequality . . . . 7.4. The creation of inequality . . . . . . 7.5. An Asian energy? . . . . . . . . . 7.6. Combining equality and prosperity.

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Chapter 6. Mechanism and Realities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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5.1. Taking stock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2. Tracing culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Chapter 5. Cultural Intermission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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6.1. The world’s mechanism . . . . . . 6.2. A very important differential . . . 6.3. Two sub-species? . . . . . . . . 6.4. What connects the two realities? 6.5. Youths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Chapter 8. Three Crucial Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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8.1. A potentially different world? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2. A potentially devastated world? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.3. Any damage? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Contents

Chapter 9. Rebalancing Societies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.1. In search of the human project . . . . 9.2. Two major societal innovations . . . 9.3. Containing the WCM . . . . . . . . . 9.3.1. Obstacles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.3.2. The educational component . . . 9.3.3. The institutional aspect . . . . . . 9.4. The future: containment or conflict? 9.5. Arrival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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213 221 223 223 227 228 232 234

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Introduction

I write against darkness, confusion, forgetfulness, death? To better understand and make people understand. (To understand is to transform the world.) Jean Starobinsky I.1. Objectives and methodological framework What if we set off on a research path through the construction of the world? A path without prejudice1 trying to find answers to the eternal questions – Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? This is the title of a painting by Paul Gauguin, started by the Symbolist painter in 1897 and completed the following year, influenced by a period of distress marked by the death of the artist’s daughter and his own suicide attempt. Gauguin’s masterpiece, while it appears to be dedicated to the cycle of existence, nevertheless poses many questions; therefore, it has been suggested that the work means that there are no answers to the questions that the artist posed himself – and us – via his panoramic interrogator [WIL 13]. However, since its inception, the human adventure has been about finding answers. Thus, what were Gauguin’s real motivations when he asked Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? His canvas encourages us to ask ourselves, in continuity with the questions he raises: how can we try to analyze human society and untangle the web of the spatial–temporal saga? And how can we 1 “Without prejudice” here means “factors defined without prejudice”. Thus, the reasoning will not be based on factors previously chosen, in order to test whether or not they appear to be associated with the construction of societies, but by analyzing the potential societal role of the factors that will emerge from the itinerary constituting the scientific thread of this book, through the contributions of a set of disciplines ranging from anthropology to sociology, via archeology, biology, climatology, economics, geography and history.

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untie the invisible threads (if indeed such threads exist) that guide us, our species, through its unconscious strategies, the necessities of daily life and the river of its imagination? At a time when these questions were being heavily considered, the author of this reflection found no detailed answers to them. Moreover, he came to the idea that his condition as a Homo sapiens of the 21st Century may not be the ideal subject to study, unless he relied (in terms of transdisciplinarity) on the most recent scientific data, the complexity of the paths of a species that emerged in an archaic form at least 300,000 years ago [HUB 17]. This follows a gradual, even punctuated evolutionary pattern [STR 16], whose origin would be 6–7 million years earlier (assuming that the first hominids were close to the species Sahelanthropus tchadensis) [BRU 02]; even billions, since the appearance of life, in the form of filamentous bacteria, date back 3.8–4.3 billion years [DOD 17], while in terms of the Earth, for its part, 4.5 billion years [KRI 11]. In any case, the author has set himself the objective of studying, as “a man responsible for himself and others”, the determinants of the trajectory of humanity, as well as the characteristics of the sapiens with which this trajectory appears to be associated, and the “mechanisms” that may have generated disharmony within human societies. Mechanisms whose decoding could lead to a humanity that, better aware of the factors of imbalance that affect it, would be in a better position to act, so that sapiens, once the imbalances correct themselves, would be better able to work together and feel that they are all part of the world’s future. These are indeed perspectives that can only be favorable to the involvement – and positive motivation – of the ultra-social animal, articulated around contact and exchanges, i.e. the human being [TOM 14; WIL 13], which, if he/she is in a position of listening and ability to trust, is generally able to raise his/her level of initiative and social involvement, whereas if he/she lives in rejection and oblivion, then he/she tends to let him/herself be won over by passivity and plunge into distrust. Thus, any person left on the roadside, because they are poor, indigent, invisible or considered useless, constitutes a potential loss, with a view to optimizing human functioning. In order to try to respond in full knowledge of the facts to these objectives, a scientific journey of discovery and analysis of societal constructions will be undertaken within space-time, associating humans with the planet, the Earth, which protects us from the great organized chaos, i.e. the Universe. In order to travel outside a planned approach, no element of this journey will be decided in advance, and the analysis will adopt an exploratory research strategy developed in nine steps through Chapters 1–9 of this book. When elements of knowledge appear unavailable, hypotheses considered plausible may be incorporated into the reasoning, despite the over-interpretations that may result from this practice [LAH 96], which is ultimately considered a necessary risk [DES 96]. When a stage is reached, the theme

Introduction

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of the next stage will be decided “right away”, in accordance with the lessons of the previous stage, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, with the objective of research; and this, until the reflection is completed and methods of balancing human societies are proposed, will be in coherence with the functioning of the world that the journey will have highlighted (“to understand is to transform the world”) [STA 16]. The analysis used as a vehicle for the journey will be based mainly on data from peer-reviewed publications2  and also on summary books, maps and statistical series, as well as reflections on historical routes and Internet pathways. In addition, in order to facilitate the follow-up of the process, a summary of brief reminders of knowledge will be given throughout the reflection, and some key ideas will be reiterated or supported. Finally, the added value of this book, the drafting of which is very concise, could come from: an original decoding of human dynamics combining human sciences, biological sciences and sciences from the Earth; the demonstrative contribution of descriptive statistics and case–control reasonings, a reflection attempting to free oneself from the mechanisms of distancing (creating distance between oneself and reality) [ETZ 17] and crushing undesirable ideas, which the human cortex can activate using biological mechanisms of elimination and substitution [BEN 12; VAN 17a]; and an analysis suggesting avenues of work, the relevance of which can be specified by subsequent studies, following the collaborations that the book may have generated. However, whatever factors associated with the operation of human societies may be suggested by the route: is it possible to act on the human journey, given its strength of inertia? In other words, its propensity to be guided by a range of rituals, habits and desires to stay in place. This is possible in connection with the affective impregnations and social interactions that shape our species, as well as with universal conservation mechanisms that lead living beings to reproduce what exists, in order to better guarantee our sustainability. This could indeed be affected, if living beings were not dominated by conservation, by subscribing to the genetic heritage of a species as a result of selection pressures (the constraints that lead to the evolution of species’ characteristics) dictated by the ever-changing environmental circumstances, changes in the structure of expression3 of certain genes that prove to be incapable of improving the adaptation of the species to the environment’s changes which could therefore be harmful to the species. 2 “Peer review” [SPI 12] denotes a critical analysis of research submitted for publication by specialist readers contributing to scientific journals. The purpose of such an evaluation is to ensure the relevance and unpublished nature of a manuscript that is a candidate for publication. 3 Biochemical processes by which active genes (15,000 to 30,000 in humans) trigger the synthesis of amino acids and proteins necessary for cellular functioning. Gene expression is itself regulated by proteins capable of activating, inhibiting or modulating gene function, and thus modifying the biological effects of genes, so that cellular metabolism is adapted to the environment.

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Nevertheless, humans could try to free themselves from the conservatism of evolution by voluntarily implementing a reflection on the ways and means of strengthening the species. To this end, the sapiens could try, by taking international dialogue further, to lay the foundations without taboo for the “general interest of humanity”, through the establishment of planetary frameworks for reflection dedicated to the definition of this supra-consideration and the acquisition by humans, following the concretization of their general interest, of significantly increased faculties for dialogue, solidarity and cooperation. Traits whose diffusion within our species could lead, in the long term and by a classic selection pressure (insofar as the cooperative state of mind has become a “vital human  behavior”), to their being integrated into our genetic makeup, like being engraved in marble. This path, which would constitute a “voluntary domestication of the human being by themself”, appears to be biologically possible. Indeed, it has been shown in canines that dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), a domestic species if ever there was one [BOT 17], carry variants of the GTF2I and GTF2IRD1 genes (linked to the hypersociability of the canine species) different from those carried by the emblematic wild species, the wolf (Canis lupus) [VON 17]. However, there are a few minor drawbacks: first, the direction of the evolution4 of a species and the expression of its genes, particularly at cerebral level [KHA 06], is not guaranteed, as evolutionary mechanisms may also be subject to uncontrollable factors [GOU 02], and second, to implement its general interest, humanity must be aware of the determinants of its species’ trajectory, which does not seem to be the case, hence the realization of this book. What should be particularly difficult to achieve, in the reflection to come, if not to be confronted with the limits of sapiens and our own inadequacies, will be to be able to consider human societies, not only with the eyes of the Chimène of our time and the glasses of our particular lives, but also with other views (of different periods, cultures and lifestyles), in order to achieve the most multi-centric and global vision possible of the factors that seem to have governed the path of human societies. I.2. Getting off to a good start For us to “get off to a good start”, it seems necessary to recall that we all belong: to the animal kingdom; to the vertebrates branch; to the mammal class; to the order of primates; to the hominid family; to the genus Homo and to the species Homo sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 (Homo: generic name; sapiens: specific epithet;

4 A process of species transformation that takes place over generations. This process takes the form of changes in the structure or expression of certain genes, from environmental pressure, cultural and social changes and also random events. This is done through natural selection, which promotes the reproduction and survival of individuals who are most adaptable to their environment and most in tune with the sociocultural preferences of their fellow creatures.

Introduction

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Linnaeus: description of the species; 1758: year of description). The year 1758, as associated with Homo sapiens, actually corresponds to the period during which Carl Linnaeus (Figure I.1) attributed his Latin name to the human species; this was in the 10th edition of Systema naturæ, a famous book in which humans are mentioned for the first time as part of the active primate family (“ranked first”) [LIN 14].

Figure I.1. Carl Linnaeus portrait at the age of 32 by Johan Henrik Scheffel (source: Uppsala University)

As for the general functioning of sapiens, it should be explained, like other species, by physical and biological characteristics modulated by genetic evolution, environmental fluctuations and their interactions, as well as by a fraction of “chance”  [KRI 18]. Also, through the exceptional efficiency of the human brain system [HAN 17], whose genetic evolution is intensely studied [ENA 16] and which makes us capable of triggering, as well as solving, says director Joël Pommerat, “acute conflicts between collective and individual interests triggered through circumstances of fusion and crystallization involving thought, action and imagination”;  conflicts that Pommerat staged with talent in reference to the French Revolution, in his play Ça ira (1) Fin de Louis5 [POM 16]. While these considerations point to the idea of “human particularism”, such an observation must be modulated by the fact that many mammals exhibit behaviors, in terms of play [FRÖ 16a], signs of affection or signs of hierarchical allegiance, that are displayed in good similarity with the behaviors of sapiens, even if differences emerge (in this way, animals play without using rules) [HUX 66]. Moreover, some adaptation mechanisms to environmental changes, including adaptation to the cold, come from “evolutionary convergences” between species through the variation in the expression of genes that humans share with other mammals [LIB 15]. 5 The title can be roughly translated as “It’ll turn out okay (1) End of Louis”.

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Returning to behavioral proximities, perhaps one of the most revealing facts in this area is that some animals present ways of being almost universally found in religious practices [SEM 08], such as particular attitudes towards death or ritualistic behaviors, which have been particularly observed in “stone collector” chimpanzees (who repeatedly throw stones into the hollow of a tree stump in a manner unrelated to a utilitarian cause, for example, food) [KÜH 16]. Attitudes associated with death appear in great apes, as well as in cetaceans [REG 18] – attitudes, ceremonies and behaviors that amount to protection, emotional support or bereavement [AND 10; KIN 13; VAN 17b]. Thus, it seems clear from these observations and convergences that the idea of a continuum – as disturbing as it is expected – between the non-human and the sapiens animals is well-established. Unless the duality to be considered (in addition to the duality of the human and the animal) is the one that might be seen to exist in the future, that makes us afraid or makes us give in to trends; on the one hand, the ordinary sapiens and on the other, the augmented sapiens, using biological, robotic and computer technologies that give this superhuman an almost divine power [HAR 17]. When we engage with unknown territories, let us hope for instructive and exciting moments to navigate in the path of a human being; and to be able, when this navigation is completed, to see a clearer profile. This is the objective of the journey that is beginning, the ins and outs of the process of constructing humanity and the societies that structure it. Let us begin.

1 History of Color

1.1. Linnaeus and us The preamble completed: a question comes to mind; the answer to which was not known to the author when he asked himself and which seems to be a useful starting point for a research journey within humanity: what presentation does Linnaeus make of the species Homo sapiens Linnaeus, 1758, which he is the “scientific creator” of in his famous system for species classification? Famous because it was thought of more than 250 years ago, somehow in a framework that current knowledge with subjective and erroneous1, yet not formally superseded by another type of classification based on consensus. So let us dive into Systema Naturæ, under the heading concerning the human being [LIN 14]. What is interesting in this interpretation, apart from the fact that man would be “a frugivore in the Tropics and a carnivore in other areas where plants are less nourishing”, or that there would be a Homo ferus, a kind of wild human being, is that the Swedish naturalist divided sapiens into four main types. Here is an extract from the very surprising descriptions (translated from Latin into English here by the author): – “the American: - he is reddish, angry and has a right way of carrying himself; - black hair, straight, fat, wide nostrils, chin almost free of a beard; 1 If we take the example of flounder and skate with reference to Linnaeus’ classification, these animals are considered, as flat-bodied fish, a closely related species. However, according to current knowledge, human beings are in fact evolutionarily closer to flounder than flounder is to skate. Indeed, skate is a chondrichthyan, i.e. it has a cartilage skeleton, while sapiens and flounder are osteichthyans, insofar as their skeleton is bony. Thus, humans and flounder have a common ancestor closer to them than is the common ancestor to these two fish. This example illustrates how Linnaeus’ classification can be incorrect, even if the names given to the species by the naturalist are still valid.

The World’s Construction Mechanism: Trajectories, Imbalances and the Future of Societies, First Edition. Jacques Barnouin. © ISTE Ltd 2020. Published by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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- he is stubborn, happy with his fate, loving freedom; - he is painted with red lines, interlaced in different ways; - he is governed by custom; – the European: - he is white, hot-headed, muscly; - blond, long and thick hair, blue eyes; - he is inconsistent, ingenious, inventive; - he wears tight clothing; - he is governed by laws; – the Asian: - he is yellowish, melancholic, strict; - dark hair, brown eyes; - he is severe, lavish, stingy; - he wears large clothing; - he is governed by public opinion; – the African: - he is black, impassive, has a weak constitution; - very dark frizzy hair, velvet skin, flat nose, fat lips, breastfeeding women have long breasts; - he is cunning, lazy, careless; - he rubs his body with oil or grease; - he is governed by the arbitrary will of his masters”. For Linnaeus, a man from Southern Sweden, the “blond-white-blue” European was the most successful and civilized human type; the African, on the other hand, the least well-rounded and the wildest, as well as being doomed to slavery; and as for the Asian and American, other main human types considered by Linnaeus, they constituted a kind of intermediary between the African and the European. As for the philosopher Emmanuel Kant, a contemporary of Linnaeus, he also divided humans into four races (white, black, Mongolian and

History of Color

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Hindu), while considering the white and brown populations living “in the Old World”, between the 32nd and 52nd parallels, as the most adaptable to the diversity of climatic conditions, and the closest to the original sapiens [KAN 16]. Buffon on the other hand acknowledged, as a precursor, the influence of climate on the color of the skin when he stated, in 1749 in his Histoire Naturelle [LEC 07], that “man, white in Europe, black in Africa, yellow in Asia and red in America, is just the same man dyed the color of the climate”. As for the 17th-Century traveler and curious mind François Bernier, he can be considered a champion of the theory of human types, according to an article dated 1684 (“Nouvelle division de la Terre par les différentes espèces ou races d’hommes qui l’habitent”) in which he professes the idea of the division of humanity into races, while propelling non-Europeans to the rank of “animal-like villains”. Nevertheless, for La Fontaine and Molière, friends of Bernier, the link that the latter seemed to trace between animals and man could in fact be, beyond the European pre-eminence that he disputed, a way of distancing himself from Christian philosophy. During Bernier’s time absolute domination was starting to be challenged (according to the Christian conception, man, as “a special creation” of God, appears to escape the animal condition). As for the “natural character of slavery ”, it was already part of Linnaeus’ concepts through his description of the African, as well as of the theories of the influential Greek philosopher Aristotle, who affirmed without hesitation in the 4th Century BCE twenty centuries before Systema Naturæ: “those who are as different [from other men] as the soul from the body or man from beast—and they are in this state if their work is the use of the body, and if this is the best that can come from them—are slaves by nature. For them it is better to be ruled in accordance with this sort of rule, if such is the case for the other things mentioned” [ARI 84a].  Another remark, concerning the Linnaean description of Homo sapiens: skin color is the first criterion put forward by the naturalist as differentiating between human types, and it therefore seems necessary to study its determinants. In addition, other a priori discriminating physical criteria (hair and eye color, lip shape) are mentioned by the great classifier, as well as certain character traits (for Linnaeus, inventiveness would be the European’s own). In fact, following recent scientific work (the sequencing of the Homo sapiens genome was only finalized in 2003) [INT 04], it has been shown that humans all derive from the same paternal and maternal lineage. Thus, there is only one maternal mitochondria lineage [CAN 87] in human cells that appears statistically from sub-Saharan Africa [MAN 07] (however, sapiens derive from several populations that have dispersed across Africa) [SCE 18]. As a result, it is within African populations that the most variations in mitochondrial DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) transmitted by mothers are

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found [LI 08], a variability that would not have existed if humans and their predecessors had not lived much longer in Africa than elsewhere on the planet. Thus, molecular genetic techniques have shed a lot of light, and continue to shed more light every day, on the history of species, compared to the crude knowledge available before the development of these techniques [CAS 17]. While sapiens are genetically homogeneous, their populations would have dispersed, according to one theory, as a result of planned migrations. There would be between 220,000 and 50,000 years [HER 18], outside their original African birthplace [MOU 16]. A birthplace which nowadays genetically, the simian species is home to considered, to be the closest to man (chimpanzees and gorillas), and which is, with Asia, the birthplace of primitive monkeys [NI 13; SIG 90]. Note: while Africa is therefore seen as the birthplace of humanity – and this has been since Charles Darwin in the 19th Century [LÓP 15] researchers argue, so far without convincing from a genetic point of view, that man – appeared in Europe or Asia [ATH 17; FUS 17]. As for the migration of Homo, in addition to the habitus of their species, they have been linked to demographic phenomena [FOL 16], environmental accidents (volcanism) and climate changes that have been at the root of: the decline of forests and wetland environments; and the development of grasslands (pollen from wetland shrubs account for 20% of pollen dating back 3 million years, compared to 2% of those aged 2 million years) [COP 14]; landscape changes that may have encouraged bipedalism. The migrations of our ancestors were also helped by their mental progress (subsistence strategies, spirit of cooperation), in connection with the increasing complexity of their psychocerebral system and the skills acquired in order to reduce their risk of extinction, during the environmental trials associated with their evolutionary journey [COL 16]. Another migratory theory – at this stage, less convincing than the previous [STR 14] – professes the appearance of sapiens, not only in Africa but also independently in other regions of the globe [BOI 11], following very old migrations of Homo out of Africa (1.5–2 million years, even more than 3 million), from which sapiens would have emerged. Migrations which, even if they did not play a role in the emergence of Homo sapiens, would have been the result of Homo erectus, capable of controlling fire and using shells as engraving tools [JOO 14], as well as other hominids, including a specimen, dating back 1.75 million years ago, which has been discovered in Indonesia [ARG 17]. In this regard, the genus Homo was enriched in 2019 with a new species, Homo luzonensis, both recent (50,000–67,000 years) and rather archaic in appearance, whose remains have been discovered in the Philippines [DÉT 19].

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In the end, and regardless of its exact method of creation, Homo sapiens spread throughout the world; the result was the geographical isolation of certain human groups, given the extreme difficulty for prehistoric man to overcome natural obstacles such as the ocean or steep mountain ranges. Consequently, and with few exceptions that may have been linked to expeditions of sea adventurers, populations of isolated groups (such as South American sapiens) have only been able to reproduce among themselves; their physical traits, therefore, have been homogenized on the basis of the characteristics of their original groups. The work of molecular geneticists confirmed that, since the genetic variability between humans in the same geographical group is greater than that observed between their various groups, the genetic uniqueness of Homo sapiens prevailed over its regional variants. Thus, it is now generally considered that: 85% of humanity’s genetic diversity is linked to individual differences among all human populations; 10% of this diversity depends on the region of origin (among five major regions, sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas, Oceania, East Asia and Eurasia) and 5% are related to differences between populations within regions [REL 02]. Moreover, genetic differences between populations at continent level and intercontinental contact zones seem to be organized as gene gradients, and not as clearly separated categories [SER 04], as Linnaeus had thought of them. As a result, the concept of race appears to have no relevance to human genetic history and understanding of the adventure of sapiens. Thus, humans all appear to come from – in addition to the same migratory and existential quest – a genetic matrix with a common basis. This implies, in support of the above, that it is unfounded to divide Homo sapiens into racial types with particular qualities and faults. The result is the creation of pseudo hierarchies, as hypothetical as they are stigmatizing. However, it would be inaccurate to deny any difference between the vague human groups that have formed following: the departure of primitive hominids from Africa; the dispersal of original Homo within continents, including returns to Africa; and the potential emergence of Homo sapiens nuclei from populations of Homo erectus and other Homo. Thus, human biodiversity, as a testament to evolution, runs counter to the instant and definitive creation of species and to the fixed and unalterable nature. 1.2. Ultraviolet and melanin The color of the skin, which according to Linnaeus discriminates against human types carrying intrinsic defects and qualities, and which appears, as such, to be a factor in the imbalance of human constructions, is not an ethnic characteristic. Indeed, this coloration, composed of hundreds of shades, depends mainly on the

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amount of ultraviolet (UV) rays to which an individual’s ancestors were subjected in the very long term [JAB 10] (short-term exposure to the sun, as we have all seen, also has a temporary influence on skin color). To withstand the solar stress they face, dark-skinned sapiens near the equator2 have a melanin production system (UVabsorbing brown-black pigments and protectors against solar stress) that is more effective than that of their light-skinned counterparts. Thus, light-skinned humans, who migrated from Europe to equatorial Africa and stayed there for 10,000 years, inevitably saw their skin change, provided they lived a good part of their time outside, and not shut away in air-conditioned houses writing tweets, draped in long dressing gowns. In any case, if the current phase of global warming were to prove very sustainable, humanity would tend to darken in terms of their skin. Melanin, in addition to pigmenting the skin, colors the hair and the iris brown/black, thus protecting them from the aggressive action of UV rays, just like the protection they provide for so-called photosensitive vitamins, and in particular vitamin B9 [BOR 14]. The latter is necessary for bone mineralization, brain maturation and maintenance of cognitive function. While genetic mutations (useful or undesirable modifications of the nucleotide sequence of a gene) can, in sapiens, decrease – the case of the appearance of blue eyes in some Europeans –, or even annihilate – the case of albinos – the level of melanin production (Figure 1.1), “the low-melanin-producing white man” is thus the adaptation of the human body to the lowest amount of solar energy hitting the ground in the regions of origin of the same “white man” ancestors. In addition, the synthesis of vitamin D, which is essential for binding calcium to bone and bone growth, depends essentially on the amount of UV rays received by the human body (which synthesizes it through the action of UV, through a cholesterol derivative) and, more incidentally, on the amount of vitamin D contained in food. Thus, for human populations in areas with low levels of sunlight to synthesize enough vitamin D, it is very useful for them to have fair skin. Indeed, if the skin of sapiens in parts of the world with little sunlight were dark: it would absorb, through melanin, the little UV available in these regions, a small quantity of vitamin D would be synthesized and metabolism, particularly bone metabolism, of these humans would be disrupted [JAB 02]. This would be especially true if the diet of these sapiens was not rich in vitamin D, as was the diet of our ancestors prior to the domestication of plants and animals, which was mainly composed of fruits and vegetables with low vitamin D content.

2 At the equator, solar radiation is perpendicular to the ground, resulting in a greater amount of energy received per m2 in this area than in regions near the poles, where solar radiation reaches the ground obliquely. The rays reaching the equatorial regions also have less distance to travel in the atmosphere, which means that they collide less frequently with air molecules and thus lose less energy.

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Figure 1.1. African albino child (source: Lars Plougmann, CCBY). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

Finally, genetic adaptations of skin color [MYL 07], hair density (hairless skin expels heat more than hairy skin) and sweat mechanisms have resulted in increased resistance of sapiens to climate variations and better adaptability to threats they may face. Indeed, these physical characteristics play a role, not only in terms of thermal regulation but also in the effectiveness of concealment, which appears to be a major factor of survival when existence, like that of primitive sapiens, required protection from predators, effective hunting and resistance to frostbite and disease. Another factor to consider, in relation to skin color is that everywhere on the planet, including in areas where dark skin is favored by populations (such as Tasmania), women have lighter skin than their male counterparts. This particularity corresponds, in fact, to an adaptation of our species in relation to the important calcium needs of pregnant and breastfeeding women. Indeed, a greater capacity for vitamin D synthesis, particularly through lighter skin, makes it possible to protect mothers more effectively from the harmful consequences of hypovitaminosis D, in terms of the viability of their infants and the strength of their skeletons. At this point, the journey in the color of the skin leads us to the following question: what is the distribution map of skin color on a global level? Such mapping should indeed show, given what has just been stated, that skin is darker around the equator and lighter when one moves away from it. In fact, only one map, published in 1941 in the book by the Italian geographer Renato Biasutti,

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Le razze et i popoli della terra, seems to have been drawn to illustrate the distribution of the color of human skin, according to the regions of the planet [BIA 41]. 1.3. The skin map Georges Chaplin, a geographer at the University of Pennsylvania, interviewed for the purposes of our scientific journey, was indeed not aware of any other skin mapping than that established by Biasutti in the late 1930s (Figure 1.2), despite him being the co-author of many expert articles on skin color [JAB 00]. Before exploring and commenting on this map, it is useful to know that Biasutti made extrapolations based on missing empirical data, and the geographer was one of some 300 Italian scientists who, by necessity or conviction, publicly supported the racial laws enacted by the Benito Mussolini government in 1938 against Jews.

Figure 1.2. Human skin color map [BIA 41; JAB 00]. The higher the number of people in an area on a six-class color scale, the more pigmented the skin of the populations residing in that area is (source: The Ogre, CCBY). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

If we look carefully at Biasutti’s map, an anomaly appears; indeed, Central and South America, which are the largest land areas after Africa to be crossed by the equator and the tropics, appear much “whiter” than expected. Thus, of the eight skin color classes mapped by Biasutti, using the Von Luschan chromatic scale [SWI 13], none of the three darkest skin classes appear to be represented within the South American hemisphere.

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Unlike South America, the color class assigned to Australia by Biasutti and his collaborators, while it corresponds more or less to the expected climate, appears to describe skin that is far too dark in comparison to what is known about the reality of the Australian population. The explanation for this discrepancy can only be linked to an error by Biasutti, knowing that at the end of the 1930s, Australia had 6 million inhabitants, the vast majority of whom came from the United Kingdom and that, following European colonization, Australia’s indigenous dark-skinned population in this case the Aborigines – which had come very close to extinction, had only a very small population in 1940, less than 2% of the Australian population [HOU 72]. What could be the cause of the anomaly highlighted by Biasutti’s work on the American continent? The less dark than biologically expected skin coloring of South American inhabitants could be explained, at least partially, by the fact that human migrations that reached the American continent from Asia and the Bering Strait between 15,000 and 50,000 years ago [MEL 09], had long lived in regions far from the equator. These populations had therefore become accustomed to clothing and shelter, ways of life that may have promoted the lightening of their skin, in reference to what is now known about the changes in skin pigmentation of the sapiens who originally emigrated from Africa. Christopher Columbus was spurred on by the idea of finding wealth and allies by navigating the New World, with a view to liberating Jerusalem. Then in the hands of the Turks, he carried out maritime expeditions in the 15th Century on behalf of the Spanish sovereigns. On his first voyage, which allowed him to reach Cuba, Columbus noted in his book that “the skin of the inhabitants of Cuba was (logically) the color of the Canary Islands, neither black nor white”. However, two things must be known (apart from the fact that Columbus believed he discovered “the East Indes”, and not America), which give full value to Columbus’s testimony: at the beginning of his navigation to “the Indes”, the Genoese navigator, who left Spain in 1492, stopped over in the Canary Islands for almost a month (Figure 1.3) and thus had every opportunity to observe their indigenous inhabitants (the Guanches, decimated in 1495 by Spanish troops). After leaving the Canaries (latitude of Las Palmas: 29.5° N), “the navigator-adventurer”, heading west, reached the Bahamas, Cuba (latitude of Havana: 23.8° N) and Haiti (St. Domingue), stepping into the shoes of discoverer of the “New World”. Thus, Christopher Columbus’s exceptional testimony tends to validate the now accepted hypothesis that the sapiens’ skin color depends significantly on the latitude at which their distant ancestors lived. But on this subject, taking the example of Cuba and its discovery by Columbus, for the explanation what can be the skin color of Cubans today (white at 60%, black or mixed African at 40%) among which, the color of the indigenous population, which Columbus could observe in 1493, no longer seems visible?

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Figure 1.3. Schematic outward journey of Christopher Columbus’s first voyage of discovery (1492–1493), from Spain to the West Indies (Bahamas–Cuba–Haiti (St. Domingue)) via the Canary Islands (source: Uwe Dedering, CCBY (background map)). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

1.4. New World Drama Here are some answers to the question in the previous paragraph: after the arrival of the Spanish settlers, who settled in Cuba and Haiti (St. Domingue), then in Mexico and throughout Central and South America – with the exception of Brazil, which was given to the Portuguese by the Treaty of Tordesillas, which in 1494 formalized the sharing of the New World, a drastic reduction in the size of the indigenous population, including those of Cuba and Haiti, began. Bear in mind, this reduction also applied, following the European colonization, to the North American Indians, whose number decreased from 10 million to a few hundred thousand between the 16th and 19th Centuries. If we look back at the case of Cuba, 30 years after the arrival of the Spanish and the colonization, more than three quarters of the indigenous population disappeared from this island; and only 1000 remained in 1600, of the 100,000 which would have populated Cuba before its conquest. As for Haiti (St. Domingue), the island where Columbus landed on his first voyage, there were reportedly 300,000 indigenous people in 1492, 50,000 in 1510, 16,000 in 1530 and only 1,000 in 1540 [DEB 91]. This was the case in Cuba, Haiti and elsewhere, in connection with the desire to enrich [GOM 10]: massacres, executions, enslavement, collective suicides of indigenous people and the spread of diseases (smallpox, typhus, syphilis, influenza) against which indigenous people were not immune. These diseases would have been a decisive factor in the collapse of the indigenous populations [BEN 13]; diseases they would have contracted as a result of their contact with the settlers, or even as the result of epidemics the latter would have exacerbated.

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As for the result of this deadly sequence – is still relevant today [DAV 77; PAR 18a] – which is the subject of unresolvable controversy between negationists and defenders of native cultures [DOR 06] and the inhumanity of which was denounced by Father Bartolomé de las Casas in his Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las Indias (1552) [WAL 10], it seems clear: by the end of the 16th Century, 60–70 million indigenous Latin Americans disappeared from where they had lived for 10,000 years, i.e. more than 80% of the original population, although these estimates may according to sources, vary significantly [GUT 77]. In any case, as far as St. Domingue is concerned we can refer, to the work of Pierre Chaunu [CHA 59], who described “the catastrophic evolution of the island’s indigenous population, on which all the documents and testimonies converge”. “Eradication of the Native American population”, which forever changed the map of people and cultures, appears to constitute, in addition to a health disaster, the greatest work of societal destruction to be attributed to greed. Destruction that the nations that were part of it tended to distance themselves from, highlighting “the fabulous discovery” of America and its adventure book side. Thus, the abandonment of the Native Americans to their fatal fate was often approached from the cultural perspective of a “dialogue” between civilizations, and referred to imponderable causes dominated by health, rather than being appreciated in its complex, terrible and disturbing entirety. Moreover, no internationally commissioned analysis seems to have been conducted to study, in a multidisciplinary and peaceful manner, the lessons to be drawn in terms of loss of civilization, health risks and criminology, from the actions of the conquistadors and their successors. This is despite citizens’ associations from the Americas starting to document these issues more and more, and despite the actions of the Mexican president. Firstly, in 2019, the president asked Spain to recognise the abuses committed against indigenous people during its conquest – indeed, a century after the conquest of Mexico by Hernán Cortés in 1519, the indigenous population of central Mexico fell by 97%, according to a document from the archives of the Count of Salvatierra, Viceroy of New Spain from 1642 to 1648 [COO 79] – and secondly, the president announced that he would apologize for the “the extermination” of the indigenous people (Yaquis and Maya), perpetrated while Mexico was independent. To continue on the subject of skin color, it should be pointed out that Cuba’s current black population, like that of other Latin American countries, corresponds to the survivors of the 10–15 million Africans that European nations transported to America and the West Indies, like goods, between the 16th and 19th Centuries.  This was done in order to enslave these populations (who were to be “renewed” on average every 10 years) [WAH 12] and to replace the indigenous population, whom the settlers had helped to decimate, after having used them as means of production in the mines (silver, mercury, gold) and farms (tobacco, sugar cane, cotton), and whose property they had taken over. Thus, in the Bolivian silver mines of Potosi alone,

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7–8 million indigenous and African slaves died during the colonial period (from 1545, the year of discovery of silver by the Spaniards, to 1825, the year of Bolivia’s independence) [BRO 12]. Finally, the lighter than expected skin tone of populations from South and Central America – apart from that of the indigenous people whose population had been sharply reduced – appears to be a consequence of massive swathes of “predominantly white” European immigrants. Indeed, between the 18th and 20th Centuries, more than 20 million Europeans, mainly Germans, Spaniards, French, Italians, Poles and Portuguese, reached the El Dorado of the New World in the hope of improving their lives and fleeing their past, or because they were forced into exile because of their ideas or legal troubles. Although it is very difficult to classify Latin American populations according to their origins (statistics reflect as much the aspirations for whiteness, Africanness or Indianity, or the language used, as the reality of their origins). Here are some significant figures: no Caribbean country currently has more than 10% of its population being “purely” indigenous; only two countries in South America (Bolivia and Peru) and two in Central America (Belize and Guatemala) exceed this 10% ; and Latin America as a whole, according to statistics for the period 2000–2008, only had 6% of indigenous people, hence its surprising pallor. Nevertheless, ECLAC (UN Regional Commission) estimates that for early 2010, more than 8% of the population of South and Central America was of indigenous origin (with the highest percentages in Bolivia, Guatemala and Peru), in line with a trend towards a relative increase in the indigenous population [UN 14a]. These figures are generally in agreement with Biasutti’s map, which shows that in South America, it is the inhabitants of present-day Peru and Bolivia who seem to have more pigmented skin than the average in this hemisphere. But why do Bolivia and Peru have populations that are composed more of descendants of the original indigenous populations than those of others? To try to explain, it can be noted that Bolivia and Peru are characterized by high average altitude, – both countries have 18 out of 41 peaks above 6,000 m in Latin America – rather inhospitable climates and a large proportion of mountainous and forested areas that are unfavorable to field crops. Bolivia also has no maritime access, but it is the poorest country in South America. Thus, these characteristics would not have been detrimental to the indigenous populations who were well acclimatized to the harsh living conditions of Bolivia and Peru. On the contrary, such characteristics would have attracted few European emigrants, despite the promulgation – without much success – in the 19th Century of laws designed to encourage their immigration. As for the conquest of the Inca Empire, it was only carried out by a few hundred men, following the landing near the current Peruvian port of Tumbes in 1528, of a handful of Spanish adventurers, under the leadership of Francisco Pizarro. In the

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end, Pizarro succeeded in defeating Emperor Atahualpa and his army, with a troop of 168 soldiers equipped with weapons (arquebuses, cannons, muskets) and terrorizing caparisoned horses. The defeat was thanks to his ability to take advantage of the weaknesses and mistakes of his opponents (in this case, the division of indigenous elites and the underestimation, by the Inca emperor, of the threat represented by the conquistadors). Following the conquest, a thousand settlers was sufficient to extract, with the help of slaves and renegade indigenous peoples, precious metals – the possession of which was highly attractive to the Spanish and their allies. 1.5. Foundations of an unfounded theory Commentary on the human skin color map has projected us into dramatic and destabilizing episodes in the history of sapiens, from which we must draw necessary conclusions for the future, in terms of the development of human societies. As for the unfounded division of sapiens into types with physical appearances and unequal qualities, as Linnaeus engraved in marble, what could be the original written roots of this? As for the Book of Hammurabi (the name of a sovereign of the Kingdom of Babylon), the oldest and most complete legal code to have come down to us – which is said to date back 3,800 years – makes no reference to the question of human typologies. Egyptian hieroglyphics are also perfectly silent on this question, knowing that the inhabitants of ancient Egypt would have been quite close to the populations established in the Levant and the Near East [SCH 17], even if the question of the origin of the Pharaonic Egyptians is not yet fixed. As for the Old Testament, part of the Bible recounts – in the book of Genesis – the story of Noah and his sons just after the Flood (which is the most universal human myth, along with that of the creation of the world). It tells us that Noah, “father of all people”, was drunk on wine [HER 11] and was observed, while denuded, by one of his three sons; in this case Ham, considered in biblical mythology as the ancestor of African people. However, seeing his father’s nakedness was part of the divine prohibitions in the biblical tradition; thus Noah informed of his son’s inappropriate conduct, cursed Canaan (one of Ham’s four sons) in return, condemning him to be “a slave of slaves to his brothers”. From this episode on, it was ambiguously stated, particularly in the Livre de l’ordre de succession des générations (summary of the holy history and collection of tales written around the year 500), that Ham and his descendants would have had their skin darkened following Noah’s condemnation. Nevertheless, it is difficult to date the origin of these semantic shifts, as well as to affirm that they were intended to create a link between slavery and black skin, as Benjamin Braude did in Cham et Noé. Race et esclavage entre judaïsme, christianisme et Islam [BRA 02]. However, it is Ham’s curse that seemed to be the

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main driving force, in the 18th and 19th Centuries, for the justification of racial slavery in Europe [CHR 77] and America [BRI 75]. However, as early as the 18th Century, the distortion of biblical writing (which makes no discriminatory allusion to skin color) was put to use in the book Enquête minutieuse sur la posterité noire de Cham en Éthiopie by Lutheran Jean-Louis Hannemann, author for whom, “the black population, wherever they live, are cursed and destined for slavery for thousands of generations”, in order to justify the slave trade. A slave trade (transport of goods from one country to another) which Europeans, the Portuguese as early as 1441, then the English, Spanish, French, Dutch and Italian, organized with local accomplices to make the colonization3 of America  profitable. It was also established in the United States (thus, the American federal census of 1860 counted 4 million slaves, out of 31 million residents). Here again, it seems, justifications stemming from the “curse”. Just as the secular texts of the first civilizations do not keep track of it, no founding text of the great religions therefore advocates any pre-eminence – or disqualification – of any particular ethnic type [HER 11], depending, in particular, on skin color (the founding texts of these religions even go in the opposite direction overall). Thus, there is no inevitability at the root of ethnic discrimination. It nevertheless appears to be a major factor in unfounded hatred and sterile controversies, and it must be considered particularly costly, in terms of cohesion and the achievement of human societies. If this burden – which appears to have been misappropriated from religious myth – continues to endure, it is probably because two sides existthat respond to and complement each other: the idiotic disparagement of the darkest skin and the thoughtless glorification of the lightest complexions. 1.6. Deviations in the 19th and 20th Centuries The supremacy of white skin was particularly on the agenda in the 19th Century, as a kind of accompaniment to the civilizing mission that Europeans embraced at that time, as a counterpoint to the second great wave of colonization that was taking place, focusing on Africa and Asia, not to mention Oceania. In order to justify these

3 Few subjects are the object of so many’s passion as colonization, especially among anthropologists [FLA 12]. Thus, before defining the notion of colonization, it should be recalled that the present reflection is not intended to distribute good and bad points in terms of the unfolding of human history but to describe the sequences of this history in order to try to understand them and to reveal, through the faults in these sequences, ways of solidifying and better achieving humanity. Colonization therefore refers to the occupation, organization and exploitation of a territory under the influence of an external power, for profit, strategy or demographic reasons. The settlers, as representatives, entrepreneurs or ordinary citizens of the occupying power, manage the colony according to their own interests and those of the metropolis, while contributing more or less significantly to the development of the colonized territory.

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new conquests, the populations of the colonized lands had to be declared incapable of enjoying the benefits of the progress that the colonizing nations declared themselves to be carriers; this in exchange for a de facto annexation of their territories and the loss of all freedom to organize them by themselves and enjoy them as they wish. Exhibitions of colonized populations, presented in pseudo-natural settings and reconstructed villages – reminiscent of zoos (Figure 1.4) – mainly created by the German company Hagenbeck (current owner of the Hamburg zoo), were held in Europe until the first third of the 20th Century. Thus, the Jardin d’Acclimatation in Paris housed 33 of these racialist exhibitions [BÁE 06], referred to in Roschdy Zem’s film Chocolat (2016). The last of which, dedicated in 1931 to the Kanak people of New Caledonia, was created at a time when the European nations seemed to be steeped in civilization, even though they had already led – and were about to lead – a number of expeditions to take over colonial power. Among the most unexpected contradictions and developments of the time, it is worth noting the following: it was the President of the French Council, Pierre Laval, a socialist deputy lawyer for trade unionists and pacifist in origin, who became the head of the French government in collaboration with Nazi Germany and the future Duce (Latin word meaning “guide”) Benito Mussolini joined the Italian Socialist Party in 1900, before creating the National Fascist Party, allying himself with Hitler and leading Italy into the Nazi anti-Semitic orbit.

Figure 1.4. Why don’t we go to the human zoo? (source: rights reserved)

Moreover, as everyone knows, Hitler’s and his accomplices’ emphasis on the primacy of the pseudo-white Germanic race, which lasted 13 years, led to the Jews being sentenced to death from 1940 to 1945, as well as fractions of German society and conquered countries (communists, homosexuals, resistance fighters, Jehovah’s

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witnesses, gypsies, the disabled) supposedly deemed “stains to be eliminated”, for the triumph of greater Germany and the advent of Germanic racial purity. The Holocaust which resulted, once Hitler’s ignominy had reached its peak, was the methodical murder of 6–7 million men, women and children, the vast majority of whom were Jews (“prize” State assassinations would nevertheless return to Stalin’s USSR, with more than 15 million deaths). Jewish and non-Jewish victims who were industrially gassed – or otherwise eliminated in Nazi extermination camps – or whose lives were destroyed in concentration and labor camps by the consequences of hunger, exhaustion, cold, violence and disease. This, with the distant consent of European populations caught in the stranglehold of war, the encircling of propaganda, cultural conformity, ignorance and the moral annihilation to which fear led. In contrast with members of ethnic groups and human fractions, hated without any objective reason and which the Germany of the Third Reich had dedicated themselves to removing, the “Nordic Aryan race” was, according to Hitler in his criminologically prophetic work Mein Kampf (My Struggle) “the true representative of all humanity, and it is by divine application that the German people must maintain their racial purity. The Germanic race is superior to all others and fights against the foreigner, against the Jew, against the Slav, against these inferior races, so by performing these gestures, it is sanctified” (author’s translation). The idea of the supremacy of an imaginary Aryan race (from the Sanskrit Arya, meaning “noble”), which Hitler did not invent, is the result of a dangerous unrest that penetrated young fragile 19th-Century minds, in line with the colonizing actions of that time. Indeed, it was in 1830 that France conquered Algeria, from 1839 to 1902 that the Western powers and Russia nibbled away at China, and it was in 1840 that New Zealand became British. Among the fragile spirits who put the racialist upheavals of their century on paper is Joseph Arthur de Gobineau, author in 1885 of Essai sur l’inégalité des races humaines4, in which Gobineau states, in an improbable style: “The two inferior varieties of our species, the black race, the yellow race, are coarse backgrounds, cotton and wool, which the secondary families of the white race soften by mixing their silk with it, while the Aryan group, circulating its thinner threads through the ennobled generations, applies to their surface, as a dazzling masterpiece, its silver and gold arabesques”. As for Houston Stewart Chamberlain, an English and German-speaking writer and husband of the composer Richard Wagner’s daughter, who saw Jews as “anomalies of nature”, he published The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century in 1899. A text in which the 4 The year 1885 was also marked on July 28 by a speech by Jules Ferry to the French National Assembly. During his intervention to obtain funds from the Assembly to launch a colonization expedition to Madagascar, the famous promoter of “the secular, free and compulsory public school” declared: “Gentlemen, we must speak louder and truer! It must be said openly that indeed, the superior races have a right over the inferior races [...]. I repeat that there is a right for the superior races, because there is a duty for them. They have a duty to civilize the inferior races.”

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impurity of the Jew is professed, described as “foreign to Europe” and are praised a contrario the German man and the Aryan. Lastly, if the prize for the most delirious epidermal prose were to be awarded, it could undoubtedly be given to the journalists Gustave d’Eichthal and Ismayl Urbain, who professed in 1839 in their book Lettres sur la race blanche et la race noire: “The black man seems to be the female race in the human family, as the white is the male race. Like women, black people are deprived of political and scientific faculties”.  Finally, the tragedy that the Nazis inflicted on their country and on the world – as creators of the “final solution” (planning the extermination of Jews) – appeared to be the “perfect” realization of the racial pathology that had spread in Europe in the 19th Century. Pathology abounded in the pages of Hitler’s Mein Kampf, Chapter 11 of which is entitled “Nation and Race”, and which had developed, as we have seen above, against an old background of colonialist fever and chronic anti-Judaism.5 As for the allegiance of the Germans to the Nazi power, it seems to be associated with a combination of factors; among them was the establishment by Hitler’s regime of an iron regime based on obedience and terror (with the discreet consent of industrialists who were not indifferent to the employment of a population banned from social criticism), as well as the organization of mass hypnosis and a formidable propagandist indoctrination. These processes were based, in addition to Hitler’s oratory and paranoia, on the patriotic feelings and resentment of the German people. The Nazis’ control of Germany had indeed been based on the fact that the country was still haunted by the vivid memory of the defeat of World War I, as well as by the humiliated experience of war reparations and territorial annexations imposed in 1919 by the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler’s rise to power was also boosted by the severe economic crisis of 1929, which was followed in Germany by an austerity policy (reduction of wages and public spending) instituted by Chancellor Heinrich Brüning in 1930, with the aim of improving the economy. In addition, the Nazis perfectly used to their advantage the deep sense of discipline and social application, which Germany had inherited from Prussia. Thus, the famous Prussian ruler Frederick II had instituted the beginnings of compulsory education as early as 1763, while a strong tradition of interweaving the military and the civilian bathed the Prussian lands, particularly since the epic of the Teutonic 5 For Christians, for whom Jesus is the son of God (contrary to Jewish belief), a fact carried through the ages and relayed by the Gospels is to profess the idea that Jews are responsible for Christ’s death. Indeed, the possibility, offered to the Jewish crowd by the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate, of pardoning either Jesus or a certain Barabbas – whose reality was enigmatic – the crowd, “persuaded by the chief priests and elders” (Matthew, 27: 11–54), would have chosen to pardon Barabbas and to bring about Jesus’s death by crucifixion. Hence, the accusations of “deicide people” used in the 19th Century (including the great poet Alphonse de Lamartine) to describe Jews; moreover, the anti-Jewish segregation and violence that marked the history of the European populations.

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knights. These monk soldiers, whose religious order founded in 1191, came about following the Crusades6, had thus obtained the blessing of the Church in 1224 to found a monastic state within the present Poland and Lithuania, in exchange for their, more than aggressive, involvement in the forced Christianization of the Prussians and Lithuanians.

Figure 1.5. The Krak des Chevaliers, an emblematic witness of the presence of the Crusaders in the Near East (12th–13th Centuries) (source: Jacques Barnouin)

The state founded by the Teutonic order and its knights, which remained until 1525, was in fact a sort of prefiguration of the Duchy of Prussia (1525–1618), which was succeeded in 1701 by the Kingdom of Prussia. A kingdom including the German Empire (or Reich), with an authoritarian tendency like its “iron chancellor” Otto Von Bismarck, heir from 1871, before disappearing in 1918, following the German defeat and abdication of Emperor William II. And 15 years later, Chancellor Hitler came to power.

6 Military expeditions promoted by the Church between 1095 and 1291, in order to guarantee faithful access to Jerusalem and the holy sites of Catholicism, allowed by the Abbasid Arab caliphs, but banned by the Seljuq Turks, once they had taken Jerusalem from the Arabs in 1071. Religious violence and intolerance in all its forms marked the period of the Crusades, which saw the temporary colonization of the Near East through the creation on their own account by European Catholic lords of a group of States, including the “Kingdom of Jerusalem” (1099–1291), located on all or part of present-day Lebanon, Syria (Figure 1.5), Palestine, Jordan, Israel, Turkey and Cyprus.

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With regard to the link between the 19th Century, colonization and skin color, one event that has not been given much attention will now be considered: the Berlin Conference (1884–1885) [RIV 17]. This conference, hosted by German Chancellor Bismarck, brought together Austria–Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom, as well as the United States (i.e. in particular the States that were at the origin of the European Economic Community 72 years later). The objective of the Berlin Conference was to establish rules of good conduct between powers, with a view to sharing Central Africa. This was to prevent conflicts that could arise between future co-owners, which could have resulted in restricting the financial advantages – linked to the appropriation of raw materials and the use of an exploited population – that a successful colonization could have brought. It should be noted that no Africans were invited to the Berlin Conference, even if a few crosses, drawn on the treaties as signatures by traditional chiefs, might suggest that they had endorsed texts, intended in fact to strip them of their territories and to enclose them with borders drawn by colonial administrators who had never got a toehold in Africa7. Thus, the conquest of Black Africa appeared to be based, in line with that of the Americas, on a strategy of sharing regulated by treaties of good conduct between powerful people (the Treaty of Tordesillas, already mentioned, and therefore the Treaty of Berlin). The colonization of equatorial Africa, beyond the good intentions shown by Western countries “in the name of Almighty God” at the Berlin Conference, was marred by a series of repressive practices and massacres. The most significant of these abuses, which concerned Hereros and Namas, was perpetrated in present-day Namibia against populations who had protested against the colonial power, in this case Germany [FON 15]. They carried out reprisals in 1904, the result of which is generally considered to have led to the first of the genocides of the 20th Century (80% of the population revolted, i.e. 80–90,000 people, reportedly died as a result of the repression), with a number of others. Thus, Belgian colonizers reportedly mutilated and murdered millions of indigenous people in the Congo between 1885 and 1908 [WIL 15], through the exploitation of rubber trees and ivory. As a result, the Congolese population would have been around 17 million before the arrival of the settlers, but dropped to 7 million in the 1910 census; the cause of these human losses often cited as “epidemics resulting from tribal contact with Europeans and 7 The tracing and guiding lines of States, through colonial appetites, were not only carried out in Africa. Indeed, as a result of the breakup of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, allied to Germany during World War I, a division was also at work in the Near East, following secret agreements (known as Sykes-Picot) between the United Kingdom and France. These agreements led to the establishment of commercial, colonial and cultural zones of influence, both English and French (as well as international in Jerusalem), encompassing modern-day Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria.

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Arab traffickers, against which the indigenous people were not shielded”. History seems to be able to repeat itself, at least in terms of the problem of considering Africans, like the Native Americans in the 14th Century, as: not very resistant to imported diseases and therefore decimated by them, and not impacted by the violence and plunder that accompanied the colonization, and, moreover, carrying characteristics that led to their enslavement through the affirmation, fairly entrenched in 19th-Century Europeans and still present (especially in football stadiums) that the African is “more or less at the level of the great monkeys”. This consideration is more or less in line with the attitude of 16th-Century Spanish authorities, who wondered, in particular during the Valladolid controversy (1550–1551) [FAB 04], whether the domination of the indigenous people could not be justified by their poor social practices, particularly by their use of human sacrifice. If we turn our reflection towards the present times, we must recall that the apartheid, i.e. the organization of a separate life (“an invisible wall”) between Whites and Blacks, continued in white South Africa until 1991; that in 2015, Jews from Ethiopia proclaimed their anger at the discrimination they considered themselves victims to in Israel; that the same year, a young American nostalgic for the apartheid in the United States between 1964–1965 murdered nine of his African-American compatriots in a South Carolina church (before becoming the first American sentenced to death for racist crime in 2017); that some American police officers seem to be trigger-happy against black compatriots; that an Aboriginal woman is five times more likely than a non-Aboriginal to die a violent death in Canada and that politicians still perpetuate the myth of the white race or have even gone so far as to deny the existence of gas chambers and the Shoah (Hebrew word meaning “catastrophe”). These various observations, as well as the tendency to overstate attacks on Westerners, particularly during abductions involving both Westerners and non-Westerners, or to ignore (as is often the case in France) the higher unemployment rate in the overseas territories of color, are obviously not all to be put on the same level. Nevertheless, all appear to reveal, to say the least, the need to incorporate, within human societies and with a view to universality, the notions of indivisibility and community of destiny of sapiens, which obscurantism and elitism have helped to deny and pervert. 1.7. Symbols and fantasies In addition to the historical factors that the journey through humans has revealed with regard to skin color, it is necessary to consider the characteristics of biology and the environment which, in accordance with historical factors, may have

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generated in sapiens a certain enthusiasm for white and a lesser attraction for black. With reference to this question, it should first be recalled that for women having lighter skin than men, this characteristic can only enhance the whiteness of the skin in a species in which the female is one of the societal trophies that is often good for the male to adorn. On the other hand, in Homo sapiens, the whiteness of teeth creates a certain air about the feminine smile, only pearly whites are flooded with brilliance. Furthermore, in analysing the value of white, it is undoubtedly necessary to consider the foods which are, on one hand, himself with very light, and on the other hand, essential to the nutrition of sapiens. They meet these criteria: the whiteness of shelled cereals and the matte and bold whiteness of flour; the crystalline and brilliant whiteness of salt and refined sugar and finally, the creamy whiteness of milk and the smooth whiteness of cotton; symbols of the purity, viability and softness of the human baby. Other cases of strong symbolic connotations include the whiteness of sheets, white representing virginity; the white hair of the elderly and glorious prophets and the hyper-luminous whites of the icy water and the “marvellous clouds”, to use the expression of the poet Charles Baudelaire. In addition, the expression “the black sheep”, which tends to stigmatize a person who does not fit into the norm, comes from the fact that the wool of sheep – age-old nutritional and clothing companions of man – is overwhelmingly white through the transmission of a dominant gene, while the recessive gene is synonymous with black fleece. White, especially in European traditions, is also generally associated with the sacred, opposing at this level the darkness and defilement of the devil. All these notions, which are realized around the color of skin, as the most visible element of the perception of a human being by fellow human beings, may have sanctified positive prejudices, as tenacious as they are irrational, towards humans with light skin, and to create mistrust, against sapiens with darker skin. There are other elements to be considered: white, the brightest shade, is seen in physics as a reference color, and while the retina allows the human eye to appreciate the color palette in good light conditions – thanks to its three types of cones – it is less efficient, through its rod cells, for black and white vision in situations of darkness. Thus, dark and darkness correspond, in humans, to rather uncomfortable visual situations, and therefore, more likely than day, to charge his imagination with fears and worries. As for the triad of blue-white-blond and flattering colors, which combine colors that are flattering to the human eye and mind, because they recall the sun and the sea, they can only project themselves with benevolence, even attraction, onto the beings who have them. Hence, perhaps, the intense appeal of artificially blonde

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hair of women, natural blondes having now become a minority on a world scale; and journalists with light eyes, often over-represented in the media, when it seems highly unreasonable to imagine the existence of any link between eye color and journalistic quality.

Figure 1.6. Yin and yang: black and white on an equal footing

Asian civilizations seem not to have conferred any highly connoted status to black. Indeed, through the yin (representing the black and female principle) and the yang (corresponding to the white and male principle) (Figure 1.6), black and white seem complementary, even in fusion, and not in opposition (“in Chinese cosmology, yin and yang are two entities of the original breath qi, at work in all things and which connect all kinds of beings between them”). Perhaps, moreover, the white– black balance, reflected in the intertwining of yin and yang, has been an element in preserving Chinese society from over-promoting white and banishing black. Unless it is its distance from “the black continent” that has passively protected the Middle Kingdom from the discriminatory errors into which “the West”8 may have fallen. As for a fraction of the Black European and American communities, the indigenous and now many Asian populations all seem to be interested in skin whitening. It is practiced using lightening creams based on hydroquinone, corticosteroids, hydrogen peroxide, bleach or industrial oils; the use of which, although often quite risky, must nevertheless be implemented in the long term in order to hope for a “result”. Such a treatment represents, in fact, a new form of addiction generating considerable profits, to the great benefit of the cosmetics industry.

8 Geopolitical concept putting forward the idea of a civilization, heir to the Greco-Roman civilization, which would be common to the modern nations of western Europe, as well as to the non-European countries from these nations, such as the United States.

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In the particular case of India, white skin appears to be an important physical and social asset, as well as a kind of nirvana to be achieved through the idea or calculation of being part of the rich and fascinating Western society, through the grace of whitening the skin. As for the industry’s most advanced discovery in bleaching, which is the marketing of intimate gels that are supposed to bleach the vagina or even the penis, it pushes the wild quest for whiteness beyond imagination, which has not spared many female and male stars, including the singer Michael Jackson. In order to explain the lightening quest that seems to electrify some Indians, sociologist Tharailath Koshy Oommen explains: “the popular belief is that if, in India, you have fair skin, it is because you belong to the upper caste, the Brahmin. But the arrival in the country of populations from Central Asia, followed by the Portuguese, French and British settlers, must also have contributed to a negative perception of colored skin by Indians”. The variability in skin color of the populations of the Indian subcontinent (lighter in the north and darker in the south) – given India’s geographical position and the very large latitude gap between the northern and southern parts of the country – has only accentuated the focus of a fraction of Indian society, through its experience and the way the media deal with this issue, on the positive relationship that seems to exist between lighter skin and a brighter future. Apart from the case of India, the encounter by colonized people with fair-skinned colonizers, citizens of the richest and most powerful nations on the planet, could only contribute to forging a universal attraction for whiteness, which naturally affects 30% of humans. On the other hand, 19th-Century settlers and missionary explorers who accompanied their conquests sometimes projected the concern of “racial classification” onto colonized peoples prevailing in Europe at the time. This, again and again through the mythical account of the “Curse of Ham”, whose stigmatizing significance seems to have been applied to Africa. Thus, according to Georges Gobineau’s fanciful statements, “a primordial  descent of Caucasian populations has sunk over the ages into the black continent, endowing it with elements considered racially superior”. The desperate fantasies inherited from Gobineau nevertheless appear to have been very negatively at work in Rwanda and Burundi, countries that the Berlin Conference had attributed in 1884 to Germany, and which were later “reassigned” to Belgium, after the German military defeat in 1918. Through these circumstances, three ethnic types were distinguished by the settlers in the two regions of southern Africa, which Father Van der Burgt, a Dutch missionary, differentiated in 1903

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in these unexpected terms: “The Tutsis, breeders, in the minority, are of high stature, often with a Greek profile, intelligent, cunning, hypocritical, proud and very superstitious. The Hutus, farmers, in the majority, are medium-sized, black, skinny, curt, nervous, agile, active, irritable, vindictive, thieves and liars. And the Twas, few in number, are pygmies, a race of true pariahs, very nomadic, shy, cruel, irascible, very devoted to magic, very black, thin, of below average stature and hairy.”   In fact, these three communities had the same language, shared the same customs and lived largely together. Even though royalty was essentially devolved to certain Tutsi fractions, which also dominated the Hutu farmers, through their farming activities, and even though the societies of the Rwandan zone were shaken by power conflicts not without violence [VAN 01]. The Belgian settlers, once they had taken over from the Germans, relied on the Tutsis, supporters of the traditional ruling class, and decreed as the least distant from European racial ideals, through the theory of “primordial descent”. Tutsis were promoted by settlers, particularly in terms of access to education and administration. As a result of colonial support for a minority elite, deep resentment emerged among the Hutus. Thus, the Hutus came to power in 1960, following the democratization of Rwanda. Their demographic influence (the Hutus represented more than 80% of the Rwandan population), was the cause of the exclusion and exile of many Tutsis, who tried to regain power in 1990, following the launch, from neighboring Uganda, of a military offensive against the Hutu regime. Finally, this long-term conflict situation led to the Hutus committing genocide against the Tutsis (without France, which was cooperating with the French-speaking Rwandan regime at the time, intervening properly) [LAR 19]. In 1994, in one hundred terrifying days, the genocide resulted in the death of some 800,000 Tutsis, as well as of Hutu populations who opposed the massacre of their Tutsi compatriots. 1.8. Whiteness, blondness and blueness While the consequences of what can be called “leukocentrism” (leukos meaning “white” in Greek), reckless bleaching or hijacking of the skin, have not spared many basic human populations, the great names of the Christian tradition, including Jesus himself, through the representations that painters made of him, have been confronted with the problem of color. While whiteness, blondness and blueness very generally dominate the vision that artists have given of Mary, the mother of Jesus, as well as of Jesus as a child, whiteness is also very significant in the representation of adult Jesus, especially in the work of Jean Hey, the “Master of Moulins”

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(Figure 1.7). As for the representation of Jesus produced in 2001 by Richard Neave (Figure 1.7), a specialist in facial reconstruction [FIL 15], it was based in particular on the fact that the area of the Near East in which Jesus lived (Jerusalem latitude: 31.5° N) is located only slightly north of the Canary Islands (Las Palmas latitude: 28.5° N). It is therefore reasonable to think that the great biblical figure’s skin color, like the color reported by Christopher Columbus as that of the inhabitants of the Canary Islands in 1493 (i.e. at the exact time, Jean Hey painted his Ecce Homo), should not be “neither black nor white”; and therefore, of a color closer to that proposed by Richard Neave, than that represented by the “Master of Moulins”. And as for Adam and Eve, considered the first man and woman of humanity by the first great monotheistic religions, painters such as Michelangelo, Rubens and Goltzius generally represented them with impeccably white skin (Figure 1.8), which cannot be blamed on these artists, given the ideas that prevailed at the time they developed their talents. The skin is finally the casing that limits us and materializes us; the first level of perception that identifies us and that our brain equipment decrypts, pixel by pixel and in a more widely, when it sees it in its field of analysis. A casing that makes us, visually, human. It is therefore difficult to achieve better harmony of human societies, if the question of our flesh, which everyone has experienced, at some point in time, is not crudely put on the table and if the inconsistencies attached to it are not fundamentally called into question through education and scientific knowledge.

Figure 1.7. The color of Jesus. On the left, according to Richard Neave, Popular Mechanics, 2015 (source: rights reserved) [FIL 15]. On the right, according to Jean Hey, Ecce Homo, 1494 (source: Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels)

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Figure 1.8. Details of a work by Hendrick Goltzius depicting Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, The Fall of Man, 1616 (source: National Gallery of Art, Washington)

On these considerations, both hopeful and tinged with concern, we must think about the second stage of our journey through societal constructions. In this regard, the question of the economic supremacy of Western nations, which must be a factor – indeed the predominant factor – in the fantasy status of their populations, seems to be at the center of Chapter 2. Nevertheless, the difficulty of analyzing national factors of prosperity is not to be underestimated. Indeed, only the study of current economic data can make it possible to accurately characterize rich and less rich nations, whereas national entities have sometimes been built on a centuries or even millennia scale; and it is reasonable to assume that the factors of prosperity have partly very old roots, even if other factors, related to modern times, economic freedom, political pluralism and the functioning of the rule of law, are not to be neglected [ACE 13]. Hence the need to analyze the structural characteristics, particularly geographical characteristics, associated with the wealth of States, before looking at historical data that may have influenced their prosperity.

2 Geoclimate and Prosperity

2.1. Comparisons Does geography coupled with biology lead the human construction game? This is what our route suggests, which, after looking at the Biasutti map, leads to a discussion on the issue of prosperity, which will also be based on biological maps and facts. Which are the dominant states, then, regarding the average prosperity level per inhabitant? And where are the capitals of these States located (bearing in mind that their location is supposed to ensure a significant level of comfort in our daily lives), since any capital houses the structures of reflection and institutions of a country, of which it is the brain and the showcase? The global genetic uniqueness of the human species implies that these should be general environmental conditions, perhaps modulated by regional factors, that would be at the origin of the development of nations more flourishing than others, unless it is by pure chance. Even though the comparison between prosperous and less prosperous countries does not in itself constitute an original method of understanding national wealth factors [BOQ 12], such a method appears to be potentially instructive, and therefore must not be neglected. Nevertheless, to refine the comparative method, in addition to countries, their capitals may need to be considered. Indeed, at country level, which sometimes extends over considerable latitudes and longitudes, with a diversity of landscapes and climates at stake, taking into account the position of capitals could improve the robustness of the conclusions to the prosperity analysis. Because capitals, which tend to gather, as previously mentioned, wealth and talent, have only been able to impose themselves, in addition

The World’s Construction Mechanism: Trajectories, Imbalances and the Future of Societies, First Edition. Jacques Barnouin. © ISTE Ltd 2020. Published by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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to historical circumstances, because their location has proved favorable to the development of the countries of which they carry the torch. Economic prosperity, which has been studied from various angles [ACE 13; ASH 13; LAN 00] and whose emblematic analysis is that published in 1776 by the Scottish philosopher and economist Adam Smith [SMI 91], cannot reasonably be conducted without quantitative indicators. Even if the indicators, generally based on averages, in addition to the fact that they cannot summarize, apart from economic (or “economicist”) considerations [BUS 03], all the things that form the pleasantness and human depth of a country, do not inform us about the distribution of prosperity within a population (this is certainly an issue that will have to be addressed at a later stage of the journey). Nevertheless, living as a vulgum pecus in one of the least wealth-producing countries can only be linked, on average, to poor access to wellbeing and security, while residing in one of the most flourishing countries can only offer, as a general rule, a set of life opportunities and be a force for personal development. Based on the most accepted prosperity indicator, gross domestic product (GDP) at purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita [SCH 02], which corresponds to the annual amount of wealth created in a country, relative to its population and the level of its prices, and considering the 20 countries with more than 10 million inhabitants and 20 000 km2 at highest GDP at PPP (median value 2014: $36,0001: unless otherwise specified – the year 2014 will serve as a reference), the “great prosperous countries” (PR+) (Figure 2.1), which, sheltering 1.1 billion inhabitants and corresponding to communities of significant size with diverse territories, appear to be, by GDP at decreasing PPP: the United States, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada, Australia, Belgium, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, Italy, South Korea, Spain, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Greece, Russia, Malaysia, Poland and Hungary (note: the list of PR+ countries varies only marginally, depending on the reference year chosen). Figure 2.1 indicates that: the PR+ capitals are mainly located in Europe (13 countries out of 20, of which 5 are totally or partially ex-communist), but also in Asia, America and Oceania, in countries with access to the sea, with the exception of Hungary and the Czech Republic; 19 of these capitals belong to the Northern Hemisphere; and 18 of them are located in temperate zones – at an average latitude of 45.7° N for the seventeen capitals of the Northern Hemisphere (minimum: 35.7° N; maximum: 55.7° N) – and 35.5° S for Canberra, the only PR+ country capital to be located in the Southern Hemisphere. However, Riyadh (capital of Saudi Arabia) and Kuala Lumpur (capital of Malaysia) are exceptions – to which we

1 In the book, we refer to the US dollar.

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must return – because these two cities are not located in temperate zones, but are respectively close to the Tropic of Cancer and the Equator.

Figure 2.1. Location of the 20 “great prosperous countries” or PR+ (with more than 2 10 million inhabitants and 20,000 km , and whose GDP at PPP per capita in $ are the highest; consolidated data 2014) (source: World Bank; douwe.com (map background)). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/ construction.zip

COMMENT ON FIGURE 2.1.– PR+ countries are colored in red. The yellow dots indicate the location of the capitals of the four largest PR+ and the yellow crosses indicate the location of the two PR+ capitals (Riyadh: Saudi Arabia; Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia) not located in temperate zones (the capitals of the other countries are not located on the map). The green-white lines mark, within the Northern Hemisphere, the extreme latitudes of the 17 capitals of the PR+ in the temperate zone. A dotted green line indicates, in the Southern Hemisphere, the latitude of Australia’s capital, the only PR+ in that hemisphere. As for the orange lines, they correspond, in each hemisphere, to the average latitude (45.7° N) of the capitals of the 17 PR+ of the Northern Hemisphere located in temperate zones.

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It is not surprising that 19 of the 20 capitals of the PR+ countries are located in the Northern Hemisphere. Indeed, only 10% of humans live in the Southern Hemisphere, which contains 81% of marine space, 20% more than its northern counterpart. In addition, if an imaginary line is drawn in each hemisphere at the average latitude of the PR+ Northern Hemisphere capitals located in temperate zones (45.7°), this line passes over land for 70% of its length in the Northern Hemisphere, and for only 1.5% of the same length in the Southern Hemisphere (Figure 2.1). There is therefore very little room for capitals around 45° south latitude; which is a pity, because at the same latitude, the size of the marine surfaces of the Southern Hemisphere makes the climate milder in this hemisphere, thanks to the storage, in summer, and the release, in winter, of solar heat through the colossal heat exchange reservoir that the seas and oceans represent. Thus, we can live pleasantly in the Southern Hemisphere at latitudes at which it would probably be less pleasant to reside in the Northern Hemisphere. Let us continue the journey by mapping (Figure 2.2), like the “great prosperous countries”, the 20 “great non-prosperous countries” (PR–), whose median value from GDP at PPP is $1,900, a figure 19 times lower than the median of the PR+ countries, whose most prosperous country has a GDP at PPP 73 times higher than that of the poorest PR–2. The PR– countries are, by decreasing GDP at PPP: Cameroon, Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania, Nepal, Senegal, Chad, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Mali, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Guinea, Mozambique, Niger, Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (note: like the list of PR+ countries, the list of PR– countries is generally stable, regardless of the reference year of the recent period chosen to determine them). The PR–, with a total population of 525 million, are therefore mainly located in Africa, but also in Asia. In addition: 12 PR– capitals are located in the Northern Hemisphere, compared to 8 in the Southern Hemisphere (latitudes of the PR– countries: average: 6.5° N; minimum: 26° S; maximum: 27.7° N); only 8 of the 20 PR– have access to the sea; and finally, none of the PR– countries’ capitals are located in temperate zones, while 18 are part of the intertropical zone. As for the non-tropical PR–, Nepal and Afghanistan, they are mountainous countries with no maritime outlets.

2 If we compare the 50 territorial entities with higher and lower GDP at PPP per capita, regardless of the number of their inhabitants and their size, we see that the ratio between the median GDP at PPP of these two groups is 16.4, which is close to the “prosperity relation” figure (19.0) identified between PR+ and PR– countries.

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Afghanistan, for example, has 100 peaks over 6,000 meters high, many arid areas and a continental climate with hot summers. And as for Nepal, it is home to the roof of the world, as well as 13 summits over 8,000 meters high, with climates ranging from tropical to polar and temperate. Hence the isolation of these two countries, which do not benefit from any major wealth, from the point of view of their subsoil, and which are, in addition, subject to high seismic risks (last notable earthquake: Nepal, 2015; magnitude: 7.8; human toll: more than 8,000 deaths and more than 8,000 injured).

Figure 2.2. Location of the 20 “ great non-prosperous countries” or PR– (with more than 10 million inhabitants and 20,000 km2, and whose GDP at PPP per capita in $ are the lowest; consolidated data 2014) (source: World Bank; douwe.com (map background)). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/ construction.zip

COMMENT ON FIGURE 2.2.– PR countries are colored in red. The dotted black lines correspond to the tropics, and the solid black line to the equator. The red line marks the average latitude (6.5° N) of the capitals of the 20 PR– and the orange line (45.7° N) marks the capitals of the 17 PR+ of the Northern Hemisphere located in temperate zones.

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What geoclimatic factors appear to characterize, through a univariate descriptive analysis, the “great prosperous countries”? With regard to the “capital in the Northern Hemisphere” factor, since 19 PR+ countries versus 12 PR– have this characteristic, the cp (“characterization power”) of the hemispheric factor is: 19 – 12 = 7. In addition, for the “capital in Europe”, the cp is equal to 13 – 0 = 13, for “capital in America” it is equal to 2, and for “capital in Asia or Oceania” it is equal to 1. Finally, the cp of the “capital in the temperate zone” factor is equal to 18, and that of the “existence of a maritime outlet” factor is equal to 10. The three main factors positively characterizing the PR+ capitals are therefore: mainly, the fact that their capital belongs to the temperate zone; and to a lesser extent, their location in Europe and the existence of a maritime outlet. As for the factor negatively characterizing PR+, it is the non-membership of the capital, on the one hand, to Africa (cp = – 18), and, on the other hand, to the intertropical zone (cp = – 16). Thus, it appears almost “necessary” for a country, in order to be part of the PR+ countries, to be located in an area of the globe currently receiving on average 150–175 watts of solar energy per m2 (Figure 2.3). However, countries located in an area receiving 250–300 watts per m2 (almost 70% more energy) seem “destined” to be non-prosperous, especially if they are located in Africa. This dichotomy between PR+ and PR–, which appears generally quite robust, whatever the selection process of the “ prosperous” versus the “non-prosperous” used, is particularly discriminatory if we observe that: the average latitude of the capitals of the PR+ countries in the northern temperate zone (45.7° N) corresponds to the average latitude between the North Pole (90°) and the equator (0°), i.e. 45° N; while the average latitude of the capitals of the PR– countries (6.5° N) is very close to the latitude of the equator. Before going any further, let us return to the exceptions of Saudi Arabia (GDP at PPP: $52,000) and Malaysia (GDP at PPP: $25,000), as PR+ with capital cities located outside a temperate zone. What can explain why these countries are, contrary to the general rule, on the one hand, prosperous, and, on the other hand, located in areas with significant hot climates? Both countries, in addition to having maritime access, are recently formed countries, since Saudi Arabia was created in 1932 and present-day Malaysia in 1963, which was after Willis Haviland Carrier developed the first air conditioning system in the United States in 1902. Thus, places like Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, which saw their prosperity sharply increase at a time when air conditioning had become relatively commonplace, albeit still expensive, were able to ignore their natural climate and “gain” an artificial temperate climate in their homes, businesses and decision-making structures, by cooling them. As for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which only has 29 million inhabitants and whose climate is essentially desert, the bursting of black gold was the trigger for enrichment (which could be seized, under the effect of a lasting drop in oil prices), the Saudi Kingdom having until then been, in the long run, the world’s leading oil producer.

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Figure 2.3. Quantities of energy received on the ground in relation to solar radiation (in watts per square meter). The green line indicates the average latitude of the Northern Hemisphere PR+ capitals located in temperate rzones, and the red line indicates that of the 20 PR– capitals (source: Mino76, CCBY). Average data 1991–1993 (available at: www.ez2c.de/ml/solar_land_area). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

COMMENT ON FIGURE 2.3.– The change in the Earth’s position in relation to the Sun has a significant influence on the energy received by the ground, and therefore on the climate, without, however, fundamentally disrupting the most and least irradiated areas. In the category “rich oil States that can afford an artificially temperate indoor climate through air conditioning”, there is, like Saudi Arabia, a group of small States located in torrid areas which have not been selected as PR+ due to their small size and/or low population. Qatar stands out among these States, a country whose GDP at PPP in 2014 was the highest in the world ($146,000). As for Malaysia, it is a State whose population is close to that of Saudi Arabia; bordered by two very prosperous mini-States, Singapore (financial center) and Brunei (oil sultanate); located in the heart of the area benefiting fully from globalization, through maritime traffic; with natural resources (second largest palm oil producer, tenth largest gas reserves in the world, second largest liquefied gas producer, third largest tin producer); with a powerful industry (the country aims to be a leader in

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high technology); and with a dynamic tourism sector that constitutes the country’s second source of income. And to conclude, in Malaysia, a nation with a hot and humid climate, it is important to know that, surprisingly, people often get cold on the buses due to excessive air conditioning. The two exceptions are therefore in line with the rule, since Saudi Arabia and Malaysia are trying to eliminate their solar energy overflow by “air-conditioning most places in the country”, thanks to their high income levels. These two countries seem, in fact, to represent two models of “rapid gain prosperity”: a first model, that of Saudi Arabia, benefiting from a predominant position compared to a major nonrenewable resource (oil); and a second model, that of Malaysia, built on very good economic development in a variety of sectors ranging from agriculture to services, including underground wealth and advanced industry. Let us return for a moment to the issue of oil and gas wealth: this factor of prosperity – fragile because it is linked to world oil prices – which propels the torrid country of Saudi Arabia into the PR+ group, also propels a rather cold country, Russia, which would not be part of the PR+ countries if its GDP at PPP, half that of Saudi Arabia, were not one-third plentiful due to fossil fuel production (Russia’s sensitivity to oil and gas prices has led to the fact that this country has no longer been part of the PR+ group since 2015–2016, following the drastic fall in prices). To complete the analysis of factors of prosperity, let us examine which countries have a population of more than 10 million and an area of 20,000 km2, including: GDP at PPP is the closest to that of Bangladesh, i.e. the “least poor” of the PR– states ($3,100); and whose capital is located between 35.7° and 55.7° north latitude, i.e. in the area where the capital of the PR+ nations are located. These countries, which can be considered as “less prosperous than expected”, are: Uzbekistan (capital: Tashkent; latitude: 41.3° N; GDP at PPP: $5,600) and Ukraine (capital: Kiev; latitude: 50.5° N; GDP at PPP: 8,700 $). If the minimum population threshold of 10 million is not taken into account, the other two “less prosperous nations than expected” are: Kyrgyzstan (capital: Bishkek; latitude: 42.7° N: GDP at PPP: $3,300) and Moldova (capital: Chișinău; latitude: 47° N; GDP at PPP: $5,000). Finally, the four countries that are less wealthy than expected (total population: 83 million inhabitants) have one thing in common: they are all young States that were part of the Soviet Union and that chose, when the USSR was dissolved in 1991, not to join the new Russian Federation and to become independent. Thus, a cyclical factor of non-prosperity of States would be associated, if the Russian case is significant, with the creation of new nations, following the cutting of the apron strings with their communist motherland; and this, without perhaps these new and ex-communist States possessing the assets, the financial and/or economic levels of organization and/or the economic dynamism which could have enabled them to supplement the harmful consequences of the break-up, having been the basis of their birth.

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2.2. More comfortable in the cold than in the heat If, for States, the (or a) major factor of prosperity is being located in a temperate zone, and not in an area receiving a high dose of energy due to solar radiation, how could this factor behave? To try to answer this, it is probably necessary to refer to the notion of thermal comfort, which corresponds to a state of satisfaction manifested in sapiens when the ambient air and the body are in a state of thermal equilibrium or close to this state; and that the body does not need to activate, to maintain its central temperature (~ 37°C) and optimize the cellular reactions essential to its functioning, palliative mechanisms for evacuation or heat production, associated with more or less unpleasant sensations (shivering, sweating, tachycardia). The sensation of thermal satisfaction, which depends on the individual’s level of activity, sensitivity and acclimatization, is conditioned by the temperature of the environment and, to a lesser degree, by the humidity and speed of air. And this satisfaction seems to constitute, along with food and water satiety, as well as the absence of pain, one of the most necessary sensations for a human’s well-being. Thus, conditions implying that sapiens feel thermally comfortable can only allow them to put their physical and intellectual potential into play and express it. The thermal balance [PAR 14; SOM 13] is bounded, like any good balance, by a lower limit, that which is “too cold”, and by an upper limit, that which is “too hot”. Within or beyond these limits, the human brain must put in place regulations (based, in particular, on the dilation of blood vessels, which significantly helps to release excess heat); this is after receiving electrical signals from thermoreceptors (hot and cold detectors) and nociceptors (burning and icy detectors), corresponding to nerve endings. Thus, the brain (more precisely, the hypothalamus neurons specialized in sensitivity to cold or heat) acts as a thermostat whose cursor moves, according to needs, towards thermogenesis (more heat produced) or towards thermolysis (dissipation of excess heat). An adult Homo sapiens is relatively able to protect him/herself from discomforts and troubles related to cold, which he/she is partially adapted to thanks to cutaneous vasoconstriction, which slows down heat loss. Moreover, through reactivity to environmental changes, humans have formerly equipped themselves with means of resistance to cold that no other species has possessed, first and foremost the ability to make fire (discovered more than 800,000 years ago) and the ability to maintain it (and thus create heat to warm the body and food, and save masticatory and digestive energy, while developing food diversity and pleasure). More than 170,000 years ago, humans also acquired clothing based on fur and wool adapted to cold conditions [KIT 03]; and in addition, humans learned to exchange heat from body to body, as well as to build protective habitats (huts and tents) and to use the protection against wind and cold precipitation provided by rock shelters (Figure 2.4).

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Moreover, sapiens, thanks to their ability to use physical potential to warm up, improve living conditions through hunting and habitat improvement, and modulates diet by increasing the level of ingestion – to better resist cooling – being quite well-equipped against cold environmental conditions. These are supposed to have anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, calming the brain and promoting restorative sleep. Nevertheless, the human baby is very sensitive to the cold, which can be a significant factor in infant mortality. As for the possibilities offered to human beings to protect themselves against the consequences (cramps, blackouts, exhaustion) of recurrent heat, they appear more limited than those that allow them to keep out of the cold; even if sapiens have a rather remarkable capacity to cool their bodies during exertion by skin evapotranspiration of water, thanks to: the high density (150–350 per cm2) of their sweat glands, known as “eccrines”, which are thus compatible with a high level of sweating; and a hairless body which accelerates perspiration [LEL 15]. In addition to sweating and dilating vessels to release heat and staying in the shade in a ventilated habitat, like the Iranian “wind towers” (Figure 2.4), slowing down one’s activity, wearing loose clothing, drinking and moderating food intake are solutions for humans to mitigate the consequences of high heat. Nevertheless, these solutions are in line, for the most part and if we place ourselves in everyday life and not for exploitation, with a reduction of activity as well as a life that makes it uncomfortable to carry out tasks (costly in terms of energy; requiring a high level of social interactivity; or requiring unrestricted movement in the environment). The only real way for sapiens to escape the constraints of a hot atmosphere and to perform well in this environment is through air conditioning (Figure 2.4), which only began to become popular in the 1960s. However, it is at the scale of the depths of time that the least prosperous and most prosperous temperate inter-tropical States have been formed, as well as “average prosperity countries”. These are found to be, given their central position in the list of countries ranked according to their growing GDP at PPP: Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and China (GDP to PPP: $11,500–13,500; total population: 1,430 million inhabitants). Among these maritime countries and those endowed with a beautiful variety of climates (and neither African nor European), the powerful and cold Humboldt marine current crosses the coasts of the first three, even though they are intertropical. This is a current which is synonymous, in addition to freshness, with high fish productivity linked to upwelling of cold water, rich in nutrients and resulting from the decomposition of marine organisms (the areas concerned by this upwelling cover 3% of the ocean surface and provide a quarter of the fishing catch). As for China, partially located in tropical areas and whose GDP, which is constantly increasing, should still increase significantly, its capital is located in a region far from the Tropic of Cancer. Thus, the city of Beijing (the “capital of the North”) enjoys, at a latitude (39.9° N) close to that of Washington, a pleasant average temperature (13°C), the same as that of Paris. Freshness, did you say freshness?

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Figure 2.4. Top: prehistoric Castanet rock shelter; middle: “wind towers” from Yazd; bottom: air-conditioned hotel (sources, from top to bottom: Father Igor, CCBY; Jacques Barnouin; Dean Moriarty, CCBY)

Despite human beings’ ability to adapt to heat, the constraint represented for them by living in a caloric environment can become a disadvantage that is difficult to overcome at a societal level, especially if this constraint is spread over a very large

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number of generations (thus, some 500 generations of sapiens have succeeded each other since the beginning of the era of civilizations and the corresponding global warming). In this regard, studies linking temperature and physical performance have shown that the shortest running times for the 42.195 km marathon were when the temperatures were at 10°C for women and 6°C for men. Indeed, men, whose running speed is 10% faster than women, are therefore subjected to a more radical thermal stress and must therefore run at a lower temperature than women to escape the constraints of thermoregulation. High humidity also has an impact on the performance of marathon runners [FRA 16a], a fact that makes it clear that hot and humid atmospheres are the least conducive to human activity. Indeed, a high level of humidity hinders sweat escaping and tends to increase the temperature felt, and thus fuels discomfort. Nevertheless, the temperature, which clearly appears to be linked to the percentage of marathon runners dropping out of the race, seems to be the major limiting factor of performance [ELH 12]. Thus, runners who are not part of the hypertrained elite should not run the marathon beyond a perceived temperature of 20.5°C. The muscular and mental components of labor productivity are, like sporting performance, altered by heat. In particular, the precision criteria for performing a task (number of errors or omissions) are deteriorated in a hot environment (> 30°C), compared to a temperate environment (18°C); and from 26°C onwards, humans are faced with dexterity problems, the impact of which can nevertheless be limited via adaptation. However, humans need not only their muscles, bones, heart and lungs to be resistant to stress and remain active, but also their brains. It is still in operation and its optimal functioning is obviously essential to lucidity and to the ability to make judgments and decisions. Thus, like a personal computer, the Homo sapiens brain, very sensitive to ambient temperature, must be ventilated and cooled to function effectively. Indeed, a human neuron produces 20 times more heat than another type of cell and the sapiens brain, which corresponds to 2% of human body mass consumes 25% of the glucose used by the human body [MRO 12], and in return generates 16% of the energy produced by the human body at rest. Moreover, each of us has undoubtedly had the opportunity to feel the satisfaction of walking in a lightly windy environment, body covered and head bare, at a temperature of around 11–15°C; and has experienced, on the contrary, the inconvenience, if not the burden, associated with high heat, which can become unbearable during exertion. This is in line with the conclusions of a modeling study that indicated that a temperature of 13°C appears optimal to ensure the productivity of States and that global warming could lead to a 23% reduction in human income by 2100, compared to a situation where there is no warming [BUR 15]  – this, possibly in connection with psychological stimulation related to exposure to cold, which acts via a modification of the secretion of norepinephrine, a compound released in the adrenal glands and acting as a powerful neurotransmitter [DON 06; LEP 08].

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2.3. Delights of thermal comfort Many thermal comfort guidelines have been issued in Western countries, related to housing and work environments. In France, the air temperature considered optimal in an office (for a humidity of 50% and an air velocity of 0.1 meters per second) is 20–22°C, a figure that drops to 16–18°C for workshops with average physical activity and 14–16°C for workshops requiring high physical activity. In Switzerland, the recommended temperatures in residential housing range from 12°C for stairs to 22°C for bathrooms. In North America, the maximum temperatures considered comfortable in the office by 80% of the population generally range from 24°C in winter with a humidity of 60% to 28°C in summer with a humidity of 30%. Finally, in Japan, the recommended temperature for the room is only 12°C, but the recommendation rises to 22°C close to the body, thanks in particular to the use of electric mattresses. Temperatures useful to humans in carrying out the tasks involved in their existence can finally be considered as ranging from a minimum of 6°C (marathon) to a maximum of 28°C (office work in summer in dry weather), with an average value of 17°C. The city of Lyon, the second most populated French city, is located at the middle latitude (45.7° N) of the PR+ capitals of the northern temperate zone. Ottawa, the capital of Canada, is the capital of the PR+ whose latitude (45.2° N) is closest to this average. Thus, it is instructive to see how the temperatures of these two cities compare with the optimal values for human activities. Concerning Lyon and Ottawa (Tables 2.1 and 2.2): no minimum or maximum monthly norm appears to exceed 28°C; five minimum monthly temperatures are below 6°C in Lyon, compared to seven minimum and five maximum monthly temperatures in Ottawa (mean annual temperatures: 12.5°C in Lyon and 6.4°C in Ottawa). Amounts of precipitation, 830 mm in Lyon and 910 mm in Ottawa, are fairly well distributed over the year in both control cities, with a minimum monthly value of 44.1 mm and a maximum of 98.6 mm. The climate associated with the average latitude of the PR+ in the temperate zone appears, compared to that of Lyon and Ottawa, to be perfectly compatible with thermal comfort on the “too hot” side, while requiring adequate heating and clothing during the coldest months (note: there is no standard minimum working temperature). Speaking of cold, the city of Ottawa, which is almost at the same latitude as Lyon, has a harsher climate than “the Gaul capital” (five monthly minimum temperatures are below 0°C in Ottawa vs. none in Lyon). In the case of Ottawa, westerly winds, originating in America from the northwest direction, as well as the Labrador Current, contribute to cooling the part of Canada where the federal capital is located. However, westerly winds from south-western Europe, and to a lesser extent the Gulf Stream (warm current from the Gulf of Mexico), soften the climate

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in western European countries, including the city of Lyon [SEA 06]. Moreover, none of the PR– African countries with a maritime outlet is affected by one of the cold currents, known as Benguela or the Canaries, which border the African coasts. In addition, for the four African States with more than 10 million inhabitants and 20,000 km2 (Angola, Morocco, Namibia and South Africa; total population: 126 million inhabitants), whose coasts are at least partially licked by a cold current, their GDP at average PPP ($9,230) is 4.9 times higher than that of the nine States whose coastlines do not have any cold currents. Finally, the five prosperous countries, not PR+ given their small size, that are European and whose capitals are closest to the pole, namely, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, have a particularly high average GDP at PPP ($49,130), which is 35% higher than the average GDP at PPP of the PR+ countries. Normal month in Lyon

Minimum temperature (°C)

Maximum temperature (°C)

Precipitation level (mm)

January

0.3

6.4

47.2

February

1.1

8.4

44.1

March

3.8

13.0

50.4

April

6.5

16.3

74.9

May

10.7

20.8

90.8

June

14.1

24.6

75.6

July

16.6

27.7

63.7

August

16.0

27.2

62.0

September

12.5

22.7

87.5

October

9.3

17.4

98.6

November

4.3

10.8

81.9

December

1.6

7.1

55.2

Table 2.1. Monthly seasonal averages in Lyon (in blue: temperatures below 6°C). For a color version of this table, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

The average annual temperature of the capitals of the PR+ countries is 12°C if we only consider the PR+ of the temperate zone, and 13.6°C if we include Saudi Arabia and Malaysia in the calculation, while the same temperature rises to 22°C in the 20 capitals of the PR– countries. The atmosphere is therefore about 10°C warmer in the capitals of the PR– versus those of the PR+, which represents a considerable gap, one that generally involves: adequate thermal and cerebral-muscular comfort in

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the PR+  countries, and caloric discomfort and optimal non-enhancement of human potential in the PR– countries. Normal month in Ottawa

Minimum temperature (°C)

Temperature maximum (°C)

Precipitation level (mm)

January

– 14.8

– 5.8

64.2

February

–12.7

– 3.4

51.6

March

–7.0

2.5

64.9

April

1.0

11.6

67.7

May

7.5

19.0

81.0

June

12.9

24.1

91.2

July

15.5

26.5

88.9

August

14.3

25.3

87.6

September

9.6

19.8

86.8

October

3.3

12.7

79.1

November

– 2.4

5.4

77.0

December

– 10.1

– 2.3

74.1

Table 2.2. Monthly seasonal averages in Ottawa (in blue: temperatures below 6°C). For a color version of this table, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

Therefore, there seems to be a fundamental advantage for a country: to be subjected to moderate solar radiation, or even low solar radiation; and to have a maritime front, if possible equipped with a current that provides freshness. The benefit of a maritime outlet appears to be linked, in addition to climatic features (cooling-warming), to the development of exchanges of goods and ideas resulting from the development of ports and maritime lines, a characteristic that is one of the keys to a nation’s prosperity, such as being crossed by navigable rivers and being located in an area that is in direct contact with the main world trade routes. However, such benefits turn into disadvantages in countries that do not meet these criteria and that are, moreover, difficult to access (landlocked, mountainous). If the inhabitants of areas with thermal comfort experience their lives to be more at ease, their productivity boosted and their country’s attractiveness improved (entrepreneurial, tourist and residential investments from prosperous countries), then these advantages also seem to have positive resonances in domestic animals.

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In this regard, the case of the cow (Bos taurus), a domesticated animal that has played a major role in societal development, deserves to be considered. Indeed, no animal other than the cow (whose ancestor, the auroch, would have been prized prey in prehistoric times) can offer mankind as much: milk and meat for nutrition (protein, energy, minerals and vitamins); leather and horn for comfort and work; fertilizer for crops; and, like the horse, muscle strength (draft cattle combine power, docility and resistance). However, in terms of thermoregulation, cows are better able to withstand the cold than the hot; and like marathon runners, the more milk they produce – and therefore heat – due to the increase in their metabolism, the more they have to live at low temperatures to live up to their productive potential. Thus, if adult cattle (thermal neutrality zone: –5°C to 20°C) can tolerate a temperature of –15°C (or even much lower), cows may see their milk production decline from 21 to 22°C, and from 19 to 20°C for the most productive; moreover, thermal stress seems to influence fertility, which tends to decrease in dairy cows at 30°C [BON 11]. In sapiens, thermal comfort ultimately tends to promote the ability to integrate in their environment in harmony and freedom, as well as to enrich their brain experience and emotional palette. Moreover, children subjected to living conditions that limit their interactions with the environment tend to be confronted with cognitive issues [PER 80], as our brains and genes only function at their optimum through sustained relationships with the natural and social environment in which our body develops. At the biological level, the mechanisms underlying the inconveniences caused by an overheated life are linked to the many regulations that the organism, as a “survival factory”, must operate to perpetuate its functioning. More specifically, it can be argued that the more intense the demands for regulation at organism level, the more likely it is that integrity will be threatened. Indeed, body regulations, including thermoregulation, require: mobilizations of energy; electric activities; transmembrane passages of ions, neurotransmitters and hormones; and variations in vessel diameter and heart rate. Any phenomena that, if chronically hyperactivated, can affect health. Indeed, the chronic hyper-regulation situations experienced by thermo-stressed Homo sapiens could alter: the neurons (excitotoxicity mechanism)3; the vessels (loss of elasticity); and the ability to resist aggression (immune deficit). This is similar to the consequences of chronic heat stress observed in sheep (fetal growth delay), chickens (reduced egg shell strength and reduced egg laying) or pigs (disruption of hepatic protein synthesis and reduction in liver weight) [CUI 16]. These phenomena are not surprising, considering that a too frequent or intense

3 Excitotoxicity is a pathological process leading to the alteration and destruction of neurons, through their over-stimulation and the entry into these same neurons of high concentrations of calcium resulting in impaired mitochondrial function.

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demand for regulation indicates that the organism is placed in a situation incompatible with the living conditions for which it is genetically programmed. As we have seen, it is the thermoregulation provided by the hypothalamus that is the body’s priority regulation, after the regulation of the liquid medium (vessel filling and electrolyte balance of the blood), which is also under the control of the hypothalamus [SAP 14]. Just like pain, appetite – or even adaptation to stress [HER 16] – with which thermoregulation has biological and vocabulary parallels, through the notion of “thermal stress”. In children, this stress is also considered, following repeated thermal exposure, to be detrimental to the attention and development of learning faculties, which appear to be disrupted following this exposure, through a lack of social interaction and a poor quality of sleep [RIN 06]. An intensive demand for organic regulations that would be linked, for example, to frequent thermoregulation needs, could also compete with the quality of decisionmaking regulations performed in the prefrontal lobe of the cerebral cortex. Yet which lobe, highly developed in humans, would be the area in which thought is materialized (and an area whose functioning appears to be connected to that of the hypothalamus)? Thus, our difficulty in making decisions or concentrating could result in particular from an exacerbated or too frequent implementation, in connection with a climate far from our comfort zone, of thermal regulation processes. In this context, the fact that too many metabolic resources are allocated to thermoregulation would lead to a reduction, through a kind of competitive process, of our vigilance and understanding. But, in addition to the direct effects of inadequate temperature on the physiology of Homo sapiens, what other consequences could a high caloric atmosphere have on prosperity? 2.4. Temperate life Traveling through our thoughts, one encounters at many crossroads the common sense-based idea that climate influences human activity. As far as we know from the debates that have stirred humanity in this matter, it was Hippocrates, a native of Kos (a Greek island with a climate blessed by the gods) who first discussed, 2,400 years ago, the influence of climate on mankind. But the theory of climates, put forward by Hippocrates in On Airs, Waters and Places, then by Jean Bodin in the 16th Century or by Montesquieu in the 18th Century, has been met by considerations with a supremacist tendency. Thus, Montesquieu stated in The Spirit of the Laws: “You will find in the northern climates peoples who have few vices, enough virtues, and as much sincerity and frankness.” As for Hegel, the last thinker to allude to climate theory at the beginning of the 19th Century, he professed the idea that “only people

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living in the temperate climate zone had the opportunity to make history, while all others should remain excluded, because only the temperate zone should serve as a stage for the performance of the history of the world” [PIN 89]. Taking a walk through PR+, PR–, “average prosperity” or “less prosperity than expected” countries, could have given us the opportunity to meet, if we had had to greet all the inhabitants of these States, nearly 3,400 million human beings and 48% of the Earth’s inhabitants. The sapiens who, among these 3.4 billion individuals, live in temperate zones (like the inhabitants of the capitals of 18 of the 20 PR+ countries) could have other benefits – associated with climate – than those resulting from the action of solar radiation on their bodies. In this regard, it should first be considered that low winter temperatures contribute to limiting, in temperate countries, parasitic populations competing with animal and plant species useful to humans. Thus, the temperate climate is generally not very favorable to the development of biting insect populations, which is favored, on the contrary, by a hot (even hot and humid) environment, as most PR– countries experience. Mosquitoes are at the origin, it is necessary to recall, of the transmission of human diseases caused by viruses (chikungunya, dengue, yellow fever, hemorrhagic fever, Zika virus disease) or protozoa (malaria), or even bacteria (typhus) [DIE 15]. The global risk map of malaria, the most frequent human parasitic disease with a high infant mortality, shows the precarious situation of PR countries, all located in an area at high or moderate malaria risk, while no PR+ country is located in an at-risk area. The Zika virus disease transmitted by mosquitoes of the Aedes genus and found in tropical areas of Africa and Asia has spread to South America, where it appears to cause infections, brain growth defects and intellectual disabilities in infants. This is possibly linked, in Brazil, with an “importation of the virus” by spectators of the 2014 football World Cup. In general, infectious and parasitic diseases could induce, as in the case of suggested competitions between brain-controlled regulations, a lower energy availability for brain functioning, following an allocation of part of this energy to the immune system against viruses and parasites; an allocation that could have, when it exceeds a certain threshold, consequences on a child’s intellectual health [EPP 11]. Life in temperate zones offers advantages in terms of the development of many species of interest to humans, including for plants: a moderate temperature (compatible with the establishment of many species, a temperature that is too high or too low, limiting cultivation and yield), a moderate precipitation level and a low frequency of climatic accidents (hurricanes, cyclones). While the precipitation levels encountered at the latitude of the PR+ capitals in the temperate zone are favorable to the growth of many major plants, the winter season in the temperate climate also

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enables vernalization (cold period necessary for the germination of certain cereals). As far as temperature is concerned, it should be noted that in addition to the harmful influence on the plant of an overheated climate in the short term, the consequences of long-term excess temperatures can be added. Thus, rice yields fall by 9% per degree of increase in the average temperature above the optimum [ABR 66], and moreover, the duration of the cereal grain filling phase tends to decrease with the long-term increase in the ambient temperature. As for animals, their health is less threatened by a number of vector-borne diseases in a temperate climate, as presented in the previous paragraph with reference to humans, while their productivity is increased. And as far as migratory birds are concerned, they seem to have assimilated the climatic functioning of the planet particularly well. Thus, many of these travelers fly each year from a region located “further South” to an area located “further North” (or vice versa)  in order to optimize their supply and thermoregulation according to environmental constraints, especially those related to temperature. It should also be noted, with regard to migration, that tropical birds – non-migratory – often have a shorter life expectancy than migratory species, with a bird’s ability to adapt to temperature changes through migration appearing to be a significant asset in escaping extinction. 2.5. Time and temperature The geoclimate, in addition to being able to impact the lives of the populations and nations in which we live today, may have had an influence, depending on its major trends, on the evolution of the lineage of species that led – over time – to the emergence of Homo sapiens, then to its trajectory as a species through prehistoric times, and finally, on the conditions governing our climatic comfort. From this perspective, what could the average temperature of the planet have been when humans first appeared? Based in particular on a compilation of bibliographic sources concerning ambient temperature variations between 500 and 70 million years ago, Figure 2.5 shows, if the trends it suggests are valid, that the oldest representatives of the majority of variations of multicellular life seem to have appeared during periods when the planet was warmer than today. Thus, the average terrestrial temperature would have been 5°C higher: by 5°C above the current temperature (reference period: 1960–1990), when birds appeared; and by 13–14°C, when chordates and the Dickinsonia, which is often considered the oldest animal, emerged [BOB 18]. In fact, only sauropsids, which were kinds of large lizards, would have surfaced at a time when the global temperature was close to the one we are currently experiencing.

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Figure 2.5. Estimated global average ambient temperature (°C) when life forms appeared between 500 and 70 million years ago (deviations estimated with reference to the period 1960–1990) (source: Glen Fergus, CCBY). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

Figure 2.6, built, like Figure 2.5, from a compilation of data, aims to provide an overview of how the Earth’s average ambient temperature has changed between 65 million years ago and the current period. During this long period of living history, two major events occurred, the first of which was a massive extinction of species, known as Cretaceous-Tertiary, as a possible consequence of the fall of giant meteorites. In this regard, one of those meteorites hit the Mexican peninsula of Yucatan 66 million years ago, just before the extinction of the dinosaurs, which could have been a precipitating factor [SCH 10a]. Giant meteorites can indeed impact life, as do super-volatile eruptions [ROU 18], given their tremendous explosive power concretized by the projection into the atmosphere, from a carbonrich soil (such as that of Yucatan), of colossal quantities of soot cooling and drying the climate [KAI 17]. The topic of meteorites should therefore be considered. Let us therefore take a small detour to discuss these large stones, with regard to the survival of humanity, since, while the probability of a new collision of the Earth with one of these objects seems very low, the occurrence of such an event cannot be totally disregarded.

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The danger comes as much from its potentially harmful nature as from its very low probability, which does not encourage nations to invest much in order to protect themselves against it. In addition to the extinction phase of Cretaceous-Tertiary species (which was not the only one, the main extinction episode having occurred 252 million years ago, following extreme warming) [SON 14], the second event, indicated in Figure 2.6, concerns the appearance of the human line. The genus Homo, which appeared in Africa a little less than 3 million years ago, would therefore be more or less a “contemporary” of the emergence, also African, about 4 million years ago, of the genus Mammuthus. And following their emergence, Homo (and Mammuthus) were confronted with long episodes of cooling and warming, alternating with which they were able to cope. As for the current warming episode, let us examine this question before continuing our journey. It seems to be largely related to the increase in the concentration of gases (CO2, methane) in the atmosphere that trap heat (more precisely infrared rays emitted by the Earth, in return for the absorption of solar radiation), following intense fossil fuel use, deforestation and intensification of agriculture [MAS 15]; and to a small extent, variations in the flow of solar energy. Before the Industrial Revolution, only phenomena related to the Earth’s orbit and solar activity – in the long term – or to the variation of the Earth’s volcanic activity – in the short term – could cause fluctuations in the Earth’s ambient temperature. Thus, the main factor that would cause glaciations could be related to the decrease in summer sunstroke in regions near the North Pole, as a result of a more pronounced gradient of the Earth, reinforcing the temperature contrast between cold and warm regions [BLA 97]. As Figure 2.6 also shows, prehistoric fluctuations in ambient temperature would have been around 7–8°C, either upwards or downwards, while the increase in ambient temperature at the end of the 21st Century, compared to the 1986–2005 reference period, might “only” be 2–3°C. However, this time accompanied by pollution of the biosphere that was not seen in prehistoric times, and which therefore appears to be linked to the development of a way of life that consumes carbonaceous energy, which the increase in the world population (which could reach more than 11 billion inhabitants in 2100 [UNI 17a]) makes everything more problematic. Ultimately, the average increase in temperature that can be expected in the coming period – if stringent environmental health precautions are not taken – could lead to harmful disparities in situations between regions of the planet. This is a situation likely to lead to almost unbearable temperatures for populations in intertropical areas, starting from a difficulty in releasing an overflow of body heat [KLE 09]. Moreover, a “noxious circle”, to be avoided at all costs and which could combine degradation of terrestrial ecosystems, widespread pollution, warming and overpopulation, could lead to a major global environmental crisis around 2100 [BAR 12].

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Figure 2.6. Estimation of the planet’s average ambient temperature (°C) during the emergence and evolution phases of the genus Homo (deviations evaluated compared to the period 1960–1990) (source: Glen Fergus, CCBY). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

COMMENT ON FIGURE 2.6.– Yellow line: rather linear change in temperature; blue horizontal line: cyclic evolution of temperature; red line on the right: temperature over the last 10,000 years (extended time scale); horizontal lines and red numbers: periods of strong increase in cranial capacity of Homo erectus [1] and Homo sapiens [2]. Figure 2.6 is instructive because it suggests that the evolution of pre-human and human lines has occurred: first, during a cooling period of about 8 million years; second, in a phase of about 1 million years following, through a succession of glaciations and deglaciations, cooling and warming; and finally, during a “very short” warming phase followed by a thermal plateau, from 10,000 years ago. In total, therefore, while these assessments are adequate, it can be estimated that our great ancestors have mainly evolved in a cooling trend, even if this trend has had to be accompanied by regional variations that are difficult to understand. Another difficulty, with regard to the parameters associated with the climate that accompanied – and therefore influenced – the development of our species, is the latitude at which humans appeared, knowing that the oldest sapiens identified to date lived in North Africa, at the latitude of 31.5° North [HUB 17], which corresponds in particular to that of Jerusalem.

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More specifically, Figure 2.6 shows that between the period 6–8 million years ago [WIL 10] during which pre-human lines gradually differentiated from chimpanzees, and the period marked by the appearance of the genus Homo, the temperature would have decreased on average by 3.5°C. Between the appearance of Homo and the migration of Homo erectus from Africa, the thermal decline would have persisted, around 1.5°C further. Homo precursor primates, as well as prehumans and archaic humans, would therefore have evolved in a world in average cooling of around 5°C, before being confronted with glaciation-warming alternations marked by high and low differences in the range of 3–4 to 7°C. It is in this thermal context that the cranial capacity of humans would have developed the most, first in a phase of 1.2 million years, then over a period of some 400,000 years. Finally, millions of years of evolution in “a cooling trend” may have contributed – it is one hypothesis – to giving Homo a comfort zone focused on cool temperatures. A 5°C temperature increase, initiated “only” 12,000 years ago, would not have had time to disrupt genetic adaptation. This could also perhaps partly explain the tolerance of human brain tissue to the decrease in brain temperature and our adaptability to the cold [WAN 14]. It would therefore be, in addition to the improvement of their social interactions [YBA 08], the climatic extremes they were subjected to and the difficulties linked to their migrations, which would have allowed our ancestors to acquire some of their reflexive capacities, certainly linked to genetics, as well as shaped by the environment [SNI 17]. This is based on the starting point of a primate that is probably close to the chimpanzee, or the most intelligent terrestrial animal living after humans – an animal whose “instantaneous brain activity” may be only about 14 times lower than ours, according to a calculation based on data provided by Ursula Dicke and Gerhardt Roth [DIC 16]. Thus, chimpanzees decide, for example, when and where to eat by considering multiple factors (time, proximity to food, type of food) [HOP 15], while being able to plan the intelligent use of objects, especially to shoot down a drone in flight [VAN 15]. In addition, Daniel Naya put forward the idea, in an article entitled “Brain size and thermoregulation during the evolution of the genus Homo”, that the level of basal metabolism and the size of the brain should increase with latitude in modern humans, either by moving away from the equator and towards areas with a temperate or cold climate [NAY 16]. For his part, Michael McDaniel showed, in a study aggregating several data sets, that the more the individual human head volume increases, the more his/her IQ (intellectual quotient) would do the same [MCD 05]. Which, if we consider the value of IQ in different countries, appears to be positively associated with average GDP per capita [DIC 06], which is itself quite well associated with latitude as indicated at the beginning of Chapter 2, while the highly controversial psychologist Philippe Rushton has tried to show that the dark color of skin could be associated, in humans, with a low IQ [RUS 08]. This observation, whose racist connotation has been denounced, could be indirectly linked to the fact that the adaptation of sapiens to cold weather has proved to be of crucial importance

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in their differentiation [HUB 09]. As for the motivation to carry out IQ tests, which would vary according to societies and educational backgrounds, it could affect the results of these tests by causing a bias [LEE 11]. This should lead to cautious consideration of the conclusions of some of the studies that have just been reported. Let us continue on our path: behind primates are proboscideans, which lift their trunks, perhaps to indicate that they are in a good position, on the list of the most intelligent land animals. It is therefore the turn of the old and disappeared trunk beasts, mammoths [PAT 15], to contribute to our reflection. Indeed, if their good adaptability to the cold characterizes sapiens, this capacity has also been the result of other vertebrates. Apart from mammoths, which will be discussed below, yakut ponies, which live in Siberia in temperatures of up to –70°C, have migrated with human populations and have acclimatized perfectly, through these migrations, to the harsh Siberian environment [LIB 15].

Figure 2.7. Woolly mammoth drawn on the walls of the Rouffignac Cave, which revealed 158 representations of mammoths out of the 255 cave paintings of animals recorded on this site [PLA 00]

As for the robust mammoths, born in Africa like the hominids mentioned above, these proboscideans have shown surprising dispersive properties that have allowed their species, all descendants of the primordial African ancestor Mammuthus subplanifrons, to reach Eurasia and America via the Levant4 and the Bering Strait 4 Name given to the eastern Mediterranean corridor: located on the side where the Sun seems to rise (levare means in Latin: “to rise in the air”) and corresponding in particular to a NorthSouth coastal strip forming part of the current Israel, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. The Levant is most often assimilated to the Near East or the French “Proche Orient” (from the Latin Oriens, meaning “the rising Sun”), a term referring to the regions of Asia near the eastern borders of Europe.

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[ENK 16]. This is according to a movement pattern very similar to that of Homo migrations. A pattern that would have involved the adaptation of mammoths to Siberian temperatures through genetic mutations that mainly concerned: their glucido-lipidic metabolism; their thermoregulation; and their fur density. On this subject, the populations of Mammuthus, which would have initially declined under the effect of global warming to which these proboscideans could not have adapted well, would have died out, at least as far as the woolly mammoth Mammuthus primigenius is concerned, between 42,000 and 6,000 years ago, under the probable effect of hunting [NOG 08] and adverse genetic mutations [ROG 17] (Figure 2.7). Our journey in human development should be an opportunity, in the next chapter, after having traveled in the most remote times of our evolution, to navigate in more recent periods the existential story of the sapiens. Thus, in the course of the new phase of our scientific journey, we should witness the premises from which cultures have been forged, societies have flourished and States have been constituted.

3 Pathway of Societal Precociousness

3.1. From climate to history In addition to the thermal zone and the continent, the richness of the subsoil in hydrocarbons and the maritime position, the age of a country’s establishment therefore seems to be associated with prosperity. Would this association, highlighted with regard to nations resulting from the breakup of the USSR in 1990–1991, have a higher general value? It would seem so, if we consider that 16 of the 20 PR+ countries existed in 1900 as independent entities (with territories or affiliations that may be different from the current ones), while only 2 of the 20 PR– nations were independent at this time (cp: 16 – 2 = 14). In addition, 13 of the 16 independent PR+ countries in 1884 participated in the Berlin Conference on the Sharing of Africa that year, versus none of the 2 independent PR– countries at that time. Thus, the PR+ nations were already among the dominant powers in the mid-19th Century. It therefore seems necessary, in analyzing prosperity, to focus on the process of building human societies. In this regard, does the non-prosperity factor related to a State’s membership of the African continent depend on geoclimatic data interacting with human physiology or on historical factors? To address the issue, it is interesting to note that, of the 40 States in the world with more than 10 million inhabitants and 20,000 km2, whose capital is located in intertropical (warm) zones, 23 are located in Africa (58%), 9 in America (22%), 8 in Asia (20%) and none in Europe. Thus, the 20 PR– states should count, if the inter-tropical location of a country alone explained its low prosperity, 58% of African states, i.e. 11 or 12, instead of the 18 in the PR– group. Identically, there should be 4 or 5 American nations (instead of none) in the PR– group, 4 Asian nations (instead of 2), and no European states (which is the case). If Africa therefore seems to be predominantly penalized by its intertropical position, other factors of non-prosperity must undoubtedly impact it. It should also be noted that, unlike Africa, America appears to be less penalized than expected by its intertropical position, and Asia a

The World’s Construction Mechanism: Trajectories, Imbalances and the Future of Societies, First Edition. Jacques Barnouin. © ISTE Ltd 2020. Published by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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little less so. Finally, Europe and Oceania cannot be penalized, since none of their major capitals are located in inter-tropical areas. What other unfavorable factors can be considered, with regard to Africa’s low prosperity? First, the fact that this continent is almost closed and that the Sahara, the largest hot desert in the world, contributes to isolating most of it, compared to the trade routes that have linked or link North America, Europe and the Far East. Moreover, Africa, the most caloric continent on the planet, has a high percentage of infertile or less fertile soils. Indeed, in addition to the Sahara, which extends over nearly 9 million km2, the African continent includes a vast semi-arid zone of 3 million km2, the Sahel, whose surface layer of the soil contains only 1 to 2% organic matter (essential for the fertility and physical coherence of soil; optimal content: 3 to 4%), a characteristic that is compatible only with an agricultural survival economy. To appreciate the natural fragility of Africa it is necessary to add, to these areas, all located in the northern hemisphere, 1 million km2 of desert located in the southern hemisphere (Kalahari and Namibia deserts); in total, 13 million km2 of inhospitable land covering 42% of the continent’s surface. To complete the overview, however, it should be pointed out that the African subsoil is particularly, though unevenly, rich in subsoil resources (hydrocarbons and minerals), and that in Africa, like the rest of the world, a country with a cooler climate generally enjoys greater prosperity. Natural conditions with a dominant climatic influence therefore seem to dominate the scene to explain the low prosperity of Africa, or, conversely, the high prosperity of Europe, whose hot desert areas, mainly located in Spain, have an area of less than 800 km2 and correspond to only 0.008% of the area of the European continent. After analyzing the geographical factors that are unfavorable to Africa’s prosperity, let us finally begin to chart our course to the beginnings of history. On this subject, it should be pointed out that our route does not pretend to analyze historical facts, let alone draw up an express history of the world, but to specify, for the time being, the global framework that appears to be associated, throughout history, with the constitution of prosperous nations. As a prelude to this journey, four remarks come to mind. The first is that it seems reasonable to analyze the motivations of humans in early civilizations with the understanding that their thinking capacities were not fundamentally different from ours, even if their knowledge was very fragmentary. Indeed, the sapiens of the dawn of time possessed, like us, the SRGAP2C gene (which appeared in the human lineage 2 million years ago), a gene that appears to be involved in the multiplication of dendritic spines of neurons and neural interconnections, themselves at the root of complex strategic tasks and learning functions in humans [CHA 12]. In fact, our intelligence, defined as “a general cognitive ability” [SPE 04], will not have evolved very significantly over more than the last 30,000 years, a length of time that brings us back to the period when fabulous paintings were created, art drawn by prehistoric

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man on the walls of the Chauvet cave (Ardèche, France). Thus, based on our current way of thinking, which combines, for better and worse, individual and collective intelligence, we should be able to approach the motivations that guided our ancestors during their societal beginnings. The second remark, which counterbalances the previous one, is that we must be modest in the idea of finding the objectives of our ancestors. Indeed, the archaeological traces we have at our disposal to guide us and which constitute the seeds of our hypotheses are relatively rare, and they cannot be considered statistically significant, although they are constantly being enriched due to new discoveries. These new discoveries have tended to push back the appearance of sapiens [HUB 17], their predecessors and their close relatives, without being able to eliminate any risk of misinterpretation or bias. In this regard, for example, it is difficult to find traces of human settlements in a fluctuating delta with moisture, when such a find is within reach in stable and dry environments. In addition, certain geological conditions, such as those prevailing in the Great Rift Valley, which extends over 2,000 km in East Africa, or the fact that the conduct of excavations depends, in addition to the degree of a country’s international collaboration, on its security and prosperity, may delay or promote the discovery of archaeological evidence. For example, in the Rift Valley, the combination of tectonic, sedimentary and erosive processes has contributed to the creation and conservation of fossils, leading to a tendency to overvalue the role of the Rift in human evolution. Finally, in addition to misinterpretation, error is obviously possible in archaeology and paleogenetics (study of fossil DNA), in relation to the risk of degradation of human DNA or the risk of contamination of ancient DNA by modern DNA [GEI 15]. The third remark is that the evolution of human practices, as reflected in the reflections of anthropologists and archaeologists, must be seen as a progressive phenomenon, in contrast to any idea of a drastic change or an almost revolutionary transition from one era to another. As for the last remark, it consists of reminding us that the aim, during this journey, is to approach the historical component of development and not to turn ourselves into anthropological apprentices or pseudo-archaeologists (a remark similar to the one made about history), even if it is to these researchers that we will have to turn for an exhaustive view of the facts that we will approach while trying to avoid major errors of interpretation. Before going back to the first human organizations and examining the conditions for establishing their societal achievements, it may be useful to look at the ways in which Homo sapiens act when confronted, through innate functioning and behavioral flexibility, with the need for adaptation and evolution, such as those faced by our ancestors when they dispersed throughout the world. In fact, the adaptation strategies that can be developed by humans appear to be based, and

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this idea is fairly easily imposed, on three main types of attitudes: imitation1, optimization and innovation. To assess the resonance of these terms, they were inserted in 2016 in a browser, and the corresponding query was launched; this resulted in a doctoral thesis in artificial intelligence entitled Optimization, imitation and innovation: Computational intelligence and games [TOG 07] first and in a book entitled Les secrets des entrepreneurs de la Silicon Valley [VIL 15a] second, which deals with the success of Californian start-ups. The fact that these three terms – imitation, optimization and innovation – seem to be able to both describe the relationship of cutting-edge computer research and judge the relevance of an advanced entrepreneurial approach seems to provide a kind of credit to them, with reference to the qualities associated with the emergence of human societies. Imitation, placed by Aristotle [ARI 84b] at the heart of culture, theorized by René Girard in “mimetic desire” [RAM 10] and whose biological basis would be “neuron mirrors” [MUK 10], is used by sapiens to: blend into the ways of a group of which they are members (the family, the clan); in which they want to integrate (the nation, the school of thought); that they want to penetrate (the opponent, the nomenklatura); or even benefit from ideas conceived by innovators. The imitation mechanism could be driven by conservation genes capable of inducing behaviors a priori without risk, i.e. reproducing ways of doing things that have enabled sapiens to maintain themselves without major damage in their environment. As for optimization, it generally takes the form of seeking economies of scale and of means of transport inclined towards a preference for fast transport and short travel; the most suitable direct food collection routes and the best places in queues. The other type of optimization to the assets of our brain machine concerns the improvement of the existing system by means of microevolutions (“hacks”) intended in particular to save time and money and create comfort. Finally, the capacity for innovation, often considered as the most advanced form of human intelligence [SAW 11], involves making a conceptual leap in a field of application, or in a generic way: hence, the eureka uttered without restraint by the innovator when he finally reaches the inaccessible. As for our more or less constant search for optimization, a practice that could, in addition to our imitation capabilities, be part of a highly sophisticated survival strategy embedded in our genes, it must be one of the factors explaining the success of our species. Thus, the ultra-adaptive capacities with which evolution has furnished us encourage us: to increase our capacities by logic and imagination (this is our brilliant side) and to accumulate goods and powers without any necessity (this is our problematic side), i.e. when we are already relatively over-endowed. 1 Imitation is involved in the notions of custom, the diffusion of progress, habit (“self-imitation”), fashion, ritual or even the gold rush.

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The counterpart of our accumulative propensities is that, in the event of a major economic and/or political disruption, they could lead to the disintegration of humanity, following the outbreak of unreasonable conflicts between over- and under-satisfied sapiens, as well as the decline in the solidarity on which human societal functioning is based. Would life have arrived, with sapiens and its sophistication capable of eventually turning against itself, at the end of its ability to maintain the balances on which living is based? Whatever the successful aspects of the sapiens – or, on the contrary, the shortcomings of their mental driving force – we must remember that our species is characterized, like others, by a sum of evolutionary traits that shape behavior, in this case the fact that we are: mammals; homeotherms; omnivores, broad spectrum predator-hunters [CAU 98]; bipeds; and primates genetically related to Pan paniscus (the bonobo) and Pan troglodytes (the common chimpanzee). These are two species whose divergence of nucleotide sequences in their DNA with ours (considering the sequences present within the DNA of the three species) is only 1.2 to 1.7% [FEN 01]; although it is now estimated that the complexity of the human transcriptome (replica of genes included in cells, which allows them to make proteins) cannot be analyzed in a relevant way from the observation of simple analogies or simple proximities with other species [MAZ 18]. In this regard, in addition to chimpanzees, gorillas seem to have a strong genetic proximity to our species, since the Y chromosome of the sapiens (which induces masculinization) appears closer, in terms of nucleotide sequences, to that of the gorilla than it is to the Y chromosome of the common chimpanzee [TOM 16]. 3.2. Original migrations What, then, could be a relationship between the beginnings of humanity and the prosperity of the nations? To answer this question, which is relevant for some researchers [ASH 13], let us start at the beginning. From their presumed African birth zone(s), which went from North Africa [SAH 18] to South Africa [RIT 19] via Central Africa, the walking qualities and plastic spirit of Homo (habilis, erectus, sapiens, etc.) could only carry them, more or less hazardously, in all directions. Indeed, our ancestors did not have objective information that could lead them to prefer, for specific reasons, one migration direction to another, in order to ensure their survival. In their concern to save resources, our predecessors could only prefer, in order to orient their movements, plains, valleys, sea shores and navigable rivers, with steep reliefs, furious torrents and dense forests. Moreover, when rivers are powerful and well fed, they allow a human group to move without too much effort at a speed of 1 to 4 km per hour (i.e. to travel 1,000 km in 100 days) on an archaic tree trunk or raft.

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In this respect, three river basins could be useful to our ancestors: those of the Congo and the Niger, which flow, after 4,700 and 4,200 km, into the Atlantic, an ocean that represents a barrier that makes extra-African migration almost impossible; and that of the Nile and its 6,700 km, which flows northward and leads, from Central East Africa, to the land gate of Africa. To this easy migratory route, we must add, as another major possible way out: following the Mediterranean coast, which makes it possible, from Morocco to Egypt, to exfiltrate, without excessive effort, from the African continent by its natural outcome in an easy way. To this we must add the crossing of the Red Sea, or even the Mediterranean, via the very dangerous Strait of Gibraltar [GIB 16] or via the Tunisian–Libyan coast and Sicily, routes involving exfiltration paths too difficult to undertake, except for adventurous groups not put off by maritime hazards. Apart from the tendency towards dispersion that characterizes living in search of sustainability, the mental and technical progress of sapiens (in particular, those made around 80,000 BCE) [MEL 06] and the aspirational-attractive effect of the narrow (10–20 km wide) and lush Nile valley, a celestial reality may have helped to attract humans – or other Homo before them – to the North, regardless of their starting point. This reality is the North Star, which can be seen by its brilliance throughout the northern hemisphere and which, given its position close to the Earth’s axis of rotation, seems motionless to its observers. Even if the northern indicator star was probably not, in prehistoric times, the one we know (Alpha Ursae Minoris, in the constellation of the Little Dipper), then a star had to play this role (perhaps it was Beta Ursae Minoris, also located in the Little Dipper). The North Star could only fascinate our prehistoric cousins, for whom the night sky must have been a central object of observation, attraction and questioning. Moreover, it is around celestial objects, the sun, moon, planets, stars and conjunctions of stars that many divinities and religious symbols have been born, as everyone knows. This is true of the Sumerians (whose pantheon includes An, the sky god, Utu, the sun god, Nanna, the moon god, and Inanna, the goddess Venus), the Egyptians, the Aztecs, the Chinese (for whom the North Star was enthroned in the center of heaven) and the Levant populations (according to the New Testament, it is a star that led the Magi to Bethlehem to the Infant Jesus). The North Star may therefore have been a point of attraction that made the direction, it seems to suggest, a migration path for human clans in search of prosperity. While much later, serving, navigators to direct their night courses, like the Phoenicians, fabulous merchant sailors from present-day Lebanon, who were guided by Beta Ursae Minoris (the Romans’ Stella Phoenicia). Regardless of the indicative virtues of the North Star, the fact of dispersion in Africa – or leaving it – would not be, for Homos, the result of a constructed strategy, but especially the result of chance. Thus, the populations that migrated outside

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Africa – or remained there – both were constitute representative samples of their species, and as such, they endowed with comparable capacities for reflection and imagination. Thus, major innovations, such as bone processing, grinding, harpoons, long-distance trade and the use of aquatic resources – and perhaps also the beginnings of domestication and agriculture – would have first appeared in Africa, particularly in Upper Egypt (Nabta Playa site) and the Nile Valley, before spreading around the world [MAC 00; WEN 02], and it would be the sapiens from Levant, following their departure from Africa, who would have introduced into Europe, by transporting them through their migrations, stone tools hitherto unknown on this continent [BOS 15]. To leave Africa and achieve the first globalization [BOI 11], like the sapiens between 220,000 and 50,000 years ago [HER 18] – and other Homo well before them, perhaps 2 million years ago – we can only use, if we favor the land route, as we can imagine our ancestors did, a 150 km strip of land located east of the Nile delta: a band that links the Red Sea to the Mediterranean (Figure 3.1). It is likely that the evolved Homo, as a walking species, would have generally preferred the simplicity of a pedestrian passage to maritime routes, particularly through the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb. Even if this route seems quite feasible [BED 03], insofar as it seems that sapiens sailed on the Pacific Ocean as early as 45,000 BCE [ALL 03] and that Homo floresiensis drifted in the Indian Ocean 800,000 years ago [PIC 17]. Moreover, the exit via the Red Sea was quite easy at the time when the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait was only 5 km wide [FER 06], under the effect of the last glaciation and a significant drop of more than 100 m in sea level [BIT 08]. In addition, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, which is divided in two by a volcanic island, is only 200 km from the Ethiopian site of Hadar, which is considered the birthplace of human adventure since the discovery of the skeleton of “Lucy” on this site (Australopithecus afarensis) [JOH 76], which is seen by some researchers as belonging to an individual of an ancestral species of the genus Homo. Nevertheless, genetic studies [PAG 15], although constrained by the fact that they can only rely on DNA analysis of modern populations [LÓP 15], have shown pertinently that Egypt seems to have been the predominant exit route for sapiens outside Africa; this is because current Egyptians are the African population genetically closest to Eurasians and Europeans, unlike Ethiopians. Other research has indicated [MEL 12], based on a genetic methodology less specific than that of Pagani, that the Babel-Mandeb Strait would also have been an exit route from Africa to Arabia and India. Therefore, according to current knowledge: priority is affirmed to Egypt as the main exit route for sapiens, through the work of Pagani and the conclusions of a previous study [LUI 04], but not rejecting the Ethiopian hypothesis and the crossing of the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait (Figure 3.1).

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Figure 3.1. Areas of appearance of Homos and their precursors and directions of the main exit routes from Africa of Homos (black arrows), namely: land exit, at the current Suez channel, and sea exit, via the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait (between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/ construction.zip

COMMENT ON FIGURE 3.1.– The red zones (1, 2, 3) locate possible Homo birthplace areas. The green zone (4) is the region of the oldest presumed hominid (Sahelanthropus tchadensis)[BRU 02]. Number 5 (yellow) indicates the presence, 250 km as the crow flies from the region of the oldest Homo sapiens (zone 1)[HUB 17], of the oldest pseudo-ape in Africa (Altiatlasius koulchii, 56 million years old)[SIG 90]. Zone 6 corresponds to the main current habitats of the apes genetically closest to humans (chimpanzees and gorillas). 3.3. The corridor effect The many waves of representatives of the human line who migrated out of their continent of origin, following their aspiration by the Nile or after having traveled along the coast of North Africa, must have been inclined to rush straight into, for a significant number of them – at least 200,000 years ago for sapiens [HER 18] and more than 800,000 years ago for erectus – a second area, that of the Levant (width 20–80 km, length 900 km) (Figure 3.2). A corridor area bordered on the left

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by the Mediterranean Sea and its welcoming coasts and on the right by a more or less steep relief and arid plateaus. When a human flow entered the Levant pipe and sank into it, it settled there either nomadically or by occupying caves; it pushed northward and spread throughout the world; it could not survive due to glaciation [LÓP 15] or it eventually returned in its tracks. As a result of the diversified flows of Homo that took it, the narrow corridor of the Levant and its annexes could only become: zones of social interaction (meetings, exchanges, co-constructions); places for the human project to mature and early kinds of “cultural bubbles”. This was with “a speed” that very few other geographical configurations would have made it possible to promote. In addition to sapiens, erectus and others have left their mark on the Levant, according, in particular, to the findings of the excavations carried out at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov (Figure 3.2), a site in the Jordan Valley that has revealed archaeological evidence of complex cognitive abilities (axes, scrapers, mincers), as well as signs of fire use and animal remains (fallow deer, elephants, gazelles, rhinoceroses, fish, rabbits, hyraxes, small mammals) and edible plants (wild grapes, water chestnuts, prickly water lilies, bulrushes, oaknuts, wild beets, wild pistachios, wild olives, plums, jujube) [GOR 04].

Figure 3.2. The Levant Pipe (green star: site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqove, Israel) (source: Google Maps (base map)). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

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The Levant corridor must also have been one of the places where the two most intelligent Homo, undoubtedly shaped by evolution, met, or even hybridized, on the one hand, Homo sapiens and, on the other hand, Homo neanderthalensis; which died out 40,000 years ago, after leaving us a small part of its genome [LÓP 15], and whose fossils have been found in sites in Israel and Palestine. Moreover, dating back at least 30,000 years ago or much more, according to Pascal Picq [PIC 17], the sapiens that rushed from Egypt into the Levantine corridor were supposed, as discussed above, to have had a level of intelligence relatively comparable to ours. Thus, a long time ago, an armada of sapiens had to be able to thread into the corridor of the Near East, in order to develop active communities there, as soon as favorable conditions existed there. Among prehistoric humans, such conditions could only correspond, to a large extent, to a climate favorable to their well-being, through moderate temperatures and rainfall and the corresponding amenities of life. However, these conditions seem to have been established 20,000 years ago, with the end of the last ice age and the onset of warming, in the order of 5 to 6°C, which brought the global temperature, over 8,000 years, after cyclical phases, to values close to those of the 1960–1990 period, with the “last warming” episode that started around –11,000 to –12,000. Thus, around –18,000, a strong aridity would have settled in Sudan and Egypt, while the Levant would have been relatively protected, thanks to a wet episode occurring between –18,000 and –15,000 [CAU 98]. This episode, which was reportedly followed between –14,000 and –8,000 by three periods of increased humidity [AKI 07], seems to have caused the installation, in areas that are now desert, including the Sinai and the Negev, of a large number of sapiens of the so-called Kebarian culture (named after the Kebara Cave, located near Haifa), which developed in the Levant between –19,000 and – 12,000. Apart from these particular climatic periods, the Levant would have enjoyed, at the time of the pre-construction of societies, a little like today, fairly wet conditions, given its maritime position, which must have encouraged many Kebarians to settle not far from the deep blue. Thus, the Kebara site, which sheltered, in addition to Kebarians, other sapiens and Neanderthals, is located only 2.6 km from the Mediterranean coast. To get an idea of the climatic interest of a migration towards the north of the Levant from Africa (interest that would have to be specified using a study focusing on the times of the original migrations), see Table 3.1. Thus, when migrating from Egypt to the Levant, we go from a temperature of 23.3 to 18.3°C and a rainfall of 98 to 710 mm, i.e. from conditions that are not favorable to human beings to conditions that are generally favorable to them. A migration to the North Levant nowadays also provides 884 mm of precipitation, almost equal to the average recorded in Lyon and Ottawa (870 mm).

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Meteorological station Tartous (North Levant) Jerusalem (South Levant) Cairo (Lower Egypt) Luxor (Upper Egypt)

Average annual temperature (°C) 19.2 17.5 21.4 25.2

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Average annual precipitation (mm/year) 884 554 25 172

Table 3.1. Normal current climatic conditions, from Upper Egypt to the North Levant

The Levant corridor must therefore have represented a privileged tool for building our collective intelligence [WOO 10] by multiplying, on a scale of thousands of generations, the opportunities to meet the Other through the Homo who used this corridor (Figure 3.3) [VAN 95]. Thus, the construction of this collective intelligence, concretized in the Levant by a set of contacts and exchanges of techniques [LED 10], which was therefore carried out over tens of thousands of years, concerned, on the one hand, a great diversity of groups in migration and, on the other hand, communities previously settled. Even if it is difficult to appreciate the dynamics of the Homo who stayed in the Levant (although certain study methods could perhaps help us to do so) [PER 15], these migrations must have led, within the reduced Levantine and its communications, to reformulate this idea, to frequencies of interpersonal and collaborative contacts much higher than those experienced until then by our ancestors. This hypothesis, far from being insignificant, takes on its full meaning if we consider that communication, through the cooperative tool of excellence that is language, appears to constitute an essential decisive factor of human construction.

Figure 3.3. Diagram of the migration routes of Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis outside Africa, according to Bernard Vandermeersch [VAN 95]

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Nevertheless, in addition to ourselves, chimpanzees and other animal species, it is appropriate to point out at this point, use a range of communication signals, including vocalizations, and in this regard, the bonobo can be considered, in view of its level of social awareness, as the best model for understanding the initiation of human communication [FRÖ 16b]. To engage the bonobo, its higher cooperative tendency and lower aggressiveness, compared to the common chimpanzee, could be related to the activity of testosterone (androgenic steroid hormone); dominance hierarchies concerning males are, in fact, more rigid and more strongly associated with the basal level of testosterone in the common chimpanzee than in the bonobo [WOB 10a]. As for the male sapiens, their dominant behaviors have sometimes been associated with high levels of testosterone, whose relationship with aggression appears much more complex than a simple cause-and-effect relationship. Nevertheless, following sports competitions, it was found that winners tended to maintain their testosterone levels, while these levels fell among losers, and high testosterone was associated with good sports performance, both for men and women [WOO 12]. Thus, a lifestyle change including more social interactions and a long-term establishment of human communities, such as the one that would have occurred in the Levant after the exit “out of Africa”, may have influenced the testosterone metabolism of our ancestors by contributing to the selection of individuals more capable of cooperation than confrontation and migration – through a less androgenic impregnation – following the example of what is suggested with regard to the spirit of competition, based on research conducted in chimpanzees [WOB 10b]. The multi-millennial interactions involving human communities in the Levantine corridor and the Fertile Crescent would therefore have led to the creation of a kind of incubator of ideas that could have contributed to making “scholars” more effective [SOR 03], the communities that benefited from this incubator, directly or through neighborhoods; the incubator’s location, a stone’s throw from the land route out of Africa, made it work significantly ahead of other human development centers. Just think of what our ancestors experienced, for example, 1,000 years ago, to conceive the advantage given to communities that were able to benefit, through the hazards of the migration process, from early organization, with regard to the creation of complex societies based on the “ratcheting” intelligence of the human being [TEN 90], that is, on the ability of sapiens (and other Homo?) to accumulate and maintain successful technical, organizational and cultural developments and then to strive to optimize them based on what already exists. In this regard, the larger and more interconnected a human group is, the more capable it is of advancing technologies and complex ways of doing things; thus, the history of modern man can be considered, to a large extent, as the history of organization [SMA 14].

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Regarding interconnection, a trend towards population grouping began in the Levant, which resulted in the creation of living spaces with a growing number of residents, the relative decline of the least populated and most sparse habitats and a sharp increase in the population [BEL 08], through what has been called “the Neolithic demographic transition”. Returning to the Kebarian culture, whose living area was centered on the southern Levant (Figure 3.4), in terms of demography, this culture acquired vast camps with specialization in space – and circular pit habitats – suggesting a tendency towards sedentarization [CAU 98]. Following the Kebarians came the Natufians (–14,500 to –12,000), whose area of life extended northwards and which were succeeded by – and mixed with – the cultures known as Preceramic, as was noted on the site of Mureybet (Figure 3.4), located on the right bank of the Euphrates and whose archaeological traces date from – 12,000. This site seems to correspond, as it has reached us – with its diversified buildings reminiscent of dwellings and places of storage and work – to the beginning of a village.

Figure 3.4. Proposal for a global scheme for the emergence of Middle Eastern societies (the framed limits and direction arrows are only indicative). Legend: = mountain chain; o = archaeological site. For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

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It should be noted, however, that if the Natufians had built the first “agglomerations” in the Near East, the region does not appear to be a precursor in this regard. Indeed, the oldest groups of sedentary settlements would have been built in Central Europe, including Kazakhstan, under the likely pressure of weather conditions colder than those in the Middle East, which would have led to the vital need for habitats that reduced external travel and implied better isolation through contiguity of living spaces. In this frame of mind, while the Kebarians and their successors have shown, like other populations, esthetic concerns and outstanding artistic symbolization skills, they did not seem particularly early to do this at this level. Even if the animal representations and engraved motifs of the site of Jerf el Ahmar [STO 97] (located, between 11,500 and 10,700 BCE, on the Euphrates, near Mureybet), could constitute – like the Sumerian tokens (which appeared around 9,500 BCE [SCH 10b], were inherited from the Neolithic period, and bore complex symbols [FOR 96]) – the basis, which would be very early, if this was the case, for the coding of cuneiform writing on clay tablets. This is generally considered, as should be analyzed in the following reflection, to be the oldest system of language representation to have been widely used by a population. Hence the idea to be discussed, drawn from the comparison between decorative stones and counting tokens, is that the imagination of sapiens would have carried abstract capacities long before these capacities could be concretized through the realization of advanced practical and organizational innovations, such as the development of a written relational code. So here we are at the end of the Levantine pipe, on the Euphrates, this nourishing river of 2,700 km visiting Turkey, as if to lap at the Mediterranean, crossing Syria and Iraq and throwing itself – to finish – in the Persian Gulf. And there we are stationed, within a human group in the process of sedentarization, in a small hamlet where our lives and those of our loved ones unfold timelessly, far from any idea of prosperity, in a climate full of carelessness and crossed with hope. But where are we going? 3.4. On the road to human societies The sedentarization of Homo sapiens, which would have accelerated in the Near East from –11,000 to –8,000, must have been an opportunity for social beings, according to Aristotle’s thoughts, or, to say it another way, for chatterboxes and gossips with “a passion to speak about the inconceivable” that are humans [WIN 89]: to observe and analyze their close environment at leisure, now more fixed

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and more familiar than it was through a nomadic life2; to exchange on this environment with the residents of the sites where these ancestors built their sedentary existence and to benefit from the advantages of a collective reflection that can be constantly refined. Thus, the idea of controlling their living environment, instead of suffering it, had to be gradually put in place for sedentary humans. In this regard, the Neolithic site3 of Jericho (Palestine oasis) was endowed, when it expanded to occupy two hectares, with new types of architectural activities, dedicated, according to Jacques Cauvin, to tasks with a collective purpose involving advanced social organization. Thus, “the tower of Jericho”, nowadays 8.5 m high, erected 10,000 years ago (three millennia before the first pyramid) and which would have been a ritual monument – or the symbol of the power that administered primitive Jericho [BAR 08] – can be considered as one of the oldest witnesses of humanity becoming a society and moving away from its status as a wandering community. Nevertheless, nomadism and sedentary life are not to be directly, opposed because each of these modes of existence has its virtues and advantages, and also because they were mixed in the Levant through the practice of semi-nomadism [KHA 94]. Nomadism makes it possible, in addition to colonizing difficult environments, to move according to one’s needs and seize the opportunities of nature, and not to have to ask oneself the crucial questions of habitat maintenance, waste management and public health4, as well as maintaining the cohesion of a significant human group living in close proximity. While it obviously has its logic, nomadic life is always rough, and the facilities for exchanges and complementarities facilitated by sedentarization – given the size of sedentary human groups – as well as the security that group living provides, tend to argue in favor of the sedentary man. Sedentary populations are at least capable of developing a sustainable food system, given the limited resources provided by harvesting and hunting  in the long term, and if they are concerned about protecting themselves, it is because sedentariness, which reinforces a sense of ownership and prosperity, attracts covetousness. The trend towards sedentarization must also 2 According to André Leroi-Gourhan [LER 65], “the nomadic hunter-gatherer captures the surface of his territory through his journeys (which would tend to limit him to his habits?), while the sedentary farmer builds the world in concentric circles around his granary” (which would incline him to do more discovery?). 3 The Neolithic period is a period of prehistory initiated around the 10th millennium BCE, which was marked by strong technical, economic and social changes, associated with the adoption by human populations of a subsistence model based on agriculture and livestock. 4 The transition from living hunting and gathering societies to agricultural societies would have benefited the spread of infectious agents, in view of the increase in the number of alleles (alternative forms of a gene born of mutations, or variations in the nucleotide sequence of this gene) supposed to protect against these agents in the genome following the birth of agriculture [WAN 06].

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have been favored by the increase in population size, which seems to have accelerated towards –10,000. Thus, the Palestinian population increased from 6,000 to 45,000 individuals between –11,000 and –9,000 [REE 77], and the world population from 7 to 20 million inhabitants between –10,000 and –7,000 [BIR 03]. Regardless of the real demography of the dawn of humanity, its tendency to progress could not be indefinitely resolved by the division and swarming of base communities, which had become too large for the size of the human group acceptable at the time of our scientific journey. To approach this size, we can note, first, that tribes with lifestyles closest to those of pre-sedentary humans today form communities of only a few hundred individuals and, second, refer to the figure of 500 individuals, which is often indicated as critical by anthropologists [BIN 15]. Indeed, the number of sites favorable to the establishment of a community is necessarily limited within a small region, a fact that can only lead, in a phase of demographic growth, to the formation of urban areas that are themselves growing. If we consider that man is a hypersocial animal and that, as such, emotional, curious, entertaining, supportive and conflictual ties with his fellow human beings govern a large part of his life, two elements of connection seem to have played a major role in the tendency towards sedentarization: on the one hand, the material link induced by trade and commerce and, on the other, hand, the spiritual link created through symbolic and religious concerns. Exchanges lead to the creation of markets, warehouses and ports, and religious and symbolic concerns to the construction of places of ceremony, such as temples, and magnification, such as monumental tombs, all achievements that are obviously synonymous with gatherings and exchanges. It is in the Near East that the first collective places of worship were created, going beyond the confidential framework of ancestor worship and the veneration of the customs specific to each micro-community. For example, the Göbekli Tepe site (–13,000 to –10,000), located in Turkey near the Syrian border (Figure 3.4), less than 45 km as the crow flies from the Euphrates river [SCH 15], suggests, with its sculpted stone blocks depicting animal and human representations, its pillars in a “T” shape of several dozen tons and its organization in a circle, a gathering place with a high symbolic charge (Figure 3.5). It is a place that would have been dedicated to ritual ceremonies of a very significant scale that should have been attended by populations in the process of sedentarization, who were perhaps part of a group of associated clans through a “cultural commons” [FLA 12]. Moreover, “T” pillars similar to those of Göbekli Tepe have been found on other sites, including Karahan Tepe, located 45 km south of Göbekli Tepe, as well as on the sites, located in the same region, of Nevali Çori, Sefer Tepe and Hamzan Tepe [BAH 10],  which would imply that the site of Göbekli Tepe was not an exception, but perhaps the emblematic representative of a

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construction process – and an architectural system – at the base of the first, or one of the first, styles of ritual architecture, a little like what will be, much later, if we look at Greek culture, the Doric temples and their sober columns, such as the one that can be admired in Agrigento, in Sicily (Figure 3.6).

Figure 3.5. Göbekli Tepe site (Turkey). Bottom right: “T” pillar (source: Teomancimit and Erhcan; CCBY)

Figure 3.6. The Temple of Agrigento (Sicily, Italy) and its Doric columns (source: Jacques Barnouin)

Contrary to what the timing of the journey would suggest, we are not moving away from the issue of the prosperity of nations. Indeed, we are still trying to understand, we must remember, where the beginnings of nations that would become among the most prosperous emerged, and from which human propensities and environmental factors the foundations for building these communities have

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been laid. In this regard and at the point where we are reasoning, it seems useful to return to the time intervals that have been linked to the maturation and diffusion of the sapiens’ lifestyles. Thus, when we speak, as a prompt, of the period from –11,000 to –7,000, we wonder about a space of time, undoubtedly very important for the construction of human societies, but which is nevertheless the same as the period going from the Middle Pharaonic Empire to the present time. Therefore, the cultural elements that appear decisive in the evolution of the human condition cannot be considered, through such long periods of maturation, as great evenings of thought that emerge without warning, like a fruit that unexpectedly falls from a tree. The evolution of human thought, in the absence of proceeding by surges, would therefore have been more likely to have been driven by the diffusion of small innovations. They had to gradually settle in a place, a region or a part of the world, until they achieved progress. These advances have in turn tended, in a later stage of change, to mature and be refined, if we place ourselves in the field of agriculture, on the basis of lessons learned from empirical experiments based on the observation of the functioning and reproduction of animal and plant species surrounding the habitat of protoagriculturists. By their mode of construction, human societies thus appear “in transition, more or less permanently”; unlike matter, which beyond or below a combination of temperature and pressure, passes without transition, but in a reversible way, from solidity to liquidity, even to the vapor state. However, ratcheting human intelligence makes it unlikely, if not impossible, that fundamental social developments can be reversed, without obviously being able to prevent circumstantial stagnations or regressions dictated by blindness, propaganda, force or resentment. We have not been traveling for nearly 250 paragraphs, which can be considered as many days, in order to describe the history of humanity, but to better understand it in relation to our present experiences. In this context, the paths we follow through our own lives can only allow us to reflect on the paths of our predecessors. Thus, the road and the spirit of discovery seem to have always been part of us, including in our anecdotal experiences (such as the feeling at the edge of a vast landscape, the strong desire to go beyond the distance), and more generally in the action of humanity as a whole. This has undoubtedly been the case since our original migrations, the development of our bipedalism and that of our faculties of judgment and imagination. As such, the attraction of the route – and of the Other – with which the road encourages encounters, must undoubtedly be part of the propensities inscribed in our genes as a migrant species. As for the adaptations of this propensity, they would be: the emigrant, the explorer, the highwayman, the caravanner, the discoverer, the conqueror, the backpacker, the road movie hero, the globetrotter, the traveling actor, the runaway, the vagrant, the adventurer, the cosmonaut, the truck driver, the commercial traveler, the Sunday walker, the speleologist, the nomad, the pilgrim or, much more recently, the Internet user. Thus, free movement is

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undoubtedly one of the implicit necessities that can be considered as the most rooted in the development of humanity, and therefore, “knowing that we can leave, if we want”, can only constitute a true sense of well-being for the sapiens, and feeling prevented from it can only be experienced – by everyone – as difficult to accept. Human concerns based on exchanges (methods of acquiring material goods not available where one lives) and religious rituals (methods of loosening the grip of death, through the veneration of a superior soothing principle) are linked to the idea of a “pathway”, especially at the Göbekli Tepe site. Indeed, this archaeological site, considered as a primitive temple, must have been the occasion for encounters that required the accomplishment, as advanced above, of a journey that could prefigure the pilgrimages that would be organized, millennia later, by other beliefs. In addition, Göbekli Tepe reveals that long-distance trade must have already been on the agenda at the time of its construction, since the excavations carried out on this site revealed objects carved in obsidian that would come from the remote region of Cappadocia, located in the center of what is now Turkey. This is in line with the findings made at the Karahan Tepe site, where some 50 tools and manufacturing waste based on translucent black obsidian, corresponding to scrapers and needles, were counted [BAH 00]. Obsidian, quèsaco (what is it?) Régis Debray would say. Let us pause for a moment on obsidian, one of the most ancient materials desirable to mankind, which seems to have been at the heart, with other necessary or attractive minerals, of the birth of trade routes. 3.5. Obsessive obsidian Obsidian is a siliceous volcanic rock that appears as a natural glass formed from silica-rich lava (the element at the base of glass production, of which obsidian is mainly composed). The origin of obsidian, which is opaque or more or less translucent – and of various colors (black, dark green, gray, red), depending on the composition of the lava that produced it – can be determined, like other rocks, after analysis and dating. This implies that we can trace, with a certain precision, the path of this rock, from its place of production to its place of use [VOL 10]. Obsidian has two fundamental qualities: first, it is a very hard material that can be cut into slices, from which sharp, cutting and perforating tools (Figure 3.7) can be manufactured (an essential quality for societies, such as those whose traces we are following, that were not aware of metallurgy). Second, obsidian is a material that is pleasant to the eye and to the touch, because of its brilliance, translucency, smooth appearance and colors, characteristics that produce a strong contrast with the generally ochre-beigegray and matt appearance of stones, a contrast that can only make obsidian a suitable material for esthetic decorations.

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Finally, obsidian would be the first semi-precious stone with which humanity fell in love. Witness the “Urfa Man” (or “Baliklıgöl Statue”), dating from 13,500 years ago and which is considered the oldest “monumental statue” to have reached us (the oldest figurine, “Lion-man” or “Löwenmensch”, is displayed in Germany and considered to be 40,000 years old) [LOB 12], which was found near the Turkish city of Urfa, not far from Göbekli Tepe. It is a statue whose eyes are highlighted with black obsidian and which represents a man of 1.80 m holding his genitals in his hands.

Figure 3.7. Black obsidian tools from the Tilkitepe site (Turkey, 5th millennium BCE, Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Ankara) (source: Kafkasmurat, CCBY)

The frequent use of obsidian for practical or artistic reasons in the Levant must be linked to the source regions of this rock, which are several hundred kilometers apart and therefore primarily concern Cappadocia (central Turkey) and the surroundings of Lake Van (eastern Turkey). Thus, the use of obsidian in the Near East could only be achieved, probably as early as –13,000 or –14,000, through transport and exchange channels (e.g. the exchange of obsidian for high energy preservable foods, such as “selected” cereal grains?), in the wake of the stablishment of sedentary, organized and planned village societies. As developed as they were for their time, these emerging village societies, like all societies, were confronted with devastation. Thus, the site of Göbekli Tepe was apparently buried and abandoned, for unknown reasons. While it is difficult to specify how the first trade routes were implemented that made it possible to transport, in addition to obsidian, basalt, flint, rock crystal and decorative shells, it appears that craftsmen specializing in the excavation and cutting of raw materials, including obsidian, had to be involved in these trade routes, in addition to distribution carriers. As for the oldest evidence of long-distance transport and exchange found to date, it would have been found at

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natural sites located in Israel [GRO 16a], on the slopes of Mount Carmel. Indeed, it appears, following dating, that the basalt source used 13,000 years ago by the inhabitants of this region would not be of local origin, but would have come from a site about 60 or even 100 km away [WEI 07]. 3.6. From self-service to production control Here we arrive, with the idea of obsidian in mind, on the banks of the Euphrates. We are stationed here in the phase of entering history, that is, in a process of human control of the environment and the establishment of collective memory, through places, achievements and imaginations. As for the human grouping in which we spend most of our time, even if this time is not without severity, it is now in a phase of evolution, which will spread over centuries, between two types of answers to the question, essential to human development, of the food system. Either a short-term response, like the practice of other animal species, consisting, as already mentioned, of “self-service” in nature, or a long-term response, requiring the development of techniques for the reproduction and conservation of food resources. Gathering and hunting was certainly, in addition to being pleasant and rewarding (in reference to hunting large animals), nutritionally appreciable, especially in this welcoming Near East, via the variety of nutritional sources to which the gathering practices allowed access, of which we have a beautiful sample through the food remains found at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov [GOR 04]. Thus, according to Jacques Cauvin: “Contact both with the gallery forest of poplars and tamarix along the Euphrates river – and with the steppe with the open forest of oaks and pistachio trees that extended around it – the inhabitants of the primitive villages had confined themselves for a very long time to a very diversified hunter-gathering style. Gazelles and equine animals of the steppe, but also some oxen, fallow deer, and wild boars from the riparian forest and many migratory water birds were expected to pass by, everything was then ready to be taken, with a very important addition provided by the river, fish and shellfish representing an inexhaustible and widely exploited source. As for vegetable proteins, they were mainly provided by an intense harvest of knotweeds and astragalus, with little quantities of einkorn wheat (Triticum monococcum L.) and wild barley harvested as a supplement to this diet.” [CAU 98] As for the nutritional analyses concerning the diets of hunter-gatherer societies still living today, they reveal that these diets are of good quality and regular in their nutritional intake, in comparison with the diets of farmers’ societies located near those of hunter-gatherers [COH 77]. Nevertheless, from 11,000 years ago,

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probably well before, on a small scale, and at an early stage compared to other regions of the world, the notion of the domestication5 of plant and animal species become a reality in the Near East. This notion was fundamental, because it allowed human beings to be less dependent on climatic hazards, which made access to sufficient food stocks uncertain. On another level, domestication must have represented a formidable opportunity for man to try to understand the logic of life, to ponder the framework of his analysis and to consider, in a “prestatistical way”, the question of the factors appearing favorable or not to the development of plant and animal species of interest. The narrow corridor of the Levant, as has perhaps been repeated too often, would therefore have favored, for reasons related to the hazardous path of primitive migrations, the development of advanced societal constructions. Thus, once man tasted the delights and facilities of exchange, around squares, markets (Figure 3.8) and workshops, both of feelings, memories, news and projects, it was less likely that he indulged, unless due to necessary or cultural choice, in a nomadic existence. This “general” desire could only lead human presuppositions to seek the means of their sustainable development, including agriculture (which, according to Jacques Cauvin, “would have constituted a form of adaptation of human society to itself, than to its external environment”), which should represent a privileged lever. The human desire to “live in groups” and to comfort and confront each other, which characterizes primates, including, in particular, chimpanzees, could only favor individuals coming together, and therefore the increased birth rate, whose importance was undoubtedly supported by the idea that having a significant lineage can only be a help when one is active, and security if one needs to be supported. Thus, it is estimated that the frequency of births of one child per woman per year in Neolithic villages – and more than six children in total – was one child every three years – and four in total – among nomadic populations [MOL 15]. At this rate, the villages grew in size until some of them formed very significant agglomerations, as we will discover. In this circumstance, the first limiting factor for growing human communities tended be food instability; a stability necessary for regulation in order to have the necessary daily energy; to avoid the feeling of hunger, one of the most unpleasant experiences that human beings may have to face, as well as one of the main spearheads of their social revolts [WIN 89] and to be able, in counterpoint, to taste the indescribable pleasure of satiety.

5 The act of linking, through cultivation or breeding and for mainly utilitarian reasons, a plant or animal species to the home (domestic comes from the Latin domus, meaning “house”). The opposite of domestic is wild, or, in French, Sauvage, which comes from the Latin silva, meaning “forest”. Wild comes from the proto-Germanic word wildia-, possibly coming from the Proto-lndo-European root welt-, meaning “woodlands” or “wild”.

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Figure 3.8. The historical market of Aleppo (Syria) (source: Jacques Barnouin)

While hunger in plants can be called need (plants do not cry out their hunger, they suffer by curling up), protecting themselves against a lack of energy due to environmental conditions that hinder their development is, for the plant, as vital as it is for humans. Indeed, without energy, there is no foliar growth and no transformation of soil nutrients into vital molecules. To save energy and avoid perishing, however, a living organism can go into standby mode, like computers, with almost no energy consumption (like bacteria that turn into spores and go into dormancy). To have enough energy for everyday life, some living species also make reserves, storing energy-providing molecules in their tissues. On this subject, in a rather fascinating way, the form of energy storage that can be easily mobilized is almost identical in plants, animals and humans. Indeed, in cereals and legumes, which were the instruments of the invention of agriculture in the Levant, the energy reserves are made up of starch, a molecule mainly composed of amylopectin, itself made up of assemblies of glucose molecules (chemical formula: C6H12O6). In humans, the storage of rapidly mobilizable energy reserves is carried out in the form of glycogen (stored in the liver and muscles), a molecule also formed, like vegetable starch, of glucose chains. The notion of an energy reserve, while being consubstantial with life, therefore appears to have, through the glucose molecule and its arrangements, the same biochemical concretization in the main adaptations of life. We can then wonder, as a counterpoint to a reflection on the need for growing societies to have access to sufficient energy resources, from where the glucose molecule comes. In this regard, it should be recalled that the vegetable kingdom preceded the animal kingdom and that the first plants able to produce the energy necessary for their own subsistence, thanks to the mechanism of photosynthesis,

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appeared on Earth more than 3 billion years ago. This is a mechanism allowing green plants to synthesize glucose and oxygen, thanks to the solar energy absorption capacity of chlorophyll molecules (blue-green pigment) integrated into their cells, according to the following general equation: Photons (solar energy) 6 CO2 (carbon dioxide) + 6 H2O (water)

C6H12O6 (glucose) + 6 O2 (oxygen)

Following this equation, the plant synthesizes starch, amino acids and nucleotides (basic elements of DNA) from glucose, allowing it to operate its cell factory. Thus, the glucose formula, which appears to be derived from the functioning of photosynthesis in plants – and more precisely from the combination of water and carbon dioxide – was preserved in animals, the most primitive of which appeared 500 million years ago. Nevertheless, homeothermic animals, including humans, use glucose – and fats – as energy sources, using different mechanisms of photosynthesis, whose efficiency can reach up to 40% (note: the efficiency of a gasoline engine rarely exceeds 35%), while that of photosynthesis reaches only 1%. The good performance of their “sugar engine” thus allows homeotherms to satisfy their energy needs, which are linked to the need to maintain their body at a constant and high temperature and a lifestyle that generates a lot of effort, acceleration and movement (unlike plants, which are attached to the ground and somewhat immobile). Another point: the glucose molecule not only has a remarkable “biochemical flexibility” – allowing it to divide and aggregate easily, in order to be burned or stored – but also with a long shelf life facilitating the storage of food, for example, wheat grains. These, characterized by a high content of glucose chains and provided with a very tough protective coating, have a shelf life of decades in a dry environment. The concepts of energy saving and storage are therefore at the heart of living things; thus, dealing with a lack of energy (the energy reserve of a sapiens is equivalent to its needs for 60 days) is a constant concern for our organisms, which could perhaps explain the tendency of the sapiens body to store sugar during periods perceived, rightly or wrongly, as critical. While the fact of being autonomous in terms of energy sources of food therefore corresponds, in humans, to an essential need, the Levant, and in particular the banks of the Euphrates and the mountain ranges that border it, offered exceptional opportunities for humans in this area.

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The first of these opportunities was that the Levant, and, beyond, the Fertile Crescent, is considered, in connection with favorable geoclimatic conditions, as a birth region of the major plants or the humans that were the ancestors of wheat and barley (einkorn wheat, starch wheat, two-row barley, rye), which would have been grown in these regions from –  11,000, without being certain of the precocity of the Fertile Crescent towards cereal growing [FUL 11]. Moreover, millet was grown in China as early as –11,000 [YAN 12], and maize in Mexico as early as – 9,000 [RAN 09]. Nevertheless, the first cereal harvesting tools, dating back 23,000 years, i.e. 12,000 years before the appearance of sedentary farmers, were found in the Levant, and, more precisely, in Israel [GRO 16b]. In addition to cereals, the Levant and the Mediterranean area are said to have been the scene of the early cultivation of emblematic legumes (beans, chickpeas, lentils), species of high nutritional value, the oldest trace of which, dating back to – 11,000, has been found in the Franchthi cave, on the south-east coast of Greece [HAN 78]. It was also necessary to know how to take advantage of these gifts of nature, by moving from gleaning to agriculture; on this subject, sedentarization had to play an accelerating role, because it was the opportunity to observe at leisure, as advanced above, the cycle of plants growing in contact with habitats. This was done by first moving the birthplaces of villages in contact with plants of interest, then by moving these same plants at the edge of residential areas. To do this, the sapiens of the Levant and from other regions probably relied on their sense of imitation (“cereals store reserves in their grains, let us do the same and store these grains in urns, silos and granaries”), and on their ability to optimize and innovate (“let us choose seeds from plants: with a short dormancy period; with solid stems ensuring the adhesion of the ears to the stem and reducing their early fall to the ground; carriers of the ears most full of grain and the most resistant to climatic hazards”). Nutritionally, the combination of cereals and legumes is very interesting, taking the example of wheat and lentils. Indeed, these two plant species are relatively water-efficient and rich in energy; in this respect, wheat offers better yields than lentils, but legumes are two and a half times richer in protein than wheat. Thus, the two associated foods induce almost balanced dietary intakes of amino acids, and in addition, the lentil is rich in B vitamins and potassium, while wheat contains a significant amount of vitamin E. A diet based solely on cereals is characterized by a sugar intake that tends to be higher than required, while at the same time being relatively deficient in protein and vitamins C and D. As a result, there is a tendency towards shrinking and dental problems, as seems to have occurred among sapiens in the post-neolithic Levant, after the generalization of cereal farming [ADL 13].

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What was true for plants in the Near East was also true for animals. Indeed, this region, offering a second opportunity, proved to be a birthplace for domesticated animal species. Thus, it is at the borders of the North Levant, the Anatolian East and the Iranian North-West that the domestication of Ovis aries (sheep) and Capra hircus (goats) [NAD 08]  was initiated, around –11,000, more or less contemporary to the domestication of cereals, which 500 to 1,000 years later, was succeeded the domestication of cattle and pigs (Figure 3.9) [ZED 08; ZED 11]. Capra and Ovis, the first species to provide meat and milk (as far as the first domestication is concerned, it must have been that of the dog [BOT 17]), proved to be able to supplement, particularly among Mesopotamians, the supply of cereals and legumes, which in turn constituted valuable food sources for small ruminants. Indeed, unlike sapiens, goats and sheep can digest cellulose (composed of glucose chains with fibrillar structure) thanks to the commensal flora of their large stomachs, before transforming it into energy that can be used by their body.

Figure 3.9. Presumed areas and periods (years before present) of domestications in the Near East (white circles = societal development area) [ZED 08]. For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

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In addition, sheep and goats provided the Near Eastern communities with wool, leather and fat, while enriching their symbolic imagination through the sacrifice of Abraham, the Golden Fleece, the goat Amalthea nursing Zeus or the scapegoat. In addition, the access of human populations to a nutritionally satisfactory food system was accompanied, in the region in which we travel, by a favorable positioning, as we will see later, with regard to trade in goods. These exchanges allow them to get rid of “what they did not need”, in return for the acquisition of “what they do not appear to have enough of to satisfy their needs”.

3.7. A crescent… It was in Outlines of European History that James Harvey Brestead, in 1914, gave the name “Fertile Crescent” to the middle and lower valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates, which correspond, according to the historian, to “a semi-circular and cultivable fringe of the desert, bordered to the north by the Caspian and Black Seas, to the west by the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea and to the south and east by the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean”. Brestead, after having introduced the notion of the Fertile Crescent, which has since become popular, began a parallelism between the Mesopotamian river bay (the term “Mesopotamia”, introduced by Polybe6 in the 1st Century BCE, meaning “in the middle of rivers”) and its outlet in the Persian Gulf and the Nile delta joining the Mediterranean. The bay of the Tigris and Euphrates, full of alluvial deposits, of rather modest size and provided, according to Breasted, with 20,000 km2 of soils of good agricultural value, forms a historically major territory. Indeed, it was in this region that the Sumerians (who called themselves the “black-headed people”, and would have migrated from Africa to the Near East via the Red Sea, Oman and the Persian Gulf [HER 12]) developed, through the erection of their city-states – more often considered, on a set of criteria, as the oldest human community construction. A societal construction: at a high organizational, legal and scientific level, whose decipherable traces have been discovered and examined through the discoveries of anthropologists, archaeologists and historians of many countries, but that its indisputable advances and creativity must not, however, lead us to mythicize.

6 Polybe appears to be, with his predecessors Thucydides and Herodotus, one of the first historians to have a global and reasoned vision of history, based on the exploration of the causes of events and the non-consideration of the anecdote, myth or rumor.

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The prosperity of the Sumerian civilization7, whose roots can be found around 6,500 BCE in the Obeid culture [FOR 96, HUL 05] and which flourished between 4,000 and 3,000 BCE, was based, as the civilizational development pole consisting of Pharaonic Egypt and the Nile system, on the development of intensive agriculture, the cause and consequence of the increase in the populations of the Fertile Crescent. This is not surprising, considering what the land “between the Tigris and the Euphrates”, which was the extended land of the Sumerians, had to offer: fertile, flat soil suitable for growing cereals for bread, pasta and alcoholic fermented drinks [DAM 12], as well as grain supplier for cattle; water that is refreshing, fit for irrigation and rich in fish; landscapes [CRA 13] suitable, for some, for gardening and intensive crops, such as flax, and for others, therefore, for cereal growing or livestock farming; and a site that proved to be strategic once man embarked on a race, that has never ceased, for trade and commerce. Apart from these highly favorable elements, the Sumerians were able to rely on clay (pottery, ceramics, tablets), palm trees (dates, wood, shade), reeds (basketry) and the surface outcrop of petroleum products such as naphtha (combustible), and bitumen cement, waterproofing and decorative) in order to establish their prosperity. On the other hand, the country of Sumer contained little or no metals (although Sumerians appeared to be good metallurgists)8, precious metals, wood (a lack of which represented one of Mesopotamia’s major weaknesses, in addition to exposure to climatic hazards) and stone for construction. The inhabitants of the Sumerian cities, who became outstanding farmers through barley9 production in particular, initiated or put into practice on a large scale many innovations with an agricultural and landscape resonance. On this subject, we can mention irrigation (canals and distribution systems), which is undoubtedly one of the keys to prosperity; the swing plow (primitive plough); the wheel (potter’s wheel, cart) and anti-flood systems (dikes, reservoirs). With regard to floods, while those that regularly concerned the Mesopotamian plain regenerated soil fertility – and this was a necessity for the survival of the Sumerian life system – through their high alluvial load, they also proved to be the 7 A civilization is linked to the existence of an organized society, through shared rules and practices and a community of significant size and achievements. As for the term “oldest civilization”, it is based on discoveries considered to be the oldest, according to current dating techniques. Egypt, located at the other end of the Fertile Crescent, seems to be the only region that can contest Mesopotamia for the title of birthplace of the oldest documented civilization. 8 According to Robert James Forbes [FOR 50]. 9 Barley, the cereal most tolerant to drought and soil salinity (the plant can accumulate part of the salt from the soil in its leaves), is said to have been produced by the Sumerians at the rate of one or two harvests per year, with a yield that could range from 2 to 22 quintals per hectare [ROU 95].

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cause of memorable disasters. This was due to the wide variations in the flow of Mesopotamian rivers – ranging from 1 to 4 – and the flatness of their flow basin. All these elements, combined with the rise in the level of the Persian Gulf at the end of the last ice age and a very intense rainfall episode, could have led (this is one hypothesis among others) to the occurrence of a flood that could have strongly inspired the eastern myth of the Flood and the Ark. A myth that would have been initially depicted on Sumerian tablets10 from 1,900–1,700 BCE (note that, according to their founding accounts, the Sumerians reached Mesopotamia by sea), before being repeated – with variations – in biblical, Zoroastrian, Hindu or even Koranic writings, stories in which the Flood is most often presented as the result of divine anger, regarding human schemes and intrigue. 3.8. …fertile in ideas Sumerian society seems to have been at the root of the creation of the first urbanizations [CRA 13], since 60–70% of Sumerians around 3,000 BCE would have resided in cities; for example, Uruk, a 250 hectare city with between 20,000 and 50,000 inhabitants [PAI 09], or even double that number by including the “suburbs”. Thus, Uruk would have been the first major city [NIS 03], while Jericho (Palestine)

10 In 1985, Douglas Simmonds brought Irvin Finkel from the British Museum objects inherited from his father’s collector, including a Sumerian tablet depicting the flood, an important event of the time, since “the Sumerian royal list”, found in Nippur, categorizes mythological sovereigns according to whether they ruled before or after the flood. On Simmonds’ tablet, the ark is described as: circular, made of wooden slats covered with bitumen, 70 m in diameter (3,847 m2), with an interior on two levels and a roof covering. The mythical ship, which therefore appears, if we base ourselves on the tablet, as a huge floating basket of the coracle type (very light primitive boat), would have been designed, according to the Sumerian writer, to accommodate animals. They would have entered the ship two by two, in pairs, like the description (below) of Noah’s Ark in Genesis, which would have been written about 1,000 years after the Sumerian account. In the Bible, God said to Noah: “So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high. Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit high all around. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks […] and you will enter the ark – you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive.” It is quite fascinating to note, in addition to the close proximity between the two versions of the Flood, that the surface area of the ark, among Sumerian writers versus Bible writers, differs by only 1.03%, while the boat is presented as circular in one case and rectangular in the other. If there is no chance in this numerical proximity, the account of the ark, as presented in the Bible seems to be considered as an appropriation – or an updated copy – of the Sumerian accounts.

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and Damascus (Syria) would constitute the oldest human settlements (8,000–10,000 BCE) continuously populated and still corresponding to urbanized spaces today. But perhaps the most edifying early Fertile Crescent societies were elsewhere. Indeed, it is within the Mesopotamian cradle and its Iranian surroundings that writing would have been codified, from which could have been built: orders, codes, accounts, contracts, deeds, lists, rebuses, prayers, messages, calculations, legends, school exercises, speeches and requests, allowing a society to organize itself, to elaborate strategies, to consult and to keep track. While signs of elaborate writing appeared in Mesopotamia around 3,300 BCE, written traces, perhaps still unable to formulate complete sentences [REG 16], appeared in Egypt at the same time, around 3,250 BCE, in Abydos (a city dedicated to the cult of Osiris) [DRE 98]. However, it is not possible to say whether these two types of writing, cuneiform for Mesopotamians and hieroglyphic/hieratic (sacred/daily writing) for Egyptians, were created in an independent or influential way. However, on a basic level it does not matter, considering the approach that drives our scientific equipment, that the first codifiers of writing were Sumerians (this is the opinion of the majority of researchers) or Egyptians, or even proto-Elamites (civilization of southern Iran, which was established not far from the Sumerian cities). Moreover, it should be noted that before writing itself, recording systems were developed, kinds of undeciphered proto-writing [WIN 16] that had circulated in a number of African and Middle Eastern regions, without it being possible to determine the sources of these archaic innovations. In any case, the establishment of written communication systems could only give substantial advantages, through the dissemination of knowledge, the passage of instructions and the organization of the State [FOR 96; HUL 05] and trade, to societies: having benefited early from writing; having remained on a long-term basis, and above all, having implied, by their functioning, that a fairly significant part of their populations had access to the practice of writing. Thus, a clay tablet found in Uruk dating from about 3,000 BCE (Figure 3.10 and Table 3.2) is a perfect example of these advances, since the inscription drawn on this tablet is one of the oldest representations of what is now called a statistical table, and more precisely a contingency table [WOO 15a]. Such a representation can indeed make it possible to analyze, for example, the link between three methods of plot irrigation and the fact of having, on these differently irrigated plots, a good or a poor harvest (in reality, the figures in the MSO 1:85 tablet represented numbers of payments of funds and deliveries made over three time periods). Thus, figures such as those noted in Table 3.2, if they had really been linked to irrigation practices, could have led a Sumerian farmer not to use irrigation method 3. Indeed, this method was associated with a good harvest in only 48% (15/31 × 100) of the plots where it was applied, while a good harvest was observed, through our virtual example, in 59% (13/22 × 100) and 61% (19/31 × 100) of the plots irrigated using irrigation methods no. 1 and no. 2 respectively.

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While such a way of reasoning may have provided some Sumerians with a means of objectifying their decisions, it should be noted that a “modern” univariate statistical method (the chi square test), based on the laws of probability and applied to the figures in Table 3.2, shows no difference in efficiency – other than that due to chance – between the three irrigation methods. In regards to the use of mathematics among the Sumerians and their Babylonian successors (complex calculus, geometry, initiation of the concept of equation, base 60 trigonometry), as documented by the book Mathematics in Ancient Iraq [ROB 08] and the work of Daniel Mansfield and Norman Wildberger [MAN 17], it should be known that this use has left us, through the sexagesimal calculus system: the minute and its 6 times 10 seconds; the hour and its 6 times 10 minutes and the measurement of angles (so, a circle corresponds to 360 degrees, or 6 times 60 degrees).

Figure 3.10. Sumerian tablet (Materialien zu den frühen Schriftzeugnissen des Vorderen Orients, Group 1, No. 185) (Jemdet Nasr site, Iraq). To the left of the arrow: original faces; to the right of the arrow: reconstruction of the tablet with the addition of “Arab numbers” [WOO 15a].

Methodology Methodology Methodology Total number of plots no. 1 no. 2 no 3 Plot with poor harvest (%)

9 (10.7%)

12 (14.3%)

16 (19.0%)

37 (44.0%)

Plot with good harvest (%)

13 (15.5%)

19 (22.6%)

15 (17.9%)

47 (56.0%)

Total number of plots (%s)

22 (26.2%)

31 (36.9%)

31 (36.0%)

84 (100%)

Table 3.2. Figures engraved on the Materialien zu den frühen Schriftzeugnissen des Vorderen Orients, Group 1, No. 185 (Jemdet Nasr site, Iraq), presented in the form of a contingency table [WOO 15a].

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In addition to the premises of scientific analysis and cosmology11, the Sumerians are said to have been at the origin of the first written legal codes [KRA 94], even if these codes constitute, beyond their content, a form of glorification of the sovereign to whom they were affiliated. This “birth of the law” by the Sumerians undoubtedly represents a major advance for human societies, through “marble engraving” the idea of justice that it embodies, if we accept the idea that law, in the face of divine force or will, is a foundation of contractual societies (which guarantee rights to their populations, in exchange for the acceptance of rules and duties that lay the foundations for living together). Thus, even while the Sumerian kings, who ruled over competing city-states (for whom war was a conventional practice, which nevertheless tended to become endemic) [FOR 96], were the supreme judges and representatives of the gods, these monarchs had to take into account, in their decision-making, the clergy, dignitaries, economic actors and society in general. This was the case for the city of Uruk (Figure 3.4), through “old” assemblies and “citizens being in a position to carry arms”, which could be considered, with all the caution that required in this matter, as the premises for democratic institutions; this is in opposition to systems of absolute power, such as that of Pharaonic Egypt (“a hierarchical society to the extreme in which power was in the hands of a minority represented by one man: the pharaoh”) [MID 03], which has not left humanity any legal code. This is conceivable, given the virtual absence of contractual functioning in Pharaonic society, which was one of the most brilliant civilizations of antiquity, but in which the pharaoh was, in addition to the king, a god (“the son of Ra”, creator of the universe), the guarantor of the balance of the world, and therefore the exclusive owner of Egypt. Rights whose absolute nature has nevertheless tended to crumble over time. The oldest known legal code, which would have been written around 2,100 BCE, would have been that of the Sumerian king Ur-Nammu, ruler of Ur, a city located south of Uruk; and as for the most complete Sumerian code to have been passed down to us, that of Hammurabi, it would have been written around 1,800 BCE in Sippar, a city near Babylon. The code of Hammurabi, a king of Semitic origin12 [CHA 03], contains 282 laws, of which here are three examples: (Law No. 5): “If a judge try a case, reach a decision, and present his judgment in writing; if later error shall appear in his decision, and it be through his own fault, then he shall pay twelve times the fine set by him in the case, and he shall be publicly removed from the judge’s bench, and never again shall he sit there to render judgment”; (Law No. 14): “If any one steal the minor son of another, he shall be put to death”; (Law 11 The Sumerians saw the universe as a disk of land surrounded by the sea, with the sky above, hell below, and between the earth and the sky, a kind of atmosphere. 12 The Semites, whose name derives from that of Shem, son of Noah, have in common, while having both diverse and interrelated origins, the use of a type of language, called Semitic. Among the Semites, we can mention the Amorites, originally from North Syria and including King Hammurabi, as well as the Arameans, Assyrians, Canaanite-Phoenicians and Hebrews, and later in history, the Arabs.

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No. 224): “If a veterinary surgeon perform a serious operation on an ass or an ox, and cure it, the owner shall pay the surgeon one-sixth of a shekel as a fee” (the currency of the time of the drafting of the code, as well as denomination of currencies used in Israel and Palestine). A fabulous innovation, made possible by the writing and dynamism of Sumerian society, was the creation and dissemination, in the Near East and Egypt, of The Epic of Gilgamesh. This epic, refined in stories from the second millennium BCE and featuring Gilgamesh, the mythical King of Uruk, is considered a marker of the invention of epic literature and literature itself. In his travels, Gilgamesh, a cruel tyrant, discovers friendship and adventure in Enkidu, whom the mother goddess Aruru had created to harm him13, before returning to Uruk hand in hand with Enkidu, whom the virile warrior-goddess Ishtar – and whose advances Gilgamesh had rejected – forced to die out of spite. Following Enkidu’s death, a desire for immortality emerged within Gilgamesh, who met the immortal Utnapishtim, the only survivor of the Flood with his wife. Utnapishtim, trying to convince Gilgamesh that immortality is reserved for the gods, suggests that he lend himself to a “morality test” [RAY 96] consisting of abstaining from sleep for six days and seven nights. At the end of this endurance test, Gilgamesh, exhausted, falls asleep to be awakened by Utnapishtim only after six days and seven nights, and thus understands that he is not immortal. Thus, Gilgamesh, forced to admit that his quest for immortality is in vain, finally accepts his human condition. Sumerian culture can also be credited with the first loan of literary work, the first “Saint-George” slayer of the dragon, the first love poem, the first schools, the first legend of resurrection, the first proverbs and the first fables featuring animals, in addition to the first “Noah” [KRA 94]. So, even if Sumerians imagined themselves to be “in the hands of the gods” throughout their lives and devoted to wandering in hell after their earthly passage, their society, which did not entirely neglect women (Sumerian wives could have their own property, support legal action and testify in court) [LAF 93], did not prevent them from constructing cultural tools. These were tools that gave the sapiens, at least some of them, the opportunity to progress a little further towards free will and to forge a future on which to have a minimum of control. Note: the populations of the Near East also had in common, in terms of freedom, practices of debt cancellation and their consequences, which involved temporary slavery, following the non-repayment of a loan. In Sumer, these gifts were generally associated with the enthronement of a new sovereign (not much when compared to our presidential amnesties) and among the Hebrews, with respect for tradition 13 This is an illustration of the penchant for the “union of opposites”, which surrounds Sumerian myths (and which is also present in the Greek philosopher Heraclitus’ work in the 6th century BCE) [SOM 81]. The union of opposites could be linked to the fact that they are comparable, except on a critical parameter, and that they can thus be seen more as complementary, than as divergent [WOO 15b].

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(cancellation of debts during the Jubilee year, a time of liberation celebrated every 50 years, according to the precepts of the Torah14). Returning to the written productions of the people of the Fertile Crescent, reviewed in From An Ancient Antique Land: An Introduction to Ancient Near Eastern Literature [EHR 11], they are not the appanage of the Sumerians, but of the Aramians, Egyptians and Hebrews. This is based on contacts established at various times between these people, including between Egypt and the Canaanite15 city-states [GOL 10, MID 03], which have reportedly been linked by emigration (populations from the Levant migrating to the Nile Delta, which could be seen as a Garden of Eden), conflicts (Hebrews held captive by the Babylonians), and trade (in the case of Sumerians and Egyptians, whose contacts were reportedly made indirectly through the lapis lazuli trade route) [MID 03]. 3.9. The emergence of the alphabet To close the theme of the emergence of writing, we must address the emergence of the alphabet, which can be considered as a media revolution. The use of an alphabetic language, as a powerful factor in simplifying written fluency, could only represent, for the populations who benefited from it at an early stage, a decisive element in the development of intra- and inter-societal dialogue, education and the transfer of innovation. The use of the alphabet for writing, unlike that of ideograms (complex graphics representing a word or idea) or syllabic phonetic signs, makes it possible to write and read a language using a small number of representations, as well as to decipher other languages based on the same or a close alphabet, and thus to facilitate international contacts. This dichotomy between languages that are difficult to learn, given the large number of signs, which not always easy to reproduce, or to master (several thousands for Chinese writing, and one thousand for hieroglyphics), and languages written using 14 Leviticus, the third of the five books from the Torah (from the Hebrew ‫תּוֹרה‬ ָ meaning “instruction”) or the Hebrew bible, prescribes: “And you shall count off seven sabbaths of years – seven times seven years – so that the seven sabbaths of years amount to forty-nine years. Then you are to sound the trumpet far and wide on the tenth day of the seventh month, on the Day of Atonement. You shall sound it throughout your land. So you are to consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be your Jubilee, when each of you is to return to his property and to his clan.” 15 The Canaanites, who appear to be the ancestors and synonyms of the Phoenicians [HAB 17], and are among the oldest known people of the Levant corridor, who founded a group of coastal trading city states, including the city of Dor, now located south of Haifa. The land of Canaan is mythically considered to be the “promised land” of the Hebrews, and the Canaanites, one of the immoral people whose destruction Jehovah required in the fifth work of the Hebrew Bible. Nevertheless, the scientific history of the Hebrew takeover of the Canaanite territory as an indigenous or migrant people does not seem to be definitively established.

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20 to 30 simple signs (22 for the Phoenician alphabet, 24 for Greek and 26 for Latin), could have been, at least at the time of their development, a marker of two types of social organization. Indeed, the existence of scholarly writing (which coexisted with a simplified writing) mastered only by the groups of literate people, seemed to be the result of highly centralized societies, such as Pharaonic Egypt or imperial China, which granted only a limited learning possibility to their populations. On the other hand, the use of a universal alphabetical system would rather characterize more open societies, certainly monarchical such as Phoenician cities, but in which some of the population could access the written word and give its opinion on public affairs, through assemblies supposed to represent all or some citizens. The first alphabets, themselves at the origin of the Latin alphabet and whose letters are classified according to “Levantine order” (a, b, c, etc.) used in English, French or pinyin (phonetic transcription of Chinese ideograms), originate from the Levant, in connection with hieroglyphic writing. Indeed, initial attempts to create an alphabet could have been made around 1,800 BCE at Serabit-el-Khadim, in the Sinai Peninsula. These attempts could have been made by Canaanite workers or prisoners employed as miners, stonecutters or mercenaries in turquoise and copper mining expeditions led by the Pharaohs [GOL 11]. Some of these subalterns would have been confronted, in addition to difficult living conditions, with a language barrier. Indeed, these workers did not read hieroglyphics and would have tried, to overcome this, by inventing a homemade writing process. Moreover, a more or less alphabetical transcription of the hieroglyphic, as old as that of Serabit, has been found near Luxor [CHE 05], without it being possible to say whether this site – or that of Serabit – was the scene of the oldest known use of an alphabet. In any case, the need to simplify writing might not have come “from above” [CHE 05], for example, from a school of scribes, but from ordinary “illiterate” men who wanted to have control over the harrowing life of work they were leading, especially in Serabit, in mines surrounded by a desert landscape and climate (Figure 3.12), and under the direction of Egyptians whose religious customs, which were inaccessible to them, could not reassure them. In Serabit, on a sphinx, dating from 1,500 BCE [SUA 14] and placed in a sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Hathor16, a hieroglyphic inscription translated

16 Egyptian goddess represented in the form of a cow or a woman with horns carrying the solar disk, and considered as mother, wife or daughter of Ra, creator-god of the universe. Hathor, a kind of feminine principle of love, is associated with a number of precious materials, including turquoise (“mistress of turquoise”), and the flooding of the Nile. In this perspective, Hathor is seen as an announcer of a birth, like the amniotic sac breaking and emptying itself of its fluid, following the initiation of childbirth. In Thebes, the goddess was also considered, as “Lady of the West”, as the queen of the dead.

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on the statue was found, next to the hieroglyphics, by signs appearing to correspond to a “literacy” of the Canaanite writing. Thus, the hieroglyphic formula engraved on the sphinx, which means “beloved Hathor, mistress of turquoise”, is also inscribed on the statue using the literate Canaanite words “beloved mistress”. More precisely, the “letters” corresponding to the Canaanite word Balaat (B-’-l-[t) meaning “mistress” are respectively symbolized on the sphinx by a house, an eye, a cattle prod and a cross (Figure 3.11).

Figure 3.11. “Essential letters” traced on the sphinx found at the Serabit-el-Khadim site (Sinai, Egypt)

From the study of these bilingual inscriptions, the “first alphabet”, whose letters derive from hieroglyphic signs or which constitute technico-mnemonic creations, could be decoded. Around 1,400 BCE, this alphabet – known as the Proto-Sinaitic – was redesigned by scribes from Ugarit (a coastal town in Syria with a rich agricultural economy) [YON 91] using a cuneiform script, which these scribes alphabetized according to the principles (order and letter names) of Serabit’s “illiterate”.

Figure 3.12. Serabit-el-Khadim, sketched around 1850 by Karl Richard Lepsius

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Other types of Levantine alphabets, including the Phoenician and Paleohebraic alphabets (considered to be an emanation of the Phoenician), established around 1,100–1,000 years BCE and appearing to be extensions of the Canaanite alphabetical concept, would have been at the origin, at least around 600 BCE, of early literacy among the populations of the Levant, including those of the Israelite kingdom of Judah [FAI 16]. In this regard, Table 3.3 illustrates the evolution of the graphics of the (Latin) letters A, B, C and D, from the Ugaritic and Phoenician alphabets to the Latin, including Hebrew, Arabic and Greek. Note: because the Levant, and more broadly the Fertile Crescent, were relatively small regions, the ideas of the tribes and nations of these regions prospered and could only be quickly exchanged by their populations.

Table 3.3. Partial schematic representation of the Phoenician alphabet and its descendants (source: en.wikipedia.org)

In its societal construction, the Near East benefited, let us recall, at the end of this chapter, from opportunities linked to: the African birthplace of the Homo; the climato-geographical configuration of the Earth and the Levant; and the propensity of sapiens (whose brain capacities exceed the necessities of managing their daily lives) to constantly imagine and seek new geographical and mental spaces. This is achieved by simplifying, unifying and codifying; freeing oneself from the particular case by proposing general laws; and highlighting, symbolizing and surpassing reality through art and its multiple forms. In response to the development of alphabets with a universal vocation, the establishment of monotheistic religions (with a divinity that can have several facets, such as the Trinity of Christians) – in contrast to the forest of gods and preponderance of demigods and accessories characterizing polytheistic religious frameworks – is one of the major innovations of the societies of the Fertile Crescent. Monotheistic innovation can be seen, in fact, as an abstraction of the idea of God, in relation to the character – generally anchored in the concrete everyday life – of polytheistic domestic cults. This innovation could have emerged in Egypt around 1,400 BCE, though it is disputed, with the cult of the ephemeral and cyclical god Aten (the solar disk) [GAB 05], before taking off – around 900 BCE – through Jewish male monotheism, which succeeded, in the Near East, the preponderance of

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the Mother Goddess [CAU 98] and resulted in the permanent practice of the cult of Yahweh (the Lord). Finally, monotheistic innovation infused – some a thousand years later – into Western societies, through Christianity and imperial Roman society; thus, Emperor Maximian Galer recognized the Christian religion on the day of his death, in 311; and his counterpart Constantine I, sanctified by the Orthodox Church, was baptized 26 years later, also at the time of his last breath.

4 Diffusion of Societal Achievements

4.1. The notion of diffusion In the previous phase, three social construction sites were highlighted in the Middle East and Africa: the Levant; Mesopotamia; the Nile Delta and its valley. No other area seems to have benefited in the first analysis from such early organization, so it seems necessary in the next stage to try to observe: how the Near Eastern advances could have been disseminated from their primitive homes and how the Near Eastern homes exchanged their advances with those of other areas of the world – benefiting from the latter’s contributions and making them benefit from their own advances. Diffusion (from the Latin diffundere, meaning “to carry at a distance”, “spread” or “retransmit”) is a physical (Figure 4.1) and media phenomenon concerning, as such, both molecules and ideas. As for the dissemination of ways of being and doing – which has produced high-quality scientific reflections, particularly with reference to the Middle East – this topic has been the subject of violent anthropological controversies, some of which have even called into question the very concept of diffusion [GAZ 08; PER 15]. The diffusion of knowledge and ideas can only be promoted by – or stem from – the human propensity to imitate, whose “laws” were studied in the 19th Century under the anthropological prism [DJE 05]. Propensity: that our journey has already given us the opportunity to approach several times; that can be seen from different angles (adaptation, learning, mockery, transmission) and that is concretized in particular by the effects of mode and multitude, and through the notion of a model [DIA 05]. Our “daily imitation capacity” therefore seems to be able to constitute, like surveillance, a powerful vector for the dissemination of know-how. But in any case, is the capacity for imitation essentially cultural, or rather genetic?

The World’s Construction Mechanism: Trajectories, Imbalances and the Future of Societies, First Edition. Jacques Barnouin. © ISTE Ltd 2020. Published by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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While this question is not truly answered, the fact that one-month-old babies can imitate human acts [MEL 05] seems to be an innate ability. Moreover, “life in general” only exists thanks to imitation. First of all by the ability of DNA, the carrier of genetic information, to replicate itself in terms of identity and to transmit, during cell division, the information on its molecule, from “mother cells” to “daughter cells”. Thus, imitation is not the only trait of sapiens, acquired behaviors propagated by imitation having been demonstrated in delphinids, birds and primates, and even experienced in the social insect Bombus terrestris or terrestrial bumblebee [ALE 16]1. Moreover, imitating, may, as stated above, correspond to appropriating ideas initiated by innovators. The innovator “showing the way” can be unique, judging by the results of experiments conducted in different species [TER 96], including the bumblebee. The study of the processes of diffusion of practices and techniques that we are going to conduct must not therefore obliterate the innovator notion or “proper genus”, as the capacity of one or more independent human groups to initiate a technique de novo and without obvious external influence, through the involvement of internal dynamics.

Figure 4.1. Diffusion of molecules through a permeable membrane

1 Course of the experiment: a bumblebee is successfully taught to recover a reward (nectar) by an act that is unnatural for it (in this case, pulling a string); and it can be seen that this new know-how is spread by imitation to other individuals in the insect colony. Moreover, the innovative gesture is perpetuated through the generations of bumblebees, even after the death of the innovative bumblebee, and becomes a cultural practice of all insects.

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This being said, the notion of diffusion seems applicable to migration routes, insofar as migrants – including those of the dawn of time – tend to carry in their luggage their tools, their raw materials (e.g. cereal seeds, both light and productive) and their most precious objects (in addition to carrying their social practices and legends). Diffusion is also applicable to migration, commercial expeditions, as well as military and exploratory expeditions, which are specific channels for the dissemination of knowledge, which can become permanent when an expedition results in colonization, the establishment of interstate relations or the construction of trade routes. In the conquest of the planet, which for the time being constitutes the backdrop of the journey, Man, knowing very little about the Earth, could probably not have had any other tendency than that of spreading rather randomly in all directions. Then, once more in-depth information reached their ears, the sapiens gradually learned where the most obvious barriers and dangers, the easiest access and the most welcoming areas were located, and the dissemination had to take place by integrating this information. Of course, diffusion is not only related to geographical factors, as the molecular diffusion device in Figure 4.1, which depends only on physical laws. Thus, it can be assumed that factors related to expertise, a special ability or cultural habit played a role, in addition to feasibility, in deciding the direction of movement. In this sense, the promise of migratory travel on a calm and radiant sea can only attract specialists in skiffs and repel inveterate walkers, and moreover, the alliances and misalliances of a sovereign are likely to influence the exploration paths of his subjects. 4.2. Initiation of diffusion The questioning, to which the trajectory of the sapiens invites us, concerns in the first place the way in which the creations, advances and modes of organization resulting from the Fertile Crescent spread, which appear to be the bearers of the controversial idea of the birth of civilization (the idea of civilization having been opposed, since its appearance in the 18th Century, to the stigmatizing notions of “barbarism” and “savagery”) [BIN 05]. Seeing how the innovations we witnessed in Chapter 3 were shared by the people of the Near East, they must have been considered acceptable by the average Homo sapiens of the period we are exploring. Thus, for populations (migrant or settled outside the Fertile Crescent), there was no “anthropological wall” to cross, nor major social transgressions to accomplish, in order to participate in the disclosure of new ways of being and doing. Consequently, it can be considered that it was mainly environmental factors that were at the root of the spread of the advances of the Fertile Crescent.

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The societal centers of the Crescent seemed to have a kind of eco-geographical community around the idea of feeding and transporting maritime and river spaces, appearing to constitute the arteries and lungs of the original development of human societies. In the region whose evolutions we are examining, this idea has been given concrete form by: the alluvial plains and the mouth of the Euphrates–Tigris–Persian Gulf system; the narrow Nile valley, its delta and the Mediterranean; and the Levant corridor, with its narrow coastal plain, its many torrential rivers and its landscape rising more or less steeply to the east, until it reaches 3,083 m at Mount Lebanon. Of the three near-eastern societal centers, two therefore appear to face the Mediterranean, and a third towards the Persian Gulf. But while the area now bounded by Iraq and the Syro-Turkish fringes leads to the Persian Gulf and its heat it also borders the sweetness of the Mediterranean areas through the Euphrates, this great fertilizing river (Figure 4.2).

Figure 4.2. The Euphrates in Syria (source: Bertramz, CCBY)

Finally, the Near Eastern centers of social innovation have had the major human development assets of a large river – or well-fed small coastal rivers – providing many of their vital needs to sapiens, including plant growth, shade and protection of a rich birdlife, as well as a quality fluid for fish. As we have seen, the Mediterranean area is particularly rich in plant species of food interest to humans, while offering a mild climate, and also a sea of oil that can easily be sailed along the coast or on which one can try courageously to sail. This, going first from point to point from coast to point and island (perhaps from 12,000 BCE), according to the teachings of excavations [PER 01] which made it possible to find in mainland Greece rock

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obsidian from the island of Milos, reachable from island to island from the mainland through the realization of “short hops” (Figure 4.3). Then, in a second stage by crossing, starting with islands such as Cyprus (colonized around 11,000 BCE [SIM 08]) and clearly visible from the Levantine coast. Nevertheless, a real settlement within the multitude of small islands dotting the eastern Mediterranean required knowledge, apart from navigation [SIM 14], agriculture and livestock, if they wanted to survive once the island’s wildlife had been decimated. Thus, populations originating from the Levant – or the Turkish Mediterranean coast – having migrated to these islands, (including Cyprus), took with them, in addition to wheat, barley and lentil grains [CAU 98], goats and pigs, cattle only having to be imported around 3000 BCE. As for the traces of the primitive cultures of these populations, which were inadequate with those of the Levant, they have been dated, with reference to Cyprus, to the period known as the pre-ceramic Neolithic period B, i.e. the period of the beginnings of agriculture in the Near East, i.e. for Cyprus, around 8500 BCE [SIM 07].

Figure 4.3. From the Greek coast to the island of Milos, in short maritime hops (source: Google Maps (background map))

The question of the motivations of migrants who colonized the Mediterranean towards the West can shed light on the motivations that guide human migration. In addition to an adventurous spirit, the profile of migrants could thus have corresponded to families with a traditionalist way of life or who lived in the

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Levant through a mixed economic system based on agriculture, livestock, hunting and fishing [SIM 07] – a system that would have been compromised by rising sea levels, leading to the emigration of the populations concerned. But of course, we will never know with certainty the motivations of these migrants, nor their exact origin, because the primitive Mediterranean island habitat is generally constituted – perhaps because of defensive concerns – by heavy and specific constructions with a megalithic tendency. These are rarely found on the continent, particularly on the Levantine coast, a particular feature that does not allow a link to be established between migrants’ island habitats and their original habitats [CAU 98]. The Mediterranean is a particularly attractive sea, due to its deep turquoise blue gradient, which appears splendidly when the Mare nostrum is covered in foam or has low depths, and it is, therefore, a sea that can only open the imagination, while enjoying one of the most pleasant climates in the world. The Mediterranean fringes, in comparison with the narrow aspect of the Nile Valley or the Levant Coast, therefore push us to go to seek further, either by the coast of southern Turkey or by the sea [SIM 14], especially when the size of the communities increases significantly. The other possible natural outlet for the centers of social innovation in the Levant is the Persian Gulf, which nevertheless opens up to regions with a rather torrid tendency and which does not seem, in this sense, to be conducive to constituting the preferred channel for mass migration. And moreover, the development center created by the Sumerians is surrounded by mountains in its eastern and northern fringes (the Zagros mountains, towards Iran, culminate at more than 4,500 m, and the Taurus chain, towards Turkey, rises above 3,700 m), whose role as barriers was probably not major, but which should not have constituted, for all that, attractive elements for migrant candidates. The landscape, climate and dreams that humans carried with them have therefore been able to significantly promote the spread of the social creations of the Fertile Crescent to the west and northwest (Figure 4.3), directions that seem most attractive in view of their favorable ecological conditions, with the Nile Delta, to which a part of the Middle Eastern populations returned. Thus, the genome of some African populations would retain – even today – a fraction, up to 4–7%, of the genome of Neolithic Near Eastern farmers [GAL 15]. In view of the importance of climatic constraints on the functioning of the physiological roles and organs of sapiens and, in particular, their brain amateurs of ventilated freshness, it seems useful to analyze the diffusion of the achievements of the Levant in light of these organic constraints. No surprise at this level, if we analyze Figure 4.4: since the human propensity is to prefer a climate with temperate solar radiation to areas with high radiation (colored in orange-red in Figure 4.5), the

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diffusion towards the West and the North seems to constitute “the majestic way”. Geographical and landscape data, as well as climatic data, could only push populations from the societies of the Levant towards regions located towards the West, or towards Western Europe (from occidere Latin meaning “to sleep”, “perish”, “fall to earth”, in reference to the disappearance of the sun behind the horizon). To reflect on in this matter: the setting sun is undoubtedly one of the moments that can be perceived as among the most intense, the most emotional and the most imbued with the beauty and depth of human daily life.

Figure 4.4. Directions and possible ways of diffusing the societal benefits of the Fertile Crescent (source: Google Maps (background map)). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

Prosperity is sometimes almost as much a feeling as it is a reality. Indeed, the Latin word prosper contains the idea of meeting expectations, as well as the feeling of being happy and having a favorable destiny. It is therefore probably with such hopes and feelings – as well as through the perception of their demographic constraints – that people in the Middle East had to contribute to the founding of new societies towards the West and the Mediterranean, while at the same time carrying the cultural heritage of their areas of origin. The Mediterranean can be crossed in a few days with the help of an ancient skiff advancing – by its sail – at a speed of 10–15 km per hour. Filled with islands and possible anchorages, the eastern Mediterranean opens up access for sailors, through the force of the wind and currents, to regions that hold a wide range of raw materials, from amber to wine, copper, tin, iron or lead. The Mare nostrum also

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provides access, from the Levant and in a relatively short time (Figure 4.6), to a kind of “Great Lake” composed, in addition to the Mediterranean itself, of four protected and penetrating navigation areas. These areas are: the Black Sea and its annexes, accessible via the Dardanelles Strait; the English Channel, reachable via the Strait of Gibraltar; the Baltic Sea, which would have been a freshwater lake in the past, like the Black Sea, and which communicates with the Channel/North Sea complex via the Skagerrak Strait; and finally the Danube, a powerful river stretching over 3,000 km, from the Alps to the Black Sea, which is navigable for nearly 2,400 km.

Figure 4.5. Energy received via solar radiation and potential direction of diffusion of societal achievements from the Middle East area of societal development (source: Solargis and World Bank, CCBY (background map)). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

COMMENT ON FIGURE 4.5.– The arrow indicates the direction of freshness (part circled in blue); the more red an area is colored, the more solar radiation it receives, and the more green it is colored, the less it receives. Thus, the sapiens had, through the “Great European Lake” and the ecologically profitable lands that this lake blessed by good fortune inseminates, a space of exchanges and development that was easily explorable and exploitable by means of maritime and river transport. Particular mode of transport gave our ancestors the opportunity to take particular important travel routes and still represents, even today,

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a vector of cost reduction, through giant container ships equipped with diesel engine pollutants and transporting up to 20,000 40 m3 containers, resulting in a significant reduction in the need for manpower assigned to loading such ships.

Figure 4.6. Estimated number of days of crossing by ancient boat between the Levant and the regions of the “Great European Lake” (arrows: main passage routes). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

4.3. Dynamics of diffusion Diffusion issues, including agriculture and livestock from the Middle East, are still under discussion [COL 13]. As for the point of view adopted on this subject in our journey, it is the one that appears to emerge mainly from published research works. In section 4.2, we analyzed the potential direction(s) that appear most likely to ensure – in theory – the dissemination of progress in the Middle East. Let us now take these various directions again, in order to list the major civilizational creations that have really developed there – this with the idea that the more new advanced societies have been created and developed in a given peri-Middle Eastern direction, the more this direction had to be influenced by the societal diffusions of innovations from the Middle East.

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As for the spread of the Near Eastern benefits to the East, this appears to have involved the Sumer and the Halil Roud-Jiroft civilization, which developed from 3300 BCE in south-eastern Iran (Figure 4.7), particularly in connection with the circulation of raw materials, including lapis lazuli [PER 04]. In addition, trade relations concerning, in addition to lapis lazuli, timber from the sissoo (Dalbergia sissoo) were reportedly established between Sumer and the Indus Valley civilization, located in present-day Pakistan [MCI 07] (see Figure 4.19, section 4.5). Civilization whose premises would date from 7000 to 9000 BCE [SAR 16]; the culmination from 2500 to 2000 BCE (building innovative cities, advanced use of mathematics and civil engineering) [POS 10] and the disappearance in 2000–1500 BCE, in potential link with the “arid fluctuation” that struck the Middle East and West Asia between 2200 and 2000 BCE [MAR 17]. In this respect, climate change leading to drought – or instability of rainfall – may have impacted all Middle Eastern societies located in areas of transition between semi-arid and arid environments, and whose economies were based on intensive alluvial plain agriculture. Thus, among the communities that may have been damaged or even erased as a result of climate change – probably in combination with other factors (migration/invasions, local conflicts) – we can mention, in addition to the Indus civilization [STA 03], the Sumerian civilization and its Mesopotamian successors and the civilization of Halil Roud-Jiroft [FOU 05]. Otherwise, in terms of societies that flourished in the East-Southeast of the Fertile Crescent, it is worth mentioning the brilliant Achaemenid Persian civilization, which began around 550 BCE and collapsed following the defeat of the army of Emperor Cyrus II, which was defeated in 331 BCE near Mosul by the troops of Alexander2, “King of Little Macedonia”. As for the spread towards the south of the Middle East, it came up against a major civilization, Pharaonic Egypt. Positioned at the end of the Crescent, it finally influenced other societies much more than it was influenced by them, and which was for some Levantine populations, as we have seen, synonymous with their return to Africa. Thus, the southern spread has not been directly linked to major civilizational developments, although the societal contributions of the Crescent may have influenced, through Pharaonic Egypt, the Nubian cultures of present-day Sudan and Eritrea (Kingdom of Kush and Punt countries) [VAN 98].

2 For recreational purposes, it may be interesting to note that Alexander the Great (the conqueror) was born at 48.9° North latitude versus 29.9° for Cyrus II (the defeated). As for the greatest conquerors in history, Genghis Khan, Alexander and Tamerlan, they were born at an average latitude of 45.6° N, i.e. that of the capitals of the PR+ countries located in the northern temperate zone.

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Figure 4.7. Proximities between the Sumerian-Mesopotamian civilizations (blue ring), the Indus (black ring) and Halil-Roud-Jiroft (red ellipse). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

The possible spread of Neolithic culture by the North of the Levant leads, for its part, to regions sometimes considered to have slowed down this diffusion; this, for undetermined reasons, but which would not be of a climato-geographical order [RAS 08]. However, this diffusion would have taken the form of the construction of the Çatal Höyük site: located on an arid plateau in southern Turkey; with early urban planning; having had 8,000 inhabitants; testifying to an egalitarian social organization [WRI 14] and having played a role as a center for the expansion of Neolithic cultures towards the Caucasus and the Balkans [BEL 15]. Moreover, in civilizational terms, Anatolia seems to have sheltered only one significant civilization – that of the Hittites, which developed 2,000 years before our time and disappeared abruptly 700 years after its rise, in a possible partial link, here too, with a drought: which would have occurred around 1,200 years before our time, which would have lasted about 300 years and which would have had an impact on Hittite society, according to the conclusions of an archaeological study based on the composition of pollens [KAN 13]. Only one direction remains to be explored, that of the west and northwest, leading to the “Great European Lake”. On this subject, it in the directions we have considered, origin of comes to mind that while the Levant and Mesopotamia, or even Egypt, did not seem to have been at the major civilizational creations, it should have been to the west that diffusion operated, in addition to the eastern path (through in particular the exchanges that involved Sumer and the Indus civilization). This is the observation made by Henri-Jean Martin in his synthesis work [MAR 08] and this is Peter Bellwood’s opinion in The Global Prehistory of Human Migration

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[BEL 15] and it is finally the conclusion that emerges from modeling work designed on the basis of data from a set of excavations carried out in Europe and at the junction between Europe and the Middle East. Models based on the study of the presence, in the archaeological sites under consideration, of traces of cereal crops, domesticated animals and agricultural tools, as witnesses to the conversion of these sites to the “Near Eastern Neolithic revolution”. As for a wave diffusion model [RAS 08] (Figure 4.8), it appears, like other models, on the one hand, oversimplifying, and on the other hand, revealing the diffusion of the Neolithic economy towards Europe. This would have accelerated until about 6,400 years ago [BEL 15] and would have been carried out at an average speed of 1 km per year, insofar as the waves of diffusion would have increased, from the Levant to Europe, by about 4,000 km in 4,000 years – a figure in accordance with the 30 km per generation increase mentioned in the book Archéologie des migrations [GAR 17].

Figure 4.8. Wave-of-advance model of the diffusion of the Neolithic agrarian economy from the Levant. Michel Rasse’s map [RAS 08] is derived from the work of Ammerman and Cavalli-Sforza [AMM 84], itself based on the study of 53 archaeological sites. Each wave is separated from the previous one by 500 years and the dates are given in years before the present

Models and maps taking into account the areas of apparent diffusion blockage were also proposed, such as a map (Figure 4.9) built using time isolines [RAS 14] separated by intervals of multiples of 100 years. Thus, the closer the isolines appear

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to each other, within the same region, through such cartographic modeling, the slower or even slower the diffusion of innovations would have been, at least temporarily, under the influence of geoclimatic or cultural barriers.

Figure 4.9. Map of the diffusion of the Neolithic economy from the Levant towards Europe based on temporal isolines [MAZ 03; RAS 14]. For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

Other dissemination maps have highlighted the ways in which social innovations from the Fertile Crescent penetrated Europe – through cultural traces associated with these paths – concerning the types of ceramics used by populations [DEM 07]. Indeed, ceramics – a technique for the manufacture of fired clay objects – invented more than 25,000 years ago – ensures that the products are well-preserved and therefore allows significant fragments to be found, which makes ceramics a favored marker of cultural types. At this level, two main types of ceramics have been distinguished: on the one hand, ribbon ceramics (a name derived from the decoration, in the form of ribbons, engraved on objects), which characterizes the diffusion of ceramics via the Danube and Greece, and on the other hand, cardium ceramics (named after shells, of the cardium type, used to decorate pottery), which signals the southern diffusion of ceramics through the Mediterranean. As for the

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latest mapping we will find on our way [BIN 15] (Figure 4.10), which considers the two main centers and early directions of diffusion of the agricultural economy, it highlights: a “civilization of temperate and wheat”, from the Near East and compatible with the individualization of work (individual plots) and a “civilization of hot and wet rice”, born in southeast China [HUA 12] and which requires a collective organization, especially at the time of the implementation of plot irrigation.

Figure 4.10. Areas of agricultural and livestock diffusion from their mid- to the fareastern primitive foci [BIN 15]. In red: presumed area of initial rice domestication [HUA 12]. The green arrow indicates the direction of diffusion of cattle breeding in Africa. For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

4.4. From diffusion to prosperity The spread of the achievements of the Near East, including those related to the control of agriculture, could only accelerate the security of life and efficiency of sapiens societies. It is therefore necessary, in order to measure the consequences of the spread of the Middle East advances, to see – on the basis of the reasoning in section 4.2 – which large societies and nations were able to form in Europe in the

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steps of this diffusion, with a time lag that can be very significant, compared to the period of arrival of migrants, because creating, from relatively scattered individuals, a society carrying codes and customs accepted and reproduced by an organized collective, can only take time, a lot of time. Before attempting to characterize the societies and nations whose creation would be linked to Middle Eastern diffusion, it seems useful to indicate that the arrival of original migrants from the Levant appears to have induced changes in the hereditary heritage of European populations, as did later migrations from the Eurasian steppes [JON 15]. However, these changes do not seem to have affected the various parts of Europe in the same way [MAT 18]. Indeed, genomic studies indicate that the migration of Near Eastern human groups has led to the near-replacement of population genes in southern Europe; while in northern Europe, a genetic mix between the Levantine hereditary heritage and that of local hunter-gatherers, with the latter preserved, has been highlighted. Perhaps this is why, in terms of cultural heritage, there is a Southern Europe versus a Northern Europe? Before continuing along our route, one thing needs to be clarified about hunter-gatherers living in Europe: the presence of the oldest of them would date back at least – 43000 BCE, since the remains of the oldest sapiens found in Europe, in a cave on the south coast of Italy, date from this period [BEN 11]. Thus, it is necessary to differentiate clearly, in terms of diffusion: first, the arrival in Europe, prior to the Neolithic revolution and the creation of advanced societies, of groups of migrant hunter-gatherers, and second, the diffusion in Europe, through more recent migrants, of the organizational and technical achievements of progressed societies in the Middle East. As far as civilizations are concerned, the Middle Eastern diffusion towards the northwest seems to have initially resulted in the construction of island societies centered on the Cyclades archipelago (Cycladic civilization: from 3200 BCE; center: Syros Island) and Crete (Minoan civilization: from 3000 BCE; center: Knossos). However, these island civilizations, dispersed and settled in small territories, have proved fragile and have gradually been replaced by civilizations of a continental nature. In this respect, among the continental societies that appear to have emerged mainly from the Levantine diffusion (which has itself benefited from the diffusion of knowledge from other societal areas), we can venture to mention (Figure 4.11): the Mycenaean civilization, from 1600 BCE (around Thyrinte and Mycenae, Greece); the Greek civilization, from 900 BCE (around a group of city-states and kingdoms, including Athens, Corinth, Sparta and Thebes in Greece, and elsewhere Macedonia); the Carthaginian civilization, result of the Phoenician civilization, from 850 BCE (around Carthage, Tunisia); the Etruscan civilization, from 800 BCE (around 12 Tuscan cities, Italy) and the Roman civilization, from 700 BCE (around Rome, Italy).

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Figure 4.11. Centers of emerging civilizations associated with the Western diffusion of innovations in the Near East (civilization: 1 = Cycladic; 2 = Minoan; 4 = Mycenaean; 5 = Greek; 6 = Ancient Carthage; 7 = Etruscan ; 9 = Roman). The arrow indicates the starting area of diffusion. For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/ construction.zip

Two of these civilizations, Greek and the Roman, were driven by territorial groups that obviously had a great influence on the destiny of European societies through their way of life, their administration and their buildings. Thus, the leadership of Greece, which lasted almost 1,400 years but ended in the 15th Century BCE with the breaking up of Alexander’s ephemeral empire, was followed by the leadership of the royalty and the Roman Republic, then the Western Roman Empire. This disappeared in the 5th Century (Romulus Augustus, the “last emperor”, generally considered illegitimate, was deposed in 476), after having prospered for 1,200 years in the heart of the “Great European Lake”. This was achieved by means of colonization with a sustainable and development vocation which, at its peak, affected most of the Mediterranean area and Western Europe). However, the end of the Roman Empire did not mean, however, that it would disappear from the world scene. Indeed, the Roman spirit of domination seems to have found a perfect echo in the colonization processes of the modern era. These were, moreover, implemented almost entirely by eight nations that were formerly included, in whole or in part, in Ancient Rome (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain) or founded from these mother nations (the United States). Thus, the eight main colonizing countries, all of which were part of the wealthy nations, appropriated and exploited, between the 15th and 20th Centuries, with no other obstacles than those they applied to themselves to better ensure their domination: almost all of Africa and

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the Americas; the very large part of Oceania, as well as the Near and Middle East; India, Pakistan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indochina; and China, as a semi-colony [FRO 16c]. In this regard, the largest territories colonized or controlled by a foreign power, de facto or under mandate, at any time in history, have been Great Britain (which went so far as to administer a territory equivalent to 65 times the size of the British Isles), France3 and Spain. Thus, through the colonization carried out by modern states – from its former provinces – the Roman Empire, although it was not a model society [VER 04], has demonstrated, throughout history and “a remote territorial growth”, an empire of an unprecedented global scale. There is obviously no reason to believe that the populations of the modern colonial states were naturally more greedy and rapacious than those of other countries, and as such, more inclined to conquer and employ – on their behalf – territories outside their national frameworks. On the other hand, apart from the fact that they were bathed by sublimated elitist impulses through the affirmation of a “civilization mission”, as we have seen, these nations were in fact almost the only ones to have the means to achieve a colonizing ambition. Indeed, the high level of prosperity and organization of these nations implied, as an extension of those of Roman society, that they mastered from the 15th Century the means of discovery (seagoing ships and navigational instruments), military control (professional army and advanced armaments), as well as administration and financing (process of setting up explorations and expeditions) that were necessary for the success of colonizing enterprises. Even if the people who were the object of these undertakings opposed, despite often very limited means of defense, sometimes fierce resistance to the conquest objectives assigned to the colonial armies [FRE 10]. The question of armed force could only have been important in the formation of the Greek-Macedonian and Roman empires, from which the nations of the “Great European Lake” emerged significantly. Before addressing this question, it is

3 Territories controlled, at one time or another, by France: Africa: Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Djibouti, Gabon, Gambia (partly), Guinea, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Republic of Congo, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo and Tunisia; the Americas: Canada (partly), Clipperton Island, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Martinique, Newfoundland, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Croix, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Tobago; Antarctica: Adélie Land; Asia: Cambodia, China (partly), India (partly), Laos, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey (partly) and Vietnam; Europe: Greece (partly) and Malta; Indian Ocean: Amsterdam Island, Comoros, Crozet Archipelago, Madagascar, Mayotte and the Seychelles, Kerguelen Islands, Mauritius, Reunion Island, Saint-Paul Island and Scattered Islands; Oceania: Australia (partly), Futana, New Caledonia, Polynesia, Vanuatu and Wallis.

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interesting to note that the terms strategy and tactics, which have their counterparts in many languages (English, German, French, Russian), derive from Greek terms meaning “the art of commanding an army” and “maneuvering troops”. As for the factors explaining the success of Alexander’s army, let us take a detour on this: the high level of interactive organization [SMA 14] of the Macedonian troops, inherited from the predecessors of Alexander; and Alexander’s own military genius, combined with his conviction, forged by the teaching of the philosopher Aristotle – and those of Leonidas and Lysimachus of Acarnania – to be invested in with an almost sacred historical mission to affirm Greek culture. On the battlefield, what must have favored Alexander’s conquests were, in addition to the infantrymen’s use of a multi-purpose lance capable of exceeding 7 m in length [NOG 02] (Figure 4.12), the reasoned consideration of the destructive force of kinetic energy, this through the advance, at the step of charge, of the 16 rows of perfectly welded infantrymen of the “phalanx” (a Greek word meaning “battle line”) iron train and the progression of the devastating shock wave caused by its contact with the front lines of the opposing troops. As for kinetic energy, whose equation (Figure 4.12) was only decoded in the 18th Century, its quantity depends on the mass and the square of the velocity. If, therefore, the weight of the infantrymen’s weapons and protections is reduced (e.g. through a linothorax, a light armor made of superposed layers of linen) and they charge, as a result, at higher speed, they can hope to double their kinetic energy when in contact with the enemy and topple it much more easily. Nevertheless, the phalanx had its weaknesses, as it was sensitive to flank attacks, cavalry charges and ambushes [FEU 93], and was only suitable for conventional combat on non-hilly terrain. If we now look at the stele – called “Stele of the Vultures” (Figure 4.13) – it can be seen that, in fact, the concept of the phalanx seems to have been put into practice by the Sumerians 2,000 years before Alexander’s army refined it. This is therefore a very concrete testimony of the diffusion-imitation of (military) techniques in the sense of Sumer-Europe (unless the idea of the phalanx originated independently among Sumerians and Greek-Macedonians). Another percussion tool of Alexander’s army must have been his heavy cavalry, through a triangular formation tactic sinking into enemy lines, like the practice of the Thracians, installed in the Balkans and whose society could be included in the societies that interchanged with the societies of the Fertile Crescent [STO 15]. Finally, Alexander’s army, initially composed of citizens and which converted to being professional, applied the “between a rock and hard place” strategy, which consisted of encircling the enemy by the wings with the help of the cavalry, before taking it in a vise.

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Figure 4.12. The infantrymen of the Greek-Macedonian phalanx on the attack. Top right: formula for calculating kinetic energy (source: de.wikipedia.org, Rights Reserved)

Figure 4.13. Historical Sumerian stele dating from 2500 BCE, showing soldiers from the city of Lagash under attack, advancing in close formation and equipped, like the Greek-Macedonian phalanx, with a long spear (Musée du Louvre, Paris) (source: Éric Gaba, CCBY)

While Alexander’s army’s strategies were adaptable to the day-to-day flash warfare, the versalitity of such forces were improved upon by the inception of the Roman phalanx, as a major tool for territorial expansion [BRE 16], tailored for position warfare and the long term. In this regard, it should be noted that the oldest analyst of the structure of the Roman army is said to have been, around 150 BCE, the Greek historian Polybius, author of a book entitled The Histories and Tactics, the text of which has not been published [POZ 94].

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According to today’s analysts, one of the great forces of the Roman military institution resided in its ability to build all kinds of infrastructure, including entrenched camps, set up and dismantled every day when the army was in the field. This was in order to conquer, surround or control lands to be colonized or previously subjected [BAR 10a]. In this sense, the Roman soldiers of the imperial era were true professionals, and in particular, experts in military engineering, through trade bodies made up of specialists using fairly specialized and complex tools, which made them capable of building roads, bridges, forts, fortresses, border control lines and other war and siege machines. Overall, Roman military power would also have been linked to the value of its troops, its recruitment, training, discipline and supervision, as well as to the adoption of flexible combat tactics adapted to the battle configuration. These tactics were difficult for the enemy to read and potentially causing surprise effects [REN 06]. As for the legion, the base unit of the Roman army, it was trained to stop the opponent’s first impulse, before using it and demoralizing it according to a strategy without a fixed framework. In addition, the Roman army was adept at securing information and carrying out investigation, through the missions of the speculatores (“the observers”) [SHE 09]. Military expertise which did not prevent, after centuries of domination and a long century of decline4, the Roman Empire from becoming more fragile and its western birthplace from disappearing from the list of states on the globe (the eastern part of the empire was maintained until 1453 around Greece, Turkey and part of the Fertile Crescent). To return to the prosperity of nations – and to dwell on a concept already mentioned – of the 20 countries in the PR+ group, 14 have had their historical territory included in the Roman Empire, i.e., by decreasing GDP at PPP: the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Greece and Hungary. Such countries are what United States, Canada and Australia are linked to founded by Anglo-Irish, French, Italian and German European settlers who transited through colonization, within these adopted countries, their state culture, their economic model and the prosperity of their native countries. On the other hand, none of the 20 least prosperous PR countries were affiliated with the Roman Empire. As for differentiating PR+ and 4 Possible causes, not listed by importance, of the decline of the Roman Empire: a decrease in the civic sense of citizenship and interest in military careers, in view of the growing opulence of society; loss of moral authority of emperors and leaders; imbalance between the size of the empire and its small population; emergence of a monetary crisis when the empire had reached its maximum size and financial revenues – linked to new conquests – reached their limits; demographic pressures exerted by the migration of people from the northern and eastern fringes of the empire, even from Asia (“the great invasions”), attracted by Roman prosperity and repelling each other during their migrations, which a drought episode could have precipitated [BÜN 11].

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PR– on whether or not they have been colonized over a long period of time, only two PR+, South Korea and Malaysia, have been colonized (by Japan and the United Kingdom), while 17 of the 20 PR– are former colonies (eight by France, six by the United Kingdom, one by Belgium, one by Portugal and one by Germany and Belgium). The history of the PR+ and PR– nations is thus so different, particularly with regard to the colonization process, that it is not really possible to compare them with regard to their political and economic functioning. It is indeed very difficult to make appropriate comparisons between countries: on the one hand, with experience of state and community building almost every millennium, and on the other hand, existing independently only for a few decades and being, as such, in the phase of socio-political construction. While pluralism, the rule of law and what these elements imply in terms of economic freedom are seen as vectors of prosperity [ACE 13], this effect does not appear to exist clearly, with regard to the PR+ and PR– countries, over the period 1939–2019. Indeed, only two of the 20 PR+ countries were not independent in 1939, and 11 of the 18 that were independent have experienced for some time since then – or are still experiencing – the limited existence of democracy. Of the 20 PR countries, 18 were not independent in 1939, and the two that were independent do not seem to have benefited from democracy over the period 1939–2019. Let us return to Rome and European history. A societal structure as powerful and administered as the Roman Empire could not – therefore – be replaced immediately, following its erasure, by new state frameworks with long-term potential. Nevertheless, the kingdom of the Franks, created before the fall of Rome, began to assert itself at the beginning of the 6th Century with Clovis I, to reach its peak in 800, with the coronation in Rome of Charlemagne by Pope Leo III. Thus, Charlemagne’s empire and its dependent states constituted a territory located at the heart of the major European–Mediterranean trade routes, seen as the heir to the societal contributions bequeathed by Rome, as well as the forerunner of what would much later become the European Union. Indeed, Charlemagne’s empire, which his descendants could not preserve, included, around a large Franco-German area, all or part of the future Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic (as well as Austria, Croatia, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Switzerland). Nevertheless, it was not until the 13th Century and the Renaissance that the long period of relative stagnation that followed the disappearance of Roman civilization could be overcome, and that European societies resumed, on the basis of a renewal of literature and the arts born in Italy, their progression towards freedom, humanism, the discovery of the body, the democratization of knowledge and the modernization of the economy. As for trade, this was born around the Mediterranean, in the deep valleys of the Nile, Jordan and Euphrates and on the coasts of the Red Sea, the Dead Sea and the Gulf [BAR 84]. As for the activity of the trade routes, we have witnessed it through the lapis lazuli and obsidian trade, but we could also have crossed the amber or tin routes. As we have seen, the trade route was, in addition to being a means of

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developing trade, a tool for disseminating techniques, know-how and ideologies [MUK 96]. Thus, trade routes appear to have promoted much regional and extra-regional prosperity, since they were the main sources of political, economic and social interaction within the societies they crossed, while at the same time they were at the root of conflicts, given the competition they created [WIZ 15]. The importance of trade routes in human development seems to have been at work in many regions and civilizations, including: in Africa, in connection with the Trans-Saharan Highway [STA 96]; in Mexico, during the era of the great Mayan civilization [CON 08]; in Iran, during the Safavid era [RAN 16] and in Asia, in connection with the famous Silk Road, which brought a wave of prosperity between Europe and the East for 16 centuries. All these considerations raise the very significant question of those who live off the road, as do those who live in countries far from commercial traffic areas. 4.5. Other migration and other diffusion While the diffusion of societal achievements from the Near East to the East has been sketched out, particularly with regard to trade relations between Sumer and the Indus, it has not yet been considered in relation to the other route out of Africa, the one that would have taken the southern Red Sea through the Straits of Bab al-Mandeb (Figure 4.14). This eastern diffusion route, as well as the one that would have bypassed the Red Sea [FER 06], does not include the Levant pipe, which implies that the societies that were founded along these paths must not have been initially influenced by Levantine societies. As for the diffusion route that took the direction of the East from the north of the Levant and the Syrian-Turkish border areas, we have seen above that it was not massive, given the relatively unattractive climato-geographical characteristics of these regions. The societies that were created the longest in the East and the Far East probably did so in a way that was ultimately quite independent of the societal constitutions of the Near East, given: the geographical distance, considerable for the time, between the Levant and the regions of arrival of Homo in Asia, such as India or China, and the age of the break that occurred between the populations that used the Nile Valley as they left Africa and those that crossed the Red Sea. However, regardless of the migratory dynamics of Homo, which are therefore issues discussed [LÓP 15] with regard to the possible birth in Asia of sapiens branches from other Homo species prior to sapiens and arriving from Africa5, the diffusion of our ancestors from Africa to the Far East and vice versa had no choice but to follow a

5 The oldest skull of a sapiens found in the Levant at Es-Skhul, near Haifa, is said to date back 80,000 to 120,000 years; while the age of its Asian identical is more difficult to specify, in connection with identification controversies, it could be some 60,000 years old [DEM 12], or even significantly older.

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long route of zones considered rather “hot and inhospitable” (even if towards 130000 BCE, Arabia would have looked more like a savannah than a desert) [ARM 11]. “Hot”, meaning receptors of large quantities of solar energy, and “inhospitable”, implying, with reference to current conditions, on the one hand, desert climates, and on the other hand, fairly humid tropical climates. As an indication, and moving eastward, the average temperatures in Aden (Yemen), Muscat (Oman), Karachi (Pakistan), Bombay (India), Calcutta (India), Bangkok (Thailand), Canton (China) and Shanghai (China) are now respectively: 29°C, 29°C, 26°C, 27°C, 27°C, 28°C, 22°C and 17°C (whereas the average temperature in Lyon is 12.5°C and the average temperature in Ottawa is 6.3°C). Once they arrived on the southern coast of the Persian Gulf, migrant groups from the Strait of Bab al-Mandeb were able to either stay on the Arabic Peninsula, or move westward and find themselves in southern Iraq, at what was once Sumerian territory, or cross the Persian Gulf at the Strait of Hormuz (Figure 4.15), then 40 km wide and partially occupied by islands. Once the Strait of Hormuz was crossed, the migrants were able to either head west and reach Iran and, as stated above, the territory that belonged to the Sumerians or head east and head towards Pakistan, India, the Indochinese peninsula and China.

Figure 4.14. Exit and dispersal routes of Homo from Central East Africa [FER 06]. In yellow: exit via the Levant; in red: exit via the Red Sea; in blue: exit via the Red Sea to the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb; in green: dispersal routes (orange circle: Strait of Hormuz). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

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Returning to the caloric constraints of migration to the Far East, according to what is believed to be known about Chinese paleoclimate, global warming occurred – about 10,000 years ago – in China and other parts of Asia. And this increase in the temperature of continental air masses, as well as a severe monsoon, would have led to: the disappearance, around 7000 BCE, of the last traces of glacial climatic conditions, and the establishment of a climate perhaps warmer than today [LIU 12]. Finally, at the end of the third millennium BCE, climatic fluctuations would have had a negative impact on societies in north eastern and central-eastern China [SHE 15]. Thus, in the construction times of advanced societies, the environmental conditions prevailing in the Far East would not have provided, according to current knowledge, a climate conducive to the physiology and comfort of Homo. An eastward migration made it relatively difficult – and rather distant – to reach areas with temperate or cool climates, particularly because of the discouraging barrier between the Himalayan chain and a desire to turn north from a migratory route. Indeed, the Himalayas conceal, on more than 2,500 km long and 300 km wide, a series of summits exceeding 7,000 m, among which there is “the roof of the world”, which culminates at 8,848 m. Moreover, there is no trace, on the route of migrants heading east, of an inland sea, of a “central lake” facilitating contact or of softened areas opening onto a sea of oil.

Figure 4.15. Satellite image of the Strait of Hormuz (source: Jacques Descloitres and NASA)

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The Indian Ocean, which laps up at the coasts of South Asia, is indeed more characterized by the violence of its cyclones than by its natural swimming pool attractions. The East opens generously, in fact, to huge hot spots, the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent, which are devoid of an “obligatory passage”, unlike the Levantine corridor, which, as has already been widely mentioned, had to sharpen the mental capacities of sapiens by promoting their competitive interactions, which, when they involved interpersonal commitments, appeared to be able to optimize our learning and thinking skills [YBA 08]. After Arabia and India, the Homo route led to China, a huge territory with southern climatically sub-optimal areas, which is relatively isolated by a powerful surrounding of mountain ranges, deserts and steppes and by the immense liquid void of the Pacific [SHE 15]. These very vast regions must have been better able to promote the dilution and instability of populations – through random migrations – than to establish their close relations via relatively large fixed societies; this, on the contrary, was the case with the local navigable spaces that Europe and the Middle East offered. However, this statement must be absolutely tempered – with particular reference to China. It has a complex system of rivers and lakes in its alluvial plains that has led to the development of river navigation technologies since the Neolithic period, which would have very significantly and profitably promoted interregional communications [LIU 12]. According to a study based on the reconstruction of past genetic events for the purpose of knowledge of settlement history [MEL 12], it would appear that Homo leaving Africa through Ethiopia spent enough time in the Indian peninsula (in which the Indus civilization flourished), before dispersing throughout Far East Asia. A long period of diffusion, starting from the Fertile Crescent, of wheat cultivation also manifested itself in these regions (through migrants or traders), probably in view, in part, of the long distances to be covered between the Syro-Turkish area and China. Thus, 5,500 years would have been necessary, according to available data [BON 01], for wheat cultivation to reach the Levant in China, compared to, for example, 3,000 years for it to spread in the Benelux, figures corresponding to a diffusion rate of 1.3 km per year to China and 1.1 km to the Benelux (Figure 4.16). Wheat cultivation seems to be the only innovation from the Near East for which eastward dissemination data seem to be available, along with sheep farming (which only spread from the Indus civilization in the second millennium BCE [MCI 11]). This, perhaps because these innovations were the only major innovations to have spread to the East, from the Near East, or to have been conserved there.

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Figure 4.16. Diffusion of wheat cultivation from its area of birth (red circle) (dates in relation to the present) [BON 01]

Nevertheless, Sumer and the Indus civilizations – having therefore had significant relations, the traces of which are attested by the presence, within archaeological sites of ancient Sumer, the Persian Gulf and Persia, of seals typical of the Indus civilization [MCI 07] – probably had to exchange land development techniques, since the economies of Sumer and Indus were both based on irrigated agriculture. To speak again about wheat, this crop has undoubtedly represented such a change in the lives of sapiens, through the high level of food security and protein intake it has brought, that its spread is an interesting factor to consider. Thus, from Figure 4.16, it can be estimated that Europe would have benefited from the contribution of wheat cultivation about 1,500 years before the entire Asian continent. However the Chinese Far East has developed – independently of the Near Eastern cereal foci – the cultivation of other wheat-related cereals, such as millet6 [YAN 12], also widely distributed throughout the world. Finally, the spread of livestock farming from the Fertile Crescent to Europe and Africa is well-documented, in particular through a summary by Melinda Zeder [ZED 17].

6 According to current data, wheat contains 40% more protein than rice, with a 15% higher yield in Europe compared to rice grown in China. As for the yield of millet, whose flour is difficult to preserve, it is now about half the yield of wheat.

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Let us now broaden the problem of diffusion, while addressing the question of East and West (or “right and left”, in relation to the south–north axis of the exit from Africa). This means that the East–West link (or “right–left”), which has been addressed until now in the direction of eastward diffusion, is just as legitimate to consider in the opposite direction, through – in particular – the land and sea routes of the Silk Road (Figure 4.17), which were the vectors for the diffusion of major Chinese innovations (it will certainly be necessary to return to this question), such as the compass, printing, powder, and silk.

Figure 4.17. The Silk Road: main land (in red) and sea/water (in blue) routes from China (orange ellipse: Xi’an) to Europe via the Levant (yellow ellipse) and vice versa (source: NASA). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

Thus, the Silk Road, whose routes would have been taken since the Neolithic period, became from the 2nd Century BCE a very important trading route; in particular, through its Chinese gateway, the great city of Xi’an (Figure 4.17), which played the role of an imperial city under several dynasties, between the 3rd and 9th Centuries BCE. While we are in Xi’an, perhaps we should take a break at this crossroads of the world, before continuing our exploration of Asian complexities. In this regard, the ancient trade route – of which Xi’an was a prestigious stopover – has therefore enabled humanity to acquire, thanks to the trade of caravan transporters, who had to face, for a large part of their journey, the harshness of deserts and the sabers of thieves, not only of spices, stones and precious metals but also therefore of the fabulous silk. Silk is one of the most mythical products that humanity has ever

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used and whose manufacturing process, developed in China – and long kept secret – is one of the most extraordinary achievements of intelligent observation of nature and the diversion of its biological cleverness (in this case, those of Bombyx mori). This large, unattractive butterfly, domesticated in China almost 5,000 years ago [DAM 14], produces abundantly, thanks to this caterpillar’s serigenous gland, and with the aim of making a cocoon essential to the completion of its molt, a yarn composed of a very flexible fibrous protein, fibroin, which allows weaving fabrics that are light, bright, soft and seductive, and in a word: silky. The Silk Road, through which precious dishes and glassware and many agricultural products passed to China, went from one end of the Earth to the other as its caravans began their rounds. Indeed, if we consider the representation of the “known world” designed by the Greek Eratosthenes in the 3rd Century BCE (Figure 4.18) [ROB 12], i.e. before the rise of the Silk Road, it can be seen that the direction of the future trade route and the “crossed diffusion” of innovations corresponds to the horizontal axis of the world of the time, at least as it is known to represent, and that the Levant corridor, perpendicular and median with respect to the horizontal axis of the terra cognita (the inhabited earth), appears to constitute the backbone.

Figure 4.18. Map by Eratosthenes. In red: the axes of the world (its western part, surrounded by blue, is bathed by the seas, and its eastern part, surrounded by brown, is poorly endowed with maritime spaces) (source: Jean-Noël Robert and Archéothéma, 2012)

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Let us return to the civilizations of the Indus and Sumer, one based in the East (Figure 4.19) and the other based in the West – both, very advanced societies. As such, the difference in positioning (one rather isolated and the other located within a small rather interconnected world) and environment (one surrounded by heat and the other not very far from a temperate zone) between these two human constructions may have been crucial in explaining the differences in fate between the communities that emerged from them. Indeed, in sharp contrast to the Mesopotamian civilizations, which have been replaced and developed by new societies resulting from the achievements and surpassing of their predecessors, much of what the people of the Indus had socially accomplished had to be “reinvented” by later populations [STE 92]. The cities of the Indus civilization were, in fact, completely destroyed or abandoned, and comparable centers of civilizational development reappeared in South Asia only very long after these destructions and abandonments. In addition, the measurement and writing systems of the Indus Basin civilization seem to have been forgotten, and the engineering and community management skills of this culture emptied of meaning through the so-called “Indo-Iranian” migrant nomadic populations, which, following the Harappians (named after the ancient city of Harappa), reportedly took control of the Indus Valley [STE 92].

Figure 4.19. Location of the sites of “Golden Age” (2600–1900 BCE) of the Indus civilization (Avipuntra7, CCBY) [MCI 07]. For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

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The arid fluctuation previously mentioned during our journey, associated with the resulting weakening of the monsoon, also seems to have had significant consequences, around 2000 BCE, for Chinese cultures. Thus, this period saw the disappearance of the Liangzhu and Shijiahe cultures in the Yangtze basin, as well as the decline of the Longshan culture in the Yellow River basin. Nevertheless, from this culture emerged the Erlitou culture, considered as the carrier of the first state embryo to have materialized in China [LIU 12], around 1900–1800 BCE, i.e. about 1,500 years after the development of the Sumerian city-states. While the Mediterranean-European space was asserting itself “without knowing it” in the world, the Indian subcontinent and its surrounding therefore seemed to have been relatively dormant for quite some time, following their climatic setbacks. Thus, with reference to the writing system, while the archaeological sites of the Indus discovered engraved symbols – not yet formally recognized as being part of a writing system for linguistic use [ROB 14] – the first signs of deciphered writing discovered in the Indian subcontinent would only date from the 3rd Century BCE, through “the edicts of Ashoka” (from the name of the emperor associated with these edicts). And in terms of political organization, India only broke away from the feudal system – organized by British settlers through 565 princely states with monarchs – after 1947, the country’s year of independence, while polytheism still dominates the spirituality of the populations of the Indian peninsula through the Hindu religion today. While the caste system, as a process of hierarchization and social imprisonment – generating a strong occupational segregation and a predetermination of individuals’ quality of life, depending on their group of origin – is now legally prohibited by the Indian Republic, this system still exists in practice. On this subject, a 3rd-Century book, Manusmriti, already described the functioning of the caste system, whose origin dates back to the roots of Indian society [DEL 04]. By way of illustration, one of the prescriptions that appear to reveal the state of mind of the Manusmriti text (name of the character considered, in Hinduism, as the creator of humanity): “A Brahmana who takes a Sudra wife to his bed, will sink into hell; if he begets a child by her, he will lose the rank of a Brahmana.”  The birthplace of China’s construction, centered around the Yellow River basin, is much further from the Near East than the Indian peninsula. This, in addition to geographical isolation, plays a major role in the fact that China’s societal construction appears to be independent of that of Mediterranean-Near Eastern societies. Thus, the systems of religious thought and writing developed in China have no major conceptual relationship with the systems born within the Fertile Crescent. Taoism (“teaching of the way”), a philosophical-religious principle of Chinese essence guided by a creative principle, the tao, a kind of “mother world” [BEL 00], professes a quietist mysticism, a libertarian ethic, a sense of balance and a

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naturalism that has no equivalent in the West. Even if quietist mystics – including a confident passivity towards God – may have existed in some currents of Christian thought. Moreover, the large number of Chinese technological innovations, which would have been transported to Europe from China with, of course, a time lag in relation to their initial development (unless they were independent inventions staggered in time, and not diffusions), indicates what China’s prominent creative role was. In total, it can be estimated that 37 Chinese innovations, including porcelain, with a delay of about 1,300 years; the kite, with a delay of 1,200 years and the magnetic compass, with a gap of 1,100 years from their development by the Chinese, spread westward [NEE 95]. The marked difference in the diffusion of technology between East and West (few Western innovations would have reached Asia) would seem to be linked to the fact that Europeans sought to know, through many explorations, missions and diplomatic missions, the major technical advances to be put to China’s credit. While the Chinese imperial systems – guided by intangibility and character, which they considered central and predominant, of China’s spiritual and social organization regarding the rest of the world – would have paid little attention, with exceptions such as that of Zheng He, eunuch of the imperial court that sailed in the 15th Century to the Somalian coast [CAR 19], to encouraging their navigators and scholars to travel abroad and to be informed about these innovations. However, as we have seen in addressing the issue of white supremacism, ethnocentrism7 appears to be such a widespread attitude among Sapiens that it is not surprising that Chinese imperial societies were confronted with it. The feeling of self-sufficiency that characterized China – and which lasted until the 19th Century – is well-expressed in a very famous message, addressed in 1794 to the King of England George III by Emperor Ch’ien-lung (Figure 4.20), who ruled at the height of the Qing dynasty, during the Golden Age of Chinese civilization [SER 73]. Thus, Ch’ien-lung declared to the English sovereign: “You, O King, live beyond the confines of many seas, nevertheless, impelled by your humble desire to partake of the benefits of our civilisation, you have dispatched a mission respectfully bearing your memorial [....]. As your Ambassador can see for himself, we possess all things. I set no value on objects strange or ingenious, and have no use for your country’s manufactures... It behoves you, O King, to respect my sentiments and to display even greater devotion and loyalty in future, so that, by perpetual submission to our Throne, you may secure peace and prosperity for your country hereafter.” 

7 Ethnocentrism, as defined by sociologist William Sumner in 1906, is “considering your community as being at the center of all others; and from there, weighing and evaluating all others against your own. Through ethnocentrism, each human group nourishes its pride and vanity, thinks itself superior, exalts its divinities and tends to see its own habits and customs as the only just and most appreciable”.

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Figure 4.20. Emperor Ch’ien-lung in 1791

Concerning the formation of the central power system in China, following the Erlitou culture mentioned above, which would have been at the origin of the first “imperial palace” [YAN 04], a true urban Chinese civilization, called Erligang, developed around 1500 BCE, brilliant in its achievements, of royal essence and which was oriented towards expansion [BAG 08] (see Figure 4.21). In addition, the emergence of codified writing, dated around 3500 BCE in the Fertile Crescent, is believed to have occurred in China around 1300–1250 BCE [BAG 08; VEN 06]. The first Chinese writings appear engraved on tortoise scales and bones, as well as on bovine shoulder blades, although stone engraved signs, dating back to at least 2000 BCE, have been found in Henan province. Without it being possible to say, however, whether these divinatory signs and the symbolisms found in Henan [DEM 10] would have had only an esthetic-symbolic significance or would correspond to a proto-writing [WEI 14], a little like the symbols dating back 11,000 years ago, found on the Syrian site of Jerf el Ahmar. In any case, if we set the beginning of Chinese writing at 2000 BCE, we end up with a differential of 1,000– 1,500 years in favor of the Middle East, which corresponds to the order of magnitude of the difference – West versus East, Left versus Right or Near versus Middle and Far East – highlighted by other cultural markers8. It also seems interesting to note, with 8 Markers among which it is perhaps possible to consider the announcements of the angel Gabriel, considered as the messenger of the divine will by the great monotheistic religions. Indeed, Gabriel warned around 538 BCE, prophet of the Jewish (Levantine) tradition, of the coming of a messiah; and according to Islamic tradition, dictated, from 610 CE onwards, the word of God, as a revelation, to the prophet Muḥammad, of Arab (Middle Eastern) tradition, who would be at the origin, via this revelation, of Islamic thought. Hence a temporal–cultural gap of about 1,150 years between Gabriel’s first and last interventions.

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regard to writing, that it was in the 15th Century that Chinese writing was imported into Japan, the adaptation of which is the basis of the written system used nowadays by Japanese speakers [GRE 05]. If we now consider alphabetic writing in our comparison, as a tool for intercultural dialogue and trade facilitation, it was only codified in China in the 20th Century by the adoption of the pinyin, and also from 300 to 400 in India [JAM 06]. The complexity and great subtlety of Chinese writing, mentioned above in connection with the number of ideograms to know in order to master Chinese, have long reserved this mastery for a caste of advisors and scholars in the obligatory service of imperial power. Consequently, if we date the beginning of the current use of an alphabet still in force today, the Greek alphabet (derived from the Phoenician alphabet), to 750 BCE, through texts of considerable length found on a bowl and a vase [POW 12], we highlight an extremely substantial time gap between Greece and China, and of the order of 400 years between Greece and India. Figure 4.21 puts back in the spotlight the idea that a thermally moderate climate has many consequences, such as making civilizations prosper and sheltering their capitals. In this sense, we noted that the Chinese capital was at a latitude and climate more favorable to well-being than the Chinese average. This also applies relatively well to the emerging region of Chinese urban civilization, located south of Beijing around the 35th parallel, a position that allows the benefits from alluvial plain societies to be enjoyed through the Yellow River, as mentioned above. Note: while Beijing is located north of the main Chinese civilizational basin, it is because the last imperial dynasty, mentioned in connection with the Emperor Ch’ien-lung, who dominated China from 1644 to 1912, is of Manchu origin. The Manchus, from Siberia and North-East China, had already established Beijing as the capital of North-East China between 1115 and 1234, through the Jin dynasty. The domination of the Qing dynasty, which was not very inclined to contact with foreign countries and concerned about the perpetuation of social order, was contemporary in the Western world: the Enlightenment (anti-obscurantism and knowledge promotion movement) [MOK 05]; the period of the first modern political revolutions, American and French; and the Industrial Revolution, launched in Britain at the end of the 18th Century through the steam engine, the use of coal as fuel, steelmaking and mechanical weaving. A revolution that did not take place in China, whose economy remained agricultural and artisanal – and feudal organization – while Europe and the United States took the industrial turn, combining it with scientific appetite [MPK 05] and commercial dynamism. All this can only have contributed to the fact that China was suffering from a lack of prosperity and modernity in 1912, at the end of its imperial starry night. At the end of the 13th Century, the fabulous Venetian traveler – and merchant – Marco Polo had returned

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from his far eastern journeys amazed by the richness and societal advances of the “Middle Land”, which at the time seemed to have no equivalent in the world.

Figure 4.21. Regions of China associated with the emergence and end of the Chinese imperial civilization (indicated on a map of normal values of the annual average temperature, in °C) 1: Erlitou cultural center; 2: Erligang cultural center; 3: Manchu origin area, founders of the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), who established their capital in Beijing (4) (source: www.chinamaps.org (background map)). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

If we allow ourselves a bold parallel between: the authoritarian Chinese republic, initiated following the abdication of the “last emperor” and the initiation of a revolutionary process personified by Sun Yat-sen, and the first European aristocratic republic, that of Venice (founded by populations sheltering in the 6th Century on the small islands of a lagoon to protect themselves from Lombard invaders), whose emancipation from the Byzantine Empire dates back to the 19th Century, what are

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we seeing? A “Venetian precocity” of the order of 11 centuries compared to China, in terms of the establishment of a state organization accompanying the individual  initiative, and leading, in the case of Venice, to the creation of considerable prosperity from trade, within a city trading on water and an unstable clay. Prosperity whose wonderful architectural traces can still be admired, whether one visits the Doge or discovers it through a motionless journey and an inspired and expert literary stroll [VIR 12]. The societal differences that our journey has allowed us to observe did not prevent the globalization of trade from beginning to reshuffle the cards, from the 1980s, of nations’ prosperity. Thus, through the opening of borders, and in particular, the freedom given to Chinese farmers to sell for their own account of what they produced in addition to “five-yearly” plan quotas, and also to invest, China moved in about 30 years from a country with low prosperity to a country with average prosperity (GDP at PPP 2014 per capita: $13,126, ranking 81st in the world; World Bank, 2016), while becoming, since 2011 and with a population of 1.4 billion, the world’s leading economy in terms of total GDP at PPP its GDP is currently growing at a rate of 6–8% per year (e.g. China moved up two places in 2015 in the world ranking of GDP at PPP per capita, compared to 2014, and could become, at this rate, the world’s leading nation in terms of GDP at PPP per capita around 2055). The other Asian demographic power, India, ranked 139th in 2014 in terms of GDP at PPP per capita ($5,707), now ranks third in the world in terms of GDP at PPP per capita, referring to its more than 1.3 billion inhabitants. And as for Japan, which is therefore one of the major prosperous PR+ countries (GDP at PPP per capita: $36 426), in addition to having a favorable climate and maritime position, it began trading as early as the 16th Century with Portugal, then with the Netherlands, before leaving feudalism in 1868, under the reign of Emperor Mutsuhito. This was achieved through the abolition of privileges, democratization and forced industrialization based on steel, shipbuilding and coal mining, and also on important technology transfers from Europe and the United States, as well as on a desire to learn and go beyond the manufacture of everyday consumer products [LAN 00]. Moreover, after World War II, Japan was occupied under the aegis of the United States, then democratized, demarcated and developed through the development of competition, as a factor seen as associated with prosperity [ACE 13]. Finally, following the explosion in demand caused by the Korean War (1950), the Japanese economy has definitively revived itself through “setting up a mass production and mass consumption company” [WAT 01], through nevertheless products of appreciable quality.

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4.6. The steppe issue A stroll through Asian spaces and societies leads to rambling in the vastness of its steppes, that is, in regions extending between 40° and 55° latitude north; covered with grasslands and bushes; almost treeless, except in their alluvial parts; and enjoying a temperate continental climate with cold winters and hot summers, also characterized by dry heat and a breeze making the climate landscape relatively bearable [ANT 10]. Mainly located from east to west Asia, as well as in eastern Europe, the steppe environment offers great traffic facilities (you can walk on 5,000 km, from the Danube Delta to Mongolia, without stopping treading on grass), and therefore migration. However, if the steppe, already by its vastness, seems to be considered in the understanding of the construction of human societies, it is difficult to know if the detour will bring major lessons in this field. Eurasian steppe areas are an appropriate environment for nomadism. Indeed, the low availability of building materials (wood and stone) that the steppe implies, makes it difficult to build large sedentary cities. In addition, the grassy configuration of the steppes guarantees an excellent diet for herbivores and easy maintenance of important populations of these vital allies of man. Second, a considerable distance from the seas does not give easy access, from the steppes, to the world’s great trade corridors, which should not encourage their inhabitants to turn into merchants, and finally, steppe spaces induce total freedom of movement, a way of being that is at the heart of nomadic cultures. Faced with the necessities and particularities of life in the steppe, the adapted response for man was the horse. This animal, which appeared in North America (from where it disappeared for an undetermined eco-pathological reason, before being reintroduced there by the conquistadors, Christopher Columbus having loaded in 1493 on his ships 24 stallions and 10 mares), arrived in Asia via the Behring Strait [ANT 10]. As for the Przewalski horse (Equus przewalskii) (Figure 4.22), still present in the steppe, it appears to be, following genetic studies, the closest relative to the original wild horses [ORL 13]. The horse’s ability to adapt to the cold, which has been studied in the yakut breed, is linked to the massive reprogramming of the expression of certain genes, such as the mechanism of adaptation to the cold of woolly mammoths and humans (thus the PRKG1 gene, which acts on the constriction of vessels to limit heat loss, would have been identically reprogrammed in horses and humans, to fight the cold) [LIB 15]. Moreover, as a herbivore, the horse is quite capable of finding food adapted to its physiology in the steppe, proving to be able to break the ice with its hooves to find grass [DEL 10], while satisfying itself, despite its greed, with poor-quality fodder. Another particularity of horses, compared to cattle: Equus caballus has a digestive system centered on the intestine that does not require

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rumination of the food bowl (i.e. regurgitation in the mouth of the bowl pre-digested in the stomach). Thus, the horse is almost able to run permanently (“always ready”), where the bovine must spend time ruminating (“always chewing”), during which the animal can induce less effort [BUD 07]. The steppe seems to have been the scene of the horse’s primitive domestication (Figure 4.23), which occurred either undifferentiated in its western part [WAR 12] or more focused in North Kazakhstan, around 3500 BCE [OUT 09], from a reduced core of wild mares. A state of affairs that made many of the features of the original horse disappear among domesticated subjects, perhaps following the example of “civilizational sedentary life” with an agricultural determinant that domesticated the human being [GEI 02]. From this perspective, it seems useful to the relevance of the reflection to ruminate on the idea that the domestication of plant species has led to the evolution, through the evolution of human nutrition, of human enzymatic equipment. We can take the example of alcohol dehydrogenase, an enzyme used to metabolize alcohol, which was modified in sapiens in connection with the consumption of pseudo-beer associated with the emergence of agrarian societies [DIA 02], while having previously evolved towards a better metabolizing capacity, under the effect of an undetermined mutation that would have concerned, 10 million years ago, the common ancestor of man and great apes [CAR 15]. As for beer, its appeal was pointed out as the origin of cereal cultivation, even if it was perhaps more of a “happy” consequence9 [DOM 15].

Figure 4.22. Przewalski’s horse (source: Lawrence, CCBY)

9 The relationship between ethyl alcohol and human physiology is an interesting question. Indeed, alcoholism may reflect the fact that humans have encountered alcohol too recently (10,000 years) for their metabolism to have had time to find a solution, through the evolution of their genes, to effectively degrade it [CAR 15].

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To continue with the domestication of the horse, this significant event has been associated with the evolution of 125 genes, following the comparison of pre-domestication horse bones and domesticated horse bones. These 125 genes, positively selected through domestication, are expected to regulate a set of organic functions – including muscle development and heart resistance – and cognitive functions, in particular, learning ability and reaction to fear [SCH 14]. Figure 4.23 also suggests that the spread of initial animal domestication processes may have encouraged the domestication of new species, including Equus caballus. Indeed, since the horse therefore arrived in Asia via the Behring Strait, i.e. from the east, it is not a priori expected that its domestication has occurred in the western part of the steppe, which is very far (7,000 km as the crow flies) from the presumed point of entry of Equus caballus in Asia. The factor that could explain this anomaly could be, in addition to the fact that the western steppes were more populated than the eastern ones, the relative proximity (1,300 km as the crow flies) between the Equus caballus domestication zone and the Syro-Turkish ruminant domestication zone, within which these domestications would have occurred around 8000 BCE, i.e. 4,000– 4,500 years before the domestication of the horse. Thus, ruminant breeders in the Syrian-Turkish area were able to migrate northwards, for example, under the pressure of climate change, spreading during these migrations “domestication culture” in their regions of settlement and induce among the people of these regions, after having perhaps initiated it themselves, the domestication of the horse.

Figure 4.23. The steppes and the domestication of the horse. For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

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COMMENT TO FIGURE 4.23.– The green color delimits the steppes. The enclosed part of the map shows the expanded horse domestication area, the red dotted line the focused area and the blue box the initial ruminant domestication area. The red arrow indicates the horse’s arrival in Asia, and the blue one the hypothesis of a diffusion of domestication, from its birthplace region (domestication of ruminants) to the steppe (domestication of the horse) (source: Cerambyxcerdo, CCBY (map background)). Initially only hunted, the horse became increasingly respected and therefore used, a change of status (from prey to collaborator) which implied, in addition to the development of an intense symbolic and mystical relationship between the rider and his horse [DEL 10], the nutritional use of the equine species for the consumption of his meat and the milking of females. This is attested to by the discovery of traces of mare’s milk in pottery, dating from the time of the domestication of Equus caballus [OUT 09]. Moreover, the tradition of mare milk-based foods, which is easily digestible and quite similar to human milk, still exists in Central Asia with koumis and aïrag (preparations based on fermented milk) [WAR 18a]. The qualities of the horse also hold to: speed and endurance, as well as that of his rider (Genghis Khan’s “arrow messengers”, thanks to a network of relay stations, would travel up to 400 km per day) [HOÀ 88]; muscular power, and therefore the ability to tow and jump; reduced sleep time; and acceptance of the rider’s domination, through the existence of an edentulous area on the animal’s lower jaw, in which a bit can be placed, in order to drive the horse and adjust its speeds. Moreover, the bit, as well as the saddle and stirrups were invented in the Eurasian steppes; thus, the oldest representation of a four-wheeled cart equipped with a harness, dating from the time of the domestication of the horse (3500–3350 BCE) [ANT 10], was discovered in Poland, engraved on a clay mug, i.e. 600 km as the crow flies from the Ukrainian steppes, which would have been concerned by the primitive domestication of the horse. A group of nomadic people – horse lovers and ruminant herders – historically shared the steppe areas. Among these people, we can mention from the 9th Century BCE: the Cimmerians, the Huns, the Indo-Aryans, the Manchus, the Mongols, the Oghuz, the Uighurs, the Scythians, the Turks and the Xiongnu. As for the development of steppe societies, it has been able to rely on the fact that steppe populations have benefited from: a good protein diet (meat and dairy products: cow, yak, sheep, horse); a controlled demography (given the need to transport young children on mounts when moving tribes); assets, which we have just reviewed, in conjunction with the company of horses and a dynamic and flexible lifestyle, developed within a harsh environment, but which these people controlled and whose climate was favorable enough. Perhaps more so than today, 1221, like at the time of Genghis Khan and according to the philosopher K’ieou Tch’ang-tch’ouen [PEL 51],

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“ice would have started melting at the end of April in the steppe”. In addition to going about their daily lives, the people of the steppe spent much of their time opposing each other in conflicts caused by the theft of horses and women and by the power claims of their leaders, and thus stealing towards the south or west to disrupt sedentary people, looting their cities and putting them under their control. This, after terrorizing them with the explosiveness of their cavalry troops (Figure 4.23) and the skill of their arrows, which the steppe warriors knew how to throw, from the control tower of their mounts, in all directions and positions. All things and others, such as the genius and audacity of the Mongolian leaders, which succeeded: to the constitution of an empire of more than 30 million km2), whose culmination was reached in 1280 under Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis; and to the construction by the Chinese, long before the Mongolian threat, of the “endless wall”, a colossal network of fortifications more than 21,000 km long, which was made with the help of earth full of reeds, then bricks and “glutinous rice mortar”. Wall which, bristling with watchtowers and one end of which joined the sea (Figure 4.24), played a role as a line of defense – and a base of attack – against the conquering nomadic people, the Xiongnu to begin with and the Manchus to finish.

Figure 4.24. Top: Mongolian riders in the steppe during a historical reconstruction (source: Onetwo1, CCBY). Bottom: end of the Chinese wall plunging into the ocean (source: Fuzheado, CCBY)

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Until the 16th Century, conquering nomadism was a threat to societies in southern Asia, before powerful states in China and Russia provided these societies with a partially protective buffer zone (which did not prevent the Manchus from defeating the Chinese Ming dynasty and establishing themselves at the helm of China). Finally, we can think that the constant pressure of nomadism in the North must not have been favorable to the opening up of the Asian countries, which lived, particularly because of this more or less constant pressure, tightened on absolutisms and forced into defensive retreats. For their part, the populations of the steppes lived in a space that carried with it immemorial practices, the simple perpetuation of which allowed them to flourish and remain actors of the world’s affairs. Indeed, as long as the grass and horses grew, as long as the conquests provided wealth and luxury items, as long as the Khan or its equivalent did not falter and as long as its lieutenants conducted their military campaigns at a good pace, through alliances and misalliances, plundering and backward surges, everything could continue as before. Especially since the steppe societies, pastoral, sparsely populated (0.2–0.4 inhabitant/km2, in reference to the Mongolian empire) and extensive (although endowed, in an extraordinarily contrasting way, with a very intense animal collaborator), did not have to worry too much about making their production profitable and diversified, to innovate technically and to reform their institutions in order to respond to demographic explosions or commercial competition. In this traditionalist state of mind, the emperors of the last Chinese dynasty, who were therefore of Manchu origin, merged into the culture of the country – brilliant in terms of civilization – that they had succeeded in submitting. A country in which these emperors, although they came from the freedom of the great outdoors, remained enclosed, like living gods, until the 20th Century. This was done in grandiose palaces that acted as perfectly opaque screens between: on the one hand, their status as totally intangible celestial leaders, and on the other hand, the perfectly terrestrial destiny of the farming masses assigned to hard daily labor. Our discussion on eastern10 diffusion and exploration of the steppe ends here.

10 The end of the eastern spread of Homo corresponds to their arrival in the Behring Strait, at the end of Siberia. An arrival that allowed the swarming of their communities on foot, since at least 130,000 years ago [HOL 17], towards the American continent during periods of glaciation, in connection with a drop of about a hundred meters in sea level, while the depth of the strait does not seem to exceed 55 m today [JAK 17].

5 Cultural Intermission

5.1. Taking stock Let us now take stock, at this point. Let us recall the conditions for advancing the reflection, take a (cultural) intermission and prepare for the next step. To do this, “we’ll go round in circles” if necessary for a few pages and let the idea come to us. By this distraction we can hopefully methodologically construct, the path and the thread of the future stages of the scientific itinerary. During the first four sequences of our route, we wandered far and wide. Thus, our steps, our gathered minds, our methodology and our means of moving, ranging from the caravan and the flying-over thought, to the story of the Ark, have taken us in particular: Germany, Arabia, along the Congo river, Cuba, the straits, the United States, Ethiopia, along the Euphrates, Greece, India, along the Indus, Iraq, Lyon, Morocco, Malaysia, Mexico, along the Mediterranean, along the Nile, Ottawa, Beijing, Peru, the Middle East, Rome, along the Silk Roads and to Turkey. All places on the planet in which humanity has a passion, it suffers, seeks, creates, analyzes, entertains, indulges, regains courage, revolts and questions. The journey and research, as experienced by the reader and their penholder thanks to all those who have contributed to it through their research, proposals and comments, have been and should be, in the pages to come, an opportunity to visualize and acquire fundamentals about the societies of sapiens and about sapiens themselves, and also to question the realities of the world. These are realities that will be useful to build on when the time comes to trace, in all humility, avenues of work that can contribute to a better harmonization of humanity.

The World’s Construction Mechanism: Trajectories, Imbalances and the Future of Societies, First Edition. Jacques Barnouin. © ISTE Ltd 2020. Published by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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How has this stroll worked so far? Based on the results of a semantic analysis1 carried out using the Tropes software (www.tropes.fr) and which focused on the text of the first four stages of the journey, the path turned out to be: composed of 66 episodes; carrier of 231 propositions; built on a argumentative mode and written using a dynamic style. Moreover, as far as the sources of information that guided our journey as travelers are concerned, they were almost all published in the 21st Century or slightly earlier. Thus, the reflection would have been less in-depth if it only had been carried out on the basis of concepts, knowledge and perspectives dating, for example, from the middle of the 20th Century, or even 20 years ago. What the journey also indicates, in view of the diversity of the publications on which it is based, is the major interest that it seems to have, in order to advance knowledge about the journey and development of humanity, to base research on collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches [VAR 08]. Collaborations that would need to be structured in the long term, under the aegis of research  consortia – thus, cooperation between anthropologists, archeologists, geneticists, geographers, historians, computer scientists, neurologists, nutritionists, philosophers, physicists, sociologists and statisticians – appear to be at the heart of the questions that a journey concerning the human being raises, given the diversity of information, methods and reasoning to be mastered, in order to be in a better position to shed light on the questions raised by the paths of our species. Indeed, understanding the human dynamics of the past requires the use of scientific arguments, both fossil (related to soil excavation), genetic and cultural [BOI 11]. These can be provided by: archeological  techniques; dating  methods; DNA analyses; highlighting the genetic evolution of key molecules in the body’s functioning, such as enzymes; material recognition and manufacturing techniques using mass spectrography and scanning electron microscopy; and finally, advanced statistical methods for multivariate analysis, modeling and software reconstruction of archeological traces [PRO 19]. Thus, with regard to the study of human roots, research teams have gradually moved from an interpretative approach, relatively subjective and conditioned by the historical context, to an approach that could be described as more objective [ARC 07]. For our part, the conviction that we have forged in our methodological course is that only the monitoring of concerted approaches (deductive, prospective, experimental, modeler) – using, in a complementary manner and without rejecting each other, the concepts and methods of the sciences, particularly the human and biological sciences, including ecology

1 The purpose of semantic analysis is to characterize, through computer applications, the description and overall direction of the meaning of sentences or entire texts.

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and genomics [LAL 15] – seem to be able to improve understanding of the complexities of the sapiens path. As such, the initiation of multivariate statistical RAS on the main factors of success and imbalance in societies could be very useful in explaining the specific and real influence of each of these factors, independently of the effect of all the others. And as for the progress of interdisciplinary research, while it seems highly desirable since it is potentially the creator of a collective intelligence – greater than the sum of individual intelligences [WOO 10] – it can only be achieved concretely and sufficiently if interdisciplinarity: is placed at the heart of researchers’ missions; is considered as a scientific attitude to be reinforced, in the same way as disciplinary solitudes [BAR 10b]; allows researchers to participate – equally and whatever their disciplines – in the development of scientific consortia established in the medium-long term; and is fully considered by scientific publishers in their directions and in their publishing themes [GUI 18].

5.2. Tracing culture To illustrate the value of a plural scientific analysis of human issues, let us consider, for example, a field of study that concerns us all in the first place. This field is culture, as a consubstantial trait to the human being and as an explanatory parameter, both of many of its most beautiful achievements and of many of the major conflicts that have marked its history. In the cultural field, the need for a plural scientific approach was particularly highlighted by the work of Kevin Laland (anthropologist), John Odling Smee (geneticist) and Sean Myles (biologist), published in the journal Nature through an article entitled “How culture shaped the human genome: bringing genetics and the human sciences together” [LAL 10]. Laland’s reflection and that of his collaborators points out that culture cannot undoubtedly be studied as a set of behaviors that cannot be separated from each other and made up of a collection of ways of thinking, traditions and values, knowing that no consensual definition of culture, taken as a whole, appears to exist in the social sciences. Faced with this lack of a consensual definition of culture, geneticists and anthropobiologists interested in exploring how cultural phenomena interact with genes have chosen a pragmatic way of considering culture, which consists of dividing it into unitary features. For these researchers and through their analysis, a cultural trait is a unitary information describing knowledge, a belief, a value or skill that can affect individual behavior; and that they acquire other individuals through teaching, imitation and other forms of social learning.

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In addition, culture changes can be modeled, according to the biological approach to cultural phenomena, as Darwinian2 processes involving selective conservation and the transmission, through the functioning of genes, of favorable cultural traits. Thus, in the absence of being analyzed as a whole, culture is divided by geneticists into modalities (e.g. consumption or non-consumption of dairy products, or a diet rich or low in starch). The frequencies of these modalities are analyzed in an attempt to associate them with genes that have recently been the subject of positive selection (i.e. genetic selection that has led to the emergence of a mutation carrying a characteristic that appears to be advantageous to a species, Homo sapiens in this case), and whose category (e.g. defensive response to pathogens or type of behavior towards other individuals of the species) seems overrepresented within all positively selected genetic traits [LAL 10]. Statistical modeling of the co-evolution (i.e. the reciprocal influence) of genes and culture on human evolution has thus explored how learned behavior jointly evolves with alleles affecting the acquisition of that behavior. These analyses have examined, in particular, the adaptive benefits of trust situations on learning and culture, as well as the field of the transmission of personality traits and capacities for expression and cooperation. Overall, human decisions, through cultural evolutions of sapiens that have included the development of agriculture and the construction of complex societies, have meant that human beings have ultimately evolved more genetically through their cultural leaps than through the environmental changes to which they have been subjected [BOY 05]. In this regard, Table 5.1 presents the genes identified as having been the subject of recent and rapid evolutionary selection, and the cultural and environmental factors considered to be related to the evolution of these genes. To take an example from this table, namely, lactose tolerance (the ability of adult sapiens to digest milk and dairy products), one way to study the influence of the major environmental and cultural pathways on lactose tolerance was to study the respective influences of dairy farming practice and latitude (as a descriptive variable of major climate types) [HOL 07]. Thus, it has been shown that lactose tolerance seems to be covariate, within human societies, with the practice by these same societies of dairy farming (cultural factor), and not with the latitude in which these societies have established and developed (environmental factor). 2 This is related to the scientific thinking of Charles Darwin (an English naturalist who revolutionized biology in 1859 through his book On the Origin of Species), according to which each living being results from an evolution, i.e. from gradual modifications of its species accumulated over time by its ancestors.

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Gene acronym

Gene dependent function or phenotype

Suspected cause of gene evolution

LCT*, MAN2A1, IF, SLC27A4, PPARD, SLC25A20, NCOA1, LEPR, LEPR, LEPR, ADAMTS19, ADAMTS20, APEH, PLAU, HDAC8, UBR1, USP26, SCP2, NKX2-2, AMY1, ADH, NPY1R, NPY5R

Digestion of dairy products; metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins, lipids and phosphates, and alcohol

Farming and use of milk, food preferences, alcohol consumption

Cytochrome P450 genes: CYP3A5, CYP2E1, CYP1A2 and CYP2D6

Detoxification of secondary plant compounds

Domestication of plants

CD58, APOBEC3F, CD72, FCRL2, TSLP, RAG1, RAG2, CD226, IGJ, TJP1, VPS37C, CSF2, CCNT2, DEFB118, STAB1, SP1, ZAP70, BIRC6, CUGBP1, DLG3, HMGCR, STS, XRN2, ATRN, G6PD, TNFSF5, HbC, HbE, HbS, Duffy system, α-globin

Immunity, response to pathogens; resistance to malaria and other communicable diseases

Geographical dispersion, agriculture, urbanization and new pathogens

LEPR, PON1, RAPTOR, MAPK14, CD36, DCR1, FABP2, SOD1, CETP, EGFR, NPPA, EPHX2, MAPK1, UCP3, LPA

Energy metabolism, heat or cold tolerance; thermal shock genes

Dispersion-migration, exposure to a new climate

SLC24A5, SLC25A2, EDAR, EDA2R, SLC24A4, KITLG, TYR, 6p25.3, OCA2, MC1R, MYO5A, DTNBP1, TYRP1, RAB27A, MATP, MC2R, ATRN, TRPM1, SILV, KRTAPs, DCT

Visible phenotype (skin pigmentation, hair thickness, eye and hair color, freckles)

Dispersion and adaptation to local conditions and/or sexual selection

CDK5RAP2, CENPJ, GABRA4, PSEN1, SYT1, SLC6A4, SNTG1, GRM3, GRM1, GLRA2, R4C13, OR2B6, RAPSN, ASPM, RNT1, SV2B, SKP1A, DAB1, APPBP2, APBA2, PCDH15, PHACTR1, ALG10, PREP, GPM6A, DGKI, ASPM, MCPH1

Nervous system, brain function and development; language and vocal learning skills

Complex culturally dependent cognition; social intelligence; language use and voice learning

Skeleton development

Dispersion and sexual selection

Development of jaw muscle fibers; tooth enamel thickness

Invention of the kitchen; composition of rations

BMP3, BMPR2, BMP5, GDF5 MYH16, ENAM

Table 5.1. Genes that have been recently selected for evolution, and selective pressure factors related to their evolution [LAL 10]. *: The LCT gene (first line of the table) is responsible for the synthesis of lactase in humans, which induces the dissociation of lactose (milk sugar) into glucose and galactose. As such, lactase is necessary for adult digestion of milk (the link between the acronym of genes and their name is specified in the publication [LAL 10])

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The strong ability of sapiens to adopt cultural attitudes that respond to environmental variations has led to the fact that our species has undergone far fewer physical changes as a result of these variations than other species [LAL 10]. Indeed, to take an example, it is enough for man, to live in a polar climate, to: cover his body with warm clothes; build insulated igloos; develop workable and fast hunting skins (kayaks); and provide himself with a diet high in fat. While to live near the pole, the brown bear (Ursus arctos) cannot “remain true to himself” and must therefore “transform” in another species, the polar bear (Ursus maritimus). That is to say in a species with: a thick layer of fat under the skin; a thick fur and down; a white coat ensuring camouflage on the sea ice; a black skin promoting luminous energy absorption; and finally, a short tail, small ears, a spindle-shaped head and an elongated body, making the polar bear a champion of swimming in cold water. Thus, it is probably the exceptional cultural adaptability of sapiens that has made this species the only one of its genus (the Homo genus) on the planet today, while it has colonized the Earth, from the equator to the poles, from continents to islands and from deserts to dense forests. Thus, this capacity for adaptation, which has not involved any profound modification of the sapiens and is in accordance with their strong genetic homogeneity, puts them (us) in a position to be able to reason their (our) future of being a relatively collaborative species; which would perhaps be more difficult to achieve if several species of Homo existed on the planet – in a contemporary and possibly competing way – as was the case during Prehistory, at the time when, at the very least, sapiens, neanderthalensis and denisovensis had – the scientific route has already given us the opportunity to discuss this subject – the opportunity to associate sometimes assiduously [WAR 18b]. Cultural transmission also seems to depend, in humans, not only on genetic traits (related to the information contained in the DNA sequence) and epigenetic traits (related to the modulation of gene activity by experience), but also on social interactions at first sight “outside genetics” [DAN 10], through what can be called behavioral imprinting, parental transmission, learning or teaching. In addition to humans, this has been observed in animals. Thus, an “innovative bumblebee”, as we have previously noted, appears to be able to acquire a know-how – unprecedented in its species – that allows it to access a coveted delicacy. This is know-how that appears to be transferable, let us recall, to other bumblebees through the generations. Moreover, in some grouse (a kind of large pheasant described in 1758 by Linnaeus), females have been observed to preferentially select for mating the male partners most chosen by other females [HÖG 95]; and in some fish, such as Poecilia

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velifera, the natural preference of females – whose size is greater than that of males – goes to large males (Figure 5.1).

Figure 5.1. Poecilia velifera (source: Massysmith, CCBY)

However, after having observed, on the one hand, small males in the process of copulating, and on the other hand, large males abandoned by females, the “female observers” tend to choose small males for sexual partners, thus modifying their original sexual preference [HIL 06]. In our species, the attractiveness of a man, as a potential sexual partner of a woman, may be influenced by the woman’s acquisition of social information – from other women – about this potential partner [DEN 15]; or it may be increased, somewhat like the reproductive practices found in grouse, when the male partner appears to attract other women [ROD 16]. In the light of our cultural detour, the continuity between the sapiens animal and other animal species seems to be confirmed. This seems logical, because nothing at the bottom of what we perceive about the functioning of the world makes us fundamentally different from individuals of other species. Apart from this, undoubtedly, the myths and images that human societies have created and given to their cultures, to make Homo sapiens a de novo elaboration that escapes, as if by magic, the rules and the slowness of evolution. These rules, however, seem – and logically so – to be confronted in all eternity, and this long before the appearance of man and his behavior and claims of dominance, all the variations of living things.

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Finally, a culture appears to define a way of life composed of a set of inherited genetic traits resulting from environmental adaptations, as well as passive imitations and transmissions activated through affectivity, emotion, education, social pressure and submission, which are themselves possibly activated by mirror3 neuron-like mechanisms (Figure 5.2). As for the community that seems most likely to ensure the quality of these imitations and transmissions, especially during childhood, it is universally a relational system built around parental authority, assisted by that of close family points of contact. A relational one proves to be, at the same time, potentially early, solid and benevolent. Moreover, if we consider cultures in a more conceptual way, they can be seen as “shell-like ecosystems” with which human communities would, on the one hand, be unconsciously endowed, and on the other hand, would consciously endow themselves in order to act more solidly towards their environment. Nevertheless, if cultural shells tend to strengthen the solidity of the communities to which they are affiliated, they can, on the contrary, contribute to withering these same communities and preventing them from asking themselves with sufficient acuity the question. This can occur in spite of how constructive and promising for the future the strengthening dialogue between the diversity of sociocultures is, which sapiens in search of answers and protection have raised from the diversity of their existential histories.

Figure 5.2. Newborn macaque sticking out his tongue by imitation [GRO 06] (source: Archeodontosaurus, CCBY)

Thus, whatever the importance of the cultural fact and the philosophies it conveys, universal societal questions must not be relegated to the background by an overemphasis on their particularities, or even their genius or their own success, on 3 The concept of mirror neuron is based on the fact that some neurons, whose activity has been highlighted in particular in the human cerebral cortex, would play a major role in imitative learning processes and cultural transmissions. As such, mirror neurons are activated not only when an individual performs a specific motor action, but also when he observes another individual of his species performing the same or a similar act [DEB 13, KIL 13, RIZ 04].

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the part of cultures themselves. Indeed, while cultural particularities all have their importance and contribute happily to human biodiversity, they all appear mainly shaped by local circumstances, historical chances and copies of previous or neighboring cultures (according to Claude Lévi-Strauss, in Race et histoire, “no culture is unique; it is always given in coalition with others”). As a result, no cultural particularism can claim to have a general scope, neither in time nor in space (“one culture drives out the other”), and to claim to be “better or more encompassing in truth” than the others. Moreover, each sapiens must learn to cherish, but probably also to put his culture into perspective, insofar as: each individual is more likely to be a part of his parents’ culture than of any other; and since the parents’ culture is generally linked to the dominant culture of their country of origin. Thus, depending on where he lives – and where his parents live – a sapiens of culture A could have had culture B, C or Z. This implies that if this sapiens participates in a cultural conflict, he may find himself opposed to himself. It is therefore modesty, an extreme modesty that must be recommended to cultures and their variations; this, so that cultures: protect themselves against possible hegemonic dreams; and protect themselves from the consequences of mythical and unreasonable discord that they can convey. Nevertheless, if cultures and those who engage in or refer to them must relativize and contain the scope of their messages, it is the interactive sum of cultures that appears to constitute the backbone of humanity; and it would then be the cultures – associated and interpenetrated – that would make us, in terms of standing and language, human beings [FOL 16]. End of intermission and curtain up again.

6 Mechanism and Realities

6.1. The world’s mechanism After the intermission, let us try to outline the beginning of a summary. Thus, a beginning will be structured around: a summary presentation of the “world’s construction mechanism” (WCM), as emerged from the progress of the previous steps; and from the analysis of the diversity of destinies existing between human communities, as a result of the functioning of this mechanism. Overall, the “iron law”, which is said to outline the differences in prosperity between nations, has been the result of a bio-eco-geographical process interacting with the evolutionary history of our species (Figure 6.1). Thus, the WCM would have been set in motion due to five main factors that interacted in time and space, namely: – Due to the African origin of Homo and the fact that Egypt must have been the preferred exit from Africa (for potentially explanatory reasons: positioning of potential Homo birthplace regions (Figure 6.2); transport-migration of primitive human groups facilitated by the South-North Nile Current or by following the Mediterranean coast of North Africa; the Nile Delta and eastern end of the North African coast positioned at the sole land exit route from Africa, the easiest to use “in a massive way” by communities of bipeds; and finally, a possible role in guiding migration through the celestial position of the North Star).  – The most evolved Homos, including Homo sapiens, have been equipped with a zone of thermal comfort and physio-mental optimization focused on cool temperatures (reasons: a downward trend in ambient temperature during the evolution of the Homos; hyper-caloric functioning of the brain and intensification of their reflexive activities; ability to adapt to the cold; and a strong inventiveness (fire, clothing, shelter), which has allowed Homos to protect themselves from the consequences of low temperatures. As a counterpoint, living in a climatically warm part of the planet seems to represent a very significant disadvantage for sapiens, unless they work and live in a climatized atmosphere.

The World’s Construction Mechanism: Trajectories, Imbalances and the Future of Societies, First Edition. Jacques Barnouin. © ISTE Ltd 2020. Published by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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Figure 6.1. Diagram of the main stages of the “mechanism” for the differentiated economic development of societies (“hot” zone: in red; “cold” zone: in bright blue; “temperate” zone: in dark blue; “inaccessible to primitive homo”: in gray; Levant-Near East: in yellow). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/ construction.zip

COMMENT ON FIGURE 6.1.– 1. Africa, the birthplace of hominids; 2. the geographical crossroads “Mediterranean coast–Nile-Levant”; 3. the Middle East and the Fertile Crescent, early societal incubators; 4. the “Great European Lake”, a zone favorable to the development of societies; 5. colonization-domination of the planet by the nations of the “Great European Lake” and the colonies originating from these nations/in counterpoint: relative isolation “of Asiatic civilizational basins”. – The Middle East was the first, and probably the most intense, meeting place for Homo communities in migration. Bordered to the East by arid lands and plateaus, and to the West by the beautiful Mediterranean, the narrow and climate-hospitable little strip of the Levant, connected to the alluvial plains of the Tigris and Euphrates, favored contacts and exchanges between migrant groups, and thus constituted a prominent place for their early socialization and sedentarization. This led to the constitution of the first complex societies, including those of Sumer and Egypt, with a precocity that would be of the order of 1,000 to 1,500 years, with respect to the other regions of the planet in which centers of human emergence were independent of those of the Near East that have nevertheless been at the basis of very notable advances (“Asiatic civilizational basins”). As for the precocities of the

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Fertile Crescent, they concerned a range of areas that created prosperity, such as the development of administrative organizations, participatory institutions, written codes and domestication and navigation techniques.

Figure 6.2. The Nile basin. The red star shows the site of Ledi-Geraru (Ethiopia), on which the oldest known – and discussed – trace of the Homo genus (2.8 million years old) was found [VIL 15b]. For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

– The most comfortable and easiest climatically accessible area to reach since the Levant is the “Great European Lake”. This “lake” has offered, through its geography a temperate living space for the human communities that have settled there from the Middle East. It has also facilitated the circulation of ideas (economic, political, social), techniques and products, thanks to interconnected maritime spaces, a number of navigable rivers, and a relatively small area. Thus, it was in the west-northwest direction – with reference to the Levant – that Greek civilization and, subsequently, Roman civilization were created, first in island occupation zones and then in continental areas. These have been largely at the root, through a process specified in Chapter 4, of the constitution of prosperous European States. 

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– The organizational, military and financial advance of the States of the “Great European Lake”, well positioned to optimize the physio-mental qualities of their inhabitants, led these nations to embark on exploration–colonization–conquest projects. These projects, based on the exploitation of local labor and resources, have contributed to the prosperity of their pilot nations. As for the colonies, while they sometimes benefited from significant adjustments, some of their civilizations were wiped off the map of the world. Colonizing societies began in the 15th Century through the “discovery of America”. The American continent came under European control between the 15th and 18th Centuries, and the same was true for the other continents, between the 16th and 20th Centuries. All this took place before: China, long isolated from the world by its immobile imperial systems, woke up [PEY 80] and launched into worldwide competition; Asian dragons and tigers accelerated in the wake of the Chinese; the United States, giants of innovation, spread their dominance and used it immoderately; and a system of hyperconsumption and waste of natural resources was established, fuelled by personalized advertising packaging, established for the notable benefit of planetary firms including sapiens in their standards and slogans. This system now shows itself capable of reacting in real time, through a set of computer applications and screens: to the choices of Web pages on which everyone surfs; to the car model that everyone drives; and to the face or look that everyone wears. 6.2. A very important differential The process of developing human societies that the journey has conjured appears to be coherent. Even though modeling studies could allow us, provided that a set of relevant expert collaborations and relevant data sets are available (including paleoclimatic data (see in particular, on this subject, Quaternary in the Levant) [ENZ 17]) to test the validity of the WCM and to clarify the specific effect of the variables associated, in space and time, with the prosperity level of nations. While the WCM appears to have structured the world from the Middle East, it should nevertheless be recalled, at this point in the journey, that other “maturing societal arcs”, less fortunate in their placement than the one that gradually led our African ancestors to the “Great European Lake”, have led to the emergence of great civilizations, especially in Africa and Asia. This, as we have seen, is in line with Chinese civilization and its 5,000 rivers, which have enabled China’s development, in addition to fertilizing alluvium and rich aquatic fauna, more than 100,000 km of natural waterways (to which can be added “the Great Canal”, which linked Beijing to Hangzhou along 1,800 km). In any case, these are characteristics that appeared to be entirely favorable to societal development, since human communities have never ceased to organize their existence, and to exchange, enjoy, trade and build their prosperity, around water and water-induced practical and mental itineraries.

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If the WCM appears plausible and logical, this could be because we have not examined evidence, and have only looked at likelihoods. These likelihoods, based on cross-checks and confrontations, can impose themselves on reason in the absence of evidence and absolute truths. Moreover, according to Louis de Jaucourt, who was one of the editors of the Encyclopédie (1765): “The truth is something so important for man, that he must always seek safe means to arrive at it; and when he cannot, he must compensate himself by focusing on what is closest to it, which is what is called probability.” With reference to the functioning of the WCM, there is a “moment” that would probably be very useful to study specifically, in order to learn a little more about ourselves, if at least such a study is not already under way. This moment, or rather these moments, is that of encounters – south of the Levant and at its junction with Africa – between migrating Homo communities, following their journeys out of their home continent (Figure 6.3). While keeping in mind the founding periods that were the exits from Africa (but staying in Africa was also a constructor, given the dynamism of African societies, and this, despite their fragility) [SHA 13], let us return to the economy. In this respect, the two groups of countries that were previously formed and compared in terms of their prosperity therefore have extremely different GDP at PPP per capita. Thus, the median GDP at PPP of the large prosperous countries (PR+) is 19 times higher than the GDP at PPP of the large poorest countries (PR–). Such a gap, obviously considerable, seems even more incredible when we see that the “ratio of prosperity” between two extreme countries – the United States and the Democratic Republic of Congo – is 73.

Figure 6.3. Ancestral encounters in the pivotal region of human migration (source: Franck Vicentz, CCBY; background map: Google Maps)

But behind the indicators, there are concrete existences; and at this level, the figure that is most affiliated with the idea of existence is life expectancy (exp). However, the value of this synthetic indicator averages 79.8 years (expPR+) in prosperous countries, and 60.4 years (expPR–) in those that are not. This corresponds to a vast gap of 19.4 years, with extremes ranging from 83.6 years (Japan) to 52.2 years (Chad), a difference of 31 years. Such differences far exceed

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the beneficial effect of genetic predispositions on human life expectancy, which would be of the order of 10 years in a population, according to a study on the Serpine1 gene of chromosome 7 [KHA 17]. This gene affects the production of PAI-1 glycoprotein inhibitor 1 of the plasminogen activator, which is itself involved in the cellular aging process. This very large difference in life expectancy within the same species – ours – is completely unexpected and appears to be an anomaly, since the inhabitants of the most prosperous nations live almost a generation longer than those of the poorest States. In this respect, since the 1.43 billion inhabitants of the “average prosperity countries” have a life expectancy of 75.1 years (expPRm), a life expectancy of less than (expPRm) – (expPR+ – expPRm), i.e. 70.4 years, can be considered as humanly and statistically abnormal.

Figure 6.4. Exp– countries (in red), whose population has a low life expectancy (less than 70 years) (source: douwe.com (background map)). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

In this regard, Figure 6.4 maps the 67 Exp– States (life expectancy less than 70 years), 47 of which are located in Africa, 15 in Asia, 3 in America and 2 in Oceania, where the average citizen has an abnormally low life expectancy. As such, these 67 States, which, like 70% of the world’s population, are almost deprived of significant social protection, can be considered as not having access to the expected minimum living conditions. Here is the list of these countries, classified by increasing life expectancy: Central African Republic (exp = 50.6 years), Sierra Leone, Chad, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Lesotho, Somalia, South Sudan, Swaziland, Guinea-Bissau,

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Burundi, Mali, Mozambique, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea-Conakry, Uganda, Niger, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Gambia, Zambia, Angola, South Africa, Liberia, Malawi, Djibouti, Ghana, Haiti, Namibia, Mauritania, Afghanistan, Comoros, Republic of Congo, Sudan, Tanzania, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Yemen, Botswana, Madagascar, Gabon, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, Laos, Rwanda, Pakistan, Kenya, Myanmar, Senegal, São Tomé and Príncipe, Guyana, Turkmenistan, India, Cambodia, East Timor, Bolivia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Mongolia, Micronesia, Bhutan, Iraq and Nepal (exp = 69.5 years). In total, more than 3 billion people and 42% of the world’s population. Returning to the comparison between PR+ and PR– countries, it seems necessary to differentiate these two groups of countries in concrete terms, in addition to life expectancy (which is not only linked to prosperity, but also strongly associated with it), through variables illustrating the gap in living conditions between these groups of nations. A considerable gap, shown in Figures 6.5 and 6.6, which concern six houses located in rural areas today, three of which are located in PR+ countries and three in PR– countries, make it possible to assess, in a way that is not statistically representative, but that is probably perfectly illustrative. As for Table 6.1, it presents – with a statistical focus – the 15 variables, the values of which come from World Bank data (2017) that differentiate most significantly, in terms of health, education and domestic equipment, the living conditions of people in PR+ countries versus those in PR– countries. Through this table, three characteristics highlight the great precariousness of daily life in the countries of the PR– group. For example, 83.2%1 of rural residents in PR– countries (compared to 0% of those in PR+ countries) do not have electricity in their homes; second, 91.9% of citizens in PR– countries, compared to 0.003% of those in PR+ ones, do not have access to clean fuels and technologies for domestic cooking (such as stoves that reduce exposure to indoor air pollutants), a situation that is one of the main causes of death in low-income households in poor countries, and finally, 26.8% of rural inhabitants in PR– countries who do not have access to properly equipped toilets (compared to only 0.03% of those in PR+ countries) practice open defecation (which they also do as a cultural habit). Note that open defecation – and lack of sanitation in general – are considered significant risk factors for many infectious and parasitic diseases, such as cholera, typhoid fever, poliomyelitis or trachoma. In short: there is a world with water and electricity, even with gas on all floors, and a world often without water [WWA 19], without electricity, without gas and without floor.

1 In the most prosperous countries, about 21% of the population resides in rural areas compared to 71% in non-prosperous countries.

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Figure 6.5. Rural houses in countries of the PR– group (source: maison-monde.com, rights reserved). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

Mechanism and Realities

Figure 6.6. Rural houses in the PR+ group (source: top: Bernard Gagnon; middle: Jean Louis Venet; bottom: Wiliam Crocho, CCBY). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

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Variable

PR– countries (n = 20)

PR+ countries (n = 20)

Discrimination index

Open defecation practice (% of the rural population)

26.8

0.03

893

Secure Internet servers (number per million of inhabitants)

1.8

834.1

463

Risk of dying in childbirth during her lifetime (% of women)

2.8

0.02

140

Per capita health expenditure (in $)

41.6

3,347.4

80

Teenagers not attending secondary education (%)

43.9

1.7

26

Risk of impoverishing surgical expenses (% of population)

81.9

4.1

20

Infant mortality rate, within 5 years (per 1,000)

76.1

5.1

15

Mortality rate for tuberculosis (for 100,000)

28.8

2.0

14

Access to university (% of population)

5.9

76.9

13

Access to fuels and clean technologies for cooking (% of the population)

9.1

100

11

Pregnancy between 15 and 19 years of age (for 1,000 women aged 15–19 years)

110.8

11.0

10

Birth mortality rate (per 1,000)

27.4

2.8

10

Incidence of tuberculosis (for 100,000)

202.9

21.4

9

Access to electricity (% of rural population)

16.8

100

6

Population growth (% per year)

2.8

0.5

6

Table 6.1. Living conditions variables that are the most significantly different between large countries with low (PR–) and high (PR+) prosperity (measured by gross domestic product at purchasing power parity per capita). The discrimination index is the ratio between the highest and lowest value of a variable within the two categories of countries (example: 26.8/0.03 = 893)

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With regard to health issues, Table 6.1 indicates that: annual per capita health expenditure is around $ 3,500 per person in PR+ countries, but less than $50 in PR–  countries; more than 8 out of 10 inhabitants in PR– countries are at risk of being permanently impoverished by surgical expenditure, compared to only 1 in 25 in PR+  countries; women are 154 times more likely to die in childbirth if they are citizens of a PR– country than if they are citizens of a PR+  country; people are 10 times more likely to die at birth – and 15 times more likely to die before the age of five – if they live in a PR– country – than if they live in a PR+  country; and they are 9 times more likely to have tuberculosis in a PR– country – than in a PR+ country, and they are also 14 times more likely to die from this condition in this type of country, i.e. the risk of dying of tuberculosis when it is present, is 155% higher in non-prosperous countries than in their most prosperous counterparts. In addition to these data, it can be noted, using the example of 2016, that in 12 of the 20 PR– countries, more than 2,000 people died of AIDS, while none of the 20 PR+ countries recorded such a high level of mortality. According to Table 6.1, the other variables that differentiate strongly between poor and rich countries are education, information, life choice and access to advanced technologies. Thus, people are 26 times less likely to attend secondary education – and 13 times less likely to have access to university – if they live in a PR– country than if they live in a PR+ country. Moreover, if you are a woman aged 15–19, you are 10 times more likely to become pregnant at this very young age if you are a citizen of a PR– country than if you live in a PR+ country. This figure, which can be compared to population growth, is 6 times higher in the PR– countries than in the PR+ ones (whose population dynamics are stable, with an increase of around 0.5% per year), a worrying difference in the near future in terms of the economic consolidation capacities of the least prosperous countries. Finally, the number of secure computer servers, which is now 463 times higher in PR+ countries than in PR– countries, gives an idea of the vertiginous difference that seems to exist in terms of access to advanced information processing technologies between the most prosperous countries and the poorest countries. To better address the differences in rights and living opportunities between people in PR+ and PR– countries, other types of data are needed for analysis. Thus, in terms of freedom of movement, citizens of PR+ countries can have visa-free access to an average of 148 countries (maximum value: 159 countries, including 16 PR+: in the case of Germany) versus an average of 51 countries for citizens of PR– countries, with (minimum value: 23 countries, including no PR+ for Afghanistan) (Note: the only PR+ country accessible without visas to some PR– countries is Malaysia). With regard to currency, the national currencies of 14 PR+ countries are fully and freely convertible, a prerogative that is not that of any PR– country, even though 7 of these countries use the CFA franc (Communauté financière africaine, African Financial Community), whose convertibility is limited

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to bank transfers between France and the countries in the “CFA zone”. In addition, 19 headquarters of international agencies and major programs are located in cities in PR+ countries compared to only 2 in Nairobi, the only city in a PR– State to host such institutions (in this case, the headquarters of the United Nations Environment and Human Settlements Programs). It should also be noted: – Four of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (United States, France, United Kingdom, Russia) are PR+ countries, which is not the case for any PR–. In addition, a non-permanent member of the same Council in 2019 was a PR+ country (Poland) and none of them was a PR– country (although a small non-powerful country was part of the Council). – PR+ States have 6 of the 10 most powerful armies in the world (average world rank of PR+ nations’ armies: 24.6), while the most powerful PR– army, Ethiopia, ranks only 41st in the world (average rank of PR– countries’ armies: 93.92).  – Academically speaking, 83 of the world’s top 100 universities are located in PR+ countries, according to the “Shanghai classification”, compared to none in PR– countries, while the remaining 17 are located in small, prosperous European countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland) and in Israel.  – With regard to the Global Innovation Index (GII), 10 out of the 20 countries with a GII value over 50 (GII variation range: 0–100) are PR+, and none are PR– (the top 3 of these countries, Tanzania, Rwanda and Senegal, ranked 92nd, 99th and 100th, have an GII of 28.1, 26.5 and 26.5) [COR 18].  – 70% of the books considered as “the best in the world” or “the most publishedtranslated-sold on the planet” have been written by authors native to PR+ countries versus none by PR– writers3. As for international hyper-companies, which are major holders of capital, technology, engineering jobs and investment opportunities, 81 of the 100 largest are based in PR+ countries, none in PR– countries, and 11 are located in China. Finally, if we position PR– or countries with abnormally low life expectancy on the map of commercial shipping density (Figure 6.7), which shows the location of the world’s trade poles, we see (as we noted in Chapter 2) the relative isolation of the vast majority of countries among the least prosperous, compared to these trade flows. This is related to the fact that a large part of Africa is located away from major trade flows, which are therefore organized around Europe, North America and

2 Available at: www.globalfirepower.com. 3 Available at: thegreatestbooks.org for the most popular books of all time.

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China-Korea-Japan; and the fact that some countries have a very peripheral geographical situation, due to their mountainous and non-maritime nature (for example, Afghanistan, Bolivia).

Figure 6.7. Map of the density of commercial navigation in maritime areas (the higher the density in an area, the more pinky-red paths are bunched together; orange rectangles mark the areas in which the least prosperous countries are located) (source: Grolltech, CCBY). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste. co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

6.3. Two sub-species? Before marking out the rest of the route, let us briefly return to our animal companions. On this subject and as the most ubiquitous and prolific terrestrial vertebrates, some rodent species appear to be the most numerous on the planet. And although they cannot be accurately counted, it is probably the populations of Rattus norvegicus (black rat, sewer rat, brown rat) and Mus musculus (gray mouse, common mouse, domestic mouse) that dominate among rodents in terms of population size. But these small, profiteering, snooping and frail species, although they are almost everywhere on Earth, cannot obviously represent a threat to humans, except as vectors of diseases, the most historical and emblematic of which (bacterial and therefore, nowadays, quite easy to defeat) is the plague. The latter is transferred to humans via fleas on rats and on the wild reservoir species, itself a rodent, which could be the large gerbil (Rhombomys opimus) [SCH 15]. Vertebrates larger than rodents, which could possibly have threatened the primacy of humans, have neither the necessary ubiquity (they are confined to very particular environments, like the peaceful and powerful gorilla), nor the capacity for reflection that could have helped them to thwart sapiens, even though such

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competition appeared possible in literature (Pierre Boulle’s novel Planet of the Apes, 1963) or in cinema (War for the Planet of the Apes by Matt Reeves, 2017). Also, some of these vertebrates, although carnivorous, have been domesticated, and therefore “edentulous” by the schemes of our species. Among these domesticated vertebrates, which are therefore dependent on humans, the most numerous species appears to be chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus), whose population could easily increase to around 60 billion individuals; and if we move to the larger scale, we will probably find, as the most numerous, the grazing and ruminant cattle (nearly 2 billion individuals). .

Humans therefore had a perfectly clear field once the other species of the Homo genus had disappeared off the face of the Earth. The process explaining the differentiated lifestyles exhibited in our human counterparts therefore appears neutral, from the point of view of competition between species. Thus, the human dynamics that the present scientific journey revealed, having suffered no interspecific competition, are only the product of Homo sapiens through the sequences of the WCM, from which we have become inhabitants of poor nations, citizens of wealthy countries or residents of States of medium prosperity. In any case, the functioning of the WCM has led to imbalances in living conditions in Homo sapiens that do not apply to other animal species in their natural environment (the status of murine life, for example, differs very little from country to country, except in regions where the rat is sacred, which a respectable cultural practice, but which is the result of a human decision, and not the product of rat history). However, in the species that humans have domesticated into pets, there are clear differences. Thus, to take another example, the living conditions and longevity of the cat, which lives in relatively good harmony with the rat [PAR 18], are very different, depending on whether its owner lives in a country among the poorest or among the richest. As for the political and economic sphere, we have seen that the PR+ countries tend to monopolize: monetary power, by issuing the freely convertible currencies necessary for exchange; economic power, through the headquarters and capitalist structures of large multinational companies; arbitration, international police and training power, through the composition of the Security Council and international organizations; the power of knowledge, research and early consideration of ideas, through the number and quality of their universities and scientific institutes; power of freedom of movement, through ease of receiving visas and change; military power, through the attack and prevention technologies controlled by their armies; and the power of social redistribution, through the virtuous circle of “more profitable enterprises, higher salaries, more substantial tax revenues and States with more comfortable budgets”. We can add to these points of preponderance the experience of prosperous countries in terms of innovation and political and

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commercial freedoms, in particular through the realization – in two of the PR+ countries – of the earliest and most symbolic revolutions in history: the American Revolution (1775–1789) and the French Revolution (1789–1793). Thus, in total, the life opportunities that are conferred on the vast majority of citizens of the major prosperous countries seem quite considerable. In the fight against global warming, which is therefore being implemented through the IPCC, experts from prosperous countries also appear to be predominant in the preparation of scientific reports that indicate the paths to be followed to counter global warming. This implies that the point of view of the large prosperous nations is, on this issue, the most represented in scientific debates, while that of the poor countries most affected by climate disorders, insofar as they have fewer experts, have mechanically less say in the matter; even though of course, the good faith of the scientists involved in the reflection on climate change is not to be questioned. To take an enlightening example, it should be noted that only 5% of the experts who revised the IPCC report on “global warming of 1.5°C” in 2017 were Africans. 51% were from Europe and 19% were from North and Central America or the Caribbean. It was therefore not until 1988 that the international community, following the initiative of prosperous States, themselves pushed forward by scientists thanks to the progress of the interdisciplinary approach to the climate issue [WEA 12], began to take up the issue of global warming. This is despite the fact that an average temperature difference of around 10°C has been observed “since time immemorial” between the capitals of the PR– and PR+ countries. Without this difference, which is significantly higher than the rise in temperatures feared by current global warming, has led to major mobilizations – mobilizations whose central objective should be to smooth out the strong differences in quantity and quality of life, notably linked to solar radiation, which sharply weakens the balance of the world. Returning to the IPCC, its creation was not without pitfalls. Indeed, in the 1980s, growing demands to regulate greenhouse gas emissions worried conservative governments in the United States and other countries. Thus, the IPCC was administered, from its inception, by a decision-making structure, including not only scientists, but also government representatives. It was unable to reach any conclusions without unanimous consent. It was, as Spencer Weart, a physicist and science historian, points out, “a recipe for blindness, if not for paralysis” [WEA 12]. Thus, the first IPCC report, published in 1990, was rather bland. But little by little, the reports’ conclusions became more and more assertive in terms of the issues they put into perspective, as well as more pressing in their recommendations. Nevertheless, nothing has yet been resolved and if climate governance remains a matter of debate [AYK 15], “it is not, according to science historian Amy Dahan, because we cannot govern climate, but because of our inability to govern human

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societies. The climate, which is not only an environmental problem, crystallizes conflicting geopolitical and economic issues, which are sometimes considered preferable to ignore, rather than identifying them and try to face them.” The all-out differences between very prosperous and not prosperous States and regions of the world, clear the way for old thinkers, such as Linnaeus, vis-à-vis the scientifically erroneous division of people into divergent races or into fantasmatic and bizarre variations. Indeed, when we see the differentiated living conditions that humans have experienced for centuries, it may seem that we are dealing, in relation to these differences, with two subspecies of sapiens; or even two species wrongly grouped under the same name. However (and this is the problem), we all come from the same original stock and all have the same potentialities for a comparable environment. 6.4. What connects the two realities? Are prosperous and less prosperous countries – and the two realities they offer – in contact? Logically not, since the prosperity of a region is partly linked to the amount of solar radiation it receives, which, in turn, is strongly linked to latitude. Thus, as shown in Figure 6.8, no land borders are currently shared between PR+ and PR– countries. Saudi Arabia appears to be the PR+ closest to the PR– on the west side, Ethiopia and South Sudan, and on the east side, Afghanistan (distances as the crow flies between the capitals of these countries and the capital of Arabia: 1,936, 2,738 and 2,423 km respectively or an average of 2,365 km). But Saudi Arabia (a country with a predominantly desert climate and with only 2% cultivatable land, living under permanent air conditioning and an absolute monarchy that is rigorous in its customs (the first cinemas only opened in the country in 2018)) is both difficult to enter and may seem unattractive to anyone from a country that is both torrid and socially more open. And then, Arabia’s prosperity, linked to oil extraction, is historically very recent, and this country is not a former colonial power, which does not give it a very special status in the collective imagination of the people; this, with the notable exception of Muslims, insofar as Saudi Arabia shelters a major number of the holy places of Islam (the Kaaba: ‫ الكعبة‬and the prophet’s mosque: ‫)المس جد النب وي‬. The other “less distant” PR+ and PR– States concerns countries in Southern Europe (formerly prosperous, former colonizers and with liberal mores and institutions) and nations south of the Sahara. The capitals of Spain, France, Italy and Portugal are located at 3,119, 4,143, 3,814 and 1,904 km as the crow flies from the capital of Mali, and at 3,048, 3,931, 3,312 and 3,016 km from the capital of Niger

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(average distance: 3,286 km) respectively. Nevertheless, two major physical obstacles have effectively separated, for a very long time, the countries of the southern Sahara and those of Mediterranean Europe: the very vast Sahara desert (the largest single stretch of arid land in the world) and, in a more modest way, the very mythical Mediterranean.

Figure 6.8. Location of PR+ (turquoise) and PR– (red) countries, and areas of greater proximity (orange and blue arrows) between these two types of countries. For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

For a very long time, distances were real. In other words, they made the two realities of many countries more or less hermetic to each other, except at the level of a few rare travelers or representatives of the elites. In this context, colonization represented the first dividing lines of real distances. Thus, we began to rub shoulders, certainly in a dominant–dominated relationship, but we rubbed shoulders and exchanged nevertheless. This was, in fact, only in perfect harmony with human predispositions, which made us, through the acquisition of language – allowing each sapiens to distinguish themself from their fellow sapiens – true charmers, perfect boasters and eminent beautiful speakers. Thus, between settlers from prosperous countries and inhabitants of colonized nations, moments were experienced together, and texts, images and elements of life were experienced. However, a major event that changed the media face of the world was the advent of television, which made it possible to transport and sublimate places full of imagery and those that were dynamically elsewhere, and which made the home of everyone who owned a TV set, a permanent cinema in real time. This magic worked and TV began to become more democratic in Europe after the end of World War II, then from the 1970s to the 1980s in all the countries of the world, especially in Africa.

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While the development of television began with a period of intense government control of programs, this was followed in the 1990s by a period of openness, thanks to the arrival of satellite channels (CNN, BBC World News, TV5 Monde) and the development of the use of satellite dishes [DIO 09]. Then came the period of the emergence of channels that could be received via computer networks, culminating in the revolutionary advent of smartphones, of which 1.5 billion are sold each year and which now serve as pocket theaters connected to the world’s entertainment. From now on, everyone can see and know what others are experiencing. Thus, it is a universal virtual society in real time that is in its infancy, of which we are not yet aware of all the consequences, but which seems to be well on its way. Alongside the arrival of images (which have erased – in a way – distances), these distances have also been reduced (which is another obvious fact to be recalled) by the progress and democratization of automobile, rail and air means of transport, as well as by transSaharan and transcontinental roads, which have tended to transform expeditions into pleasure rides. Let us now travel to countries where the two realities of the existence of sapiens (that of prosperous countries and that of countries that are much less prosperous) meet as closely as possible, across a common land border, regardless of the size of the population and the size of the countries concerned. The result of the journey: the neighboring States couples that are the most disparate in terms of prosperity (GDP at PPP per capita ratio > 3) are: Saudi Arabia and Yemen (ratio: 12.1); Oman and Yemen (ratio: 10.7); Iran and Afghanistan (ratio: 8.4); Tajikistan and Afghanistan (ratio: 8.0) ; Israel and the West Bank and Gaza (ratio: 7.3); China and Afghanistan (ratio: 6.8); Saudi Arabia and Jordan (ratio: 4.3); Saudi Arabia and Iraq (ratio: 3.6); the United States and Mexico (ratio: 3.3); and Israel and Egypt (ratio: 3.1). In other words, 6 of these 10 configurations are separated by borders – erected or in the process of being erected – at the initiative of the prosperous countries of Saudi Arabia, the United States and Israel, with the stated aim of preventing attacks or illegal immigration. Without wanted to be a great cleric, it can be noted or argued that the areas concerned by the geographical comparison between rich and poor nations have been (in the case of Afghanistan and the former USSR), are (in the case of Israel and Palestine) or could be in situations of conflict the region most concerned in this respect being the Middle East (Figure 6.9). Note: in Europe, the most disparate prosperity couple is Hungary and Serbia (GDP at PPP per capita ratio: 1.9), two States that have been separated by barbed wire since 2015.

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| 2008-2017 | 1998-2007 | 1988-1997 | 1978-1987 | 1968-1977 | 1958-1967 | Figure 6.9. States whose borders are or have been separated from neighboring States by a wall, barrier or fence. For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

COMMENT ON FIGURE 6.9.– The coloring of States indicates the period during which the main separations were established (between 1958 and 2017). Two areas, within which the number of enclosed borders is most significant, are highlighted: Central Asia and South Asia; and the Near-Middle–East-Southeast Europe, which has become the densest area in terms of separation. In terms of walls being used to separate, as they have just been revealed with reference to the most differentiated neighboring States in terms of prosperity, they usually express historical and political discrepancies – sometimes ancient and violent – between nations in the same region of the world. These discrepancies, whose aspect is very often artificial, non-consensual or imposed by the “fait du prince”4, involve the drawing of borders and contribute to preventing them from healing. Thus, many historical precedents and present situations have been – or are being – affected by the establishment of inter-State physical barriers. On this subject, we can chronologically examine: – In Antiquity: the Great Walls that separated China from the northern steppes (2nd Century BCE) Hadrien’s Wall and the Antonine Wall, which separated England and Scotland (1st Century); and in general, the limes that marked the borders of the Roman Empire.

4 Meaning the will of a leader that is imposed on the people.

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– Since the 20th Century: the demarcation line between the two Koreas (since 1953); the Pedron (which separated Algeria and Morocco), Morice and Challe (which separated Algeria and Tunisia) Lines built during the Algerian War of Independence (1956–1962); the Iron Curtain which was built between Eastern and Western Europe, including the Berlin Wall in Germany (1961–1989); the Attila line separating the North – under Turkish occupation – and the South of Cyprus (since 1974);  the trench barrier built between South Africa and Mozambique (since 1975); the Moroccan Western Sahara Wall separating Morocco and part of Western Sahara (since 1980); the trench barrier between Kuwait and Iraq (since 1991); the wall erected between Bangladesh and India (since 1992); the India–Pakistan border (since 1993); and the borders separating Uzbekistan and neighboring countries (since 1999). – Since the 21st Century: the fences separating Morocco from the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla (since 2001); the barrier separating Israel and Palestine (since 2002); the barrier separating Zimbabwe and Botswana (since 2003); the barrier between the United States and Mexico (since 2006); the surveillance line between China and North Korea (since 2006); the underground metal barrier between Egypt and Gaza (since 2008); the Greco-Turkish barrier (since 2011). Also, the anti-migrant walls or barriers separating: Bulgaria and Turkey (since 2014); Hungary and Serbia-Croatia (2015); Slovenia and Croatia (2016); France (Calais) and the United Kingdom (2017); and finally, the wall between Turkey and Syria (2018). 6.5. Youths To complete the picture of the consequences of the functioning of the WCM, it is necessary to dedicate a profound and moving thought for the youth, especially since it represents a decisive factor for the future of the world movement, the production of new ideas and a fondness for freedom that characterize young people, all things that allow humanity to never cease to renew itself and to hope. In this regard, how many sharp minds and bubbling enthusiasm, those of hundreds of millions of young girls and boys in the world’s poor nations, in actuality have little hope of establishing themselves, of thinking about a bright future, of becoming involved in the march of the world and receiving, in return, a sign from it? A sign that as human beings, they exist.

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Yes, how many young – and not so young – minds are, somewhere on the planet, crushed by the Sun, destitution and the misfortune of seeing themselves at the mercy of: the slightest injury that could lead to infection; the slightest illness that could set in if they find themselves unable to buy drugs; and the slightest accident that could happen and would probably not result in any ambulance, emergency service or medical facility with sufficient and well-trained resources and staff? How many of these young people will never be able to make their ideas bear fruit and put their sharpness of mind and their dazzling speed into play, be able to bring their project of starting a family or their desire for doing good to a successful conclusion? How many will be able to access quality educational structures and thus be able to: cultivate their strong points; make their creativity a reality; and put themselves at the service of causes, organizations and societies, through which they help their families and have the opportunity to access the future? The world, as produced by “structural circumstances” that the journey seeks to highlight, necessarily loses its substance in confining its sons and daughters to a constrained future, with no reality other than to feel imprisoned in their country, to fall into an acute revolt or to be consumed in muted resentment. This is before throwing ourselves on the roads of despair, encountering other miseries and finding ourselves caught up, through these roads of desolation, with new dangers, under the thumb of criminal minds. They are souls who lack structure, and are ravaged by frustrations and intertwined misfortunes, as well as by injustice – injustices – on a daily basis. In order to provide concrete information on the problems that have just been mentioned, Box 6.1 presents two life situations, as common as they are emblematic, concerning youths: on the one hand, a youth of a country of the PR– group (Cameroon); and on the other hand, a youth of a country of the PR+ group (France). Let us examine these two situations and then move on to the next stage of the journey by asking ourselves, in an effort of rationality, whether decisive factors other than those that would be associated with the WCM have played, or are still playing, a role in explaining the divergent economic development of societies. 1) Eight million in poverty in Cameroon in 2017, according to the United Nations Eight million Cameroonians are poor, out of a population of more than 22 million, and about 3.2 million, including nearly 350,000 refugees and asylum seekers, will need emergency assistance in 2017, predicts the United Nations system in Cameroon. “Despite a slight improvement in recent years, more than 37% of Cameroon’s inhabitants still live below the poverty line (living on less than $1.90 a day), which represents more than eight million people”, says an assessment recently released by the UN System Coordinator in Cameroon, Najat Rochdi. This is an increase from the 7 million poor people counted by the Cameroonian government in its last general population census in 2010. A source of concern, according to

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Ms. Rochdi, on the occasion of United Nations Day, for whom “it is an immense challenge and represents a significant risk, because poverty offers a breeding ground for insecurity and its consequences.” One of the causes of this phenomenon, explains the World Organization, is the recent 2008–2009 global financial crisis, which in Cameroon resulted in an increase in youth unemployment, a segment of the population where already more than 75% are underemployed, partly because job offers are not adapted to demand, according to official estimates. The situation is particularly striking in rural areas – and particularly in the far north region – where insecurity is prevalent due to the Nigerian sect Boko Haram (meaning in AfroAsian Hausa language: “Western education is a sin”) [PER 12] and is renowned for its lifestyles characterized by early marriage, a real obstacle to the education of young girls. In remote villages in Cameroon, people also have difficulty accessing health care. The United Nations estimates that 30% of women forego adequate training to give birth. Access to land, especially for women, and to finance is also a concern. Since 2013, this Central African country has recorded significant growth rates in gross domestic product, for example 5.9% in 2015. But for the UN, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, the distribution of this growth is far from inclusive and equitable. This poverty factor has also been a decisive factor in the expansion of Boko Haram’s influence in the far north of the country, as thousands of unemployed young people in this region have abandoned their families to join the ranks of terrorist group. Indeed, it is not a case where parents have been attracted by the promises of paradise to sell their children to these jihadists. This argument is sufficient to lead the United Nations to urge the Cameroonian authorities to fight violent extremism, by including it in recovery programs linked to the war on terrorism. (Actu Cameroun , November 7, 2016) 2) Generation 2.0 He grew up in the digital age. At 22 years old, Sofiane Hasnaoui is a promising computer engineer. This young resident of downtown Argenteuil (France) is one of the 800 lucky ones elected to have been able to join the prestigious École 42, created in Paris by Xavier Niel, the CEO of Free (an Internet access provider and subsidiary of the French telecommunications group Iliad). That was in 2013. In total, 70,000 people applied. Sofiane is currently in his second year at this new kind of free school. To enter, you do not need a diploma; talent is enough. Sofiane also wants to offer this opportunity to the young people in his neighborhood, and has just created the association Insane. “Around 3–4 years old, I had my first console. I was fascinated, like all youngsters,” says Sofiane. And then, from the age of 9–10, he thought,

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while playing Mario (a famous video game franchise): “I wonder how these games were created, how they were programmed...” Early on, the young boy continued his schooling and became more interested in computer programming, coding (a writing method dedicated to computer programming). “At the time, my grades were good. But having 20/20 or 0/20 didn’t bother me,” he continues. With his diploma in hand, he found himself without a high school for nearly 2 months, while he was seeing a guidance counselor. “But I didn’t know what I wanted to do in the education system,” says Sofiane, who would have liked to been guided better. His mother insisted. He finally found his way back to high school, in Jean-Jaurès, in Argenteuil, where he enrolled in an electrotechnical vocational course. “I started to like the subject ,” he smiles. Once he obtained his diploma, Sofiane wanted to return to a general education program. “In the BEP (French vocational training certificate), which we did in two years, we could have done in a week, he says. Most of the students did not want to work. For me, it was a good experience, but a very bad time in my life.” Finally, he continued his studies in electrotechnical engineering, obtaining his baccalaureate with honors and then entered the Épitech computer school in Paris. One year later, he learned about the creation of École 42. And took a chance. “I went there immediately,” insists this ambitious young man. You have to earn your place. “The exams are selective. The pre-selection is an eight-hour test on the Internet. There, it’s reduced from 70,000 to 20,000 candidates. Then there’s more tests, and then the numbers are reduced to just 3,000. Then comes the pool stage. It consists of taking tests from Monday to Sunday, from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m., for one month. My new family had become the people of 42, I saw them more than my brother, more than my parents and my friends,” he smiles. Here again, it stood out. As in a video game, we cross the levels, however difficult they may be. “For the last exam, we were in front of a black screen, and we had to do some programming.” The next day, he learned that he had passed. “I was relieved, super happy.” Sofiane still laughs about it today, “I know I’ve come a long way.”  This gifted computer scientist plans to complete his training, i.e. 5 years of study, despite the many work offers already received. Aware of his atypical background, Sofiane wants to help young people, especially in his neighborhood. He wants to transmit his love of computer science to them. (Le Parisien, January 28, 2015) Box 6.1. Human conditions

7 Other Potential Reasons for Societal Imbalances

7.1. Inter and intra variation We have so far traveled and made “inter” comparisons (between) countries, because it is this framework, applied to prosperity, that made sense when it came to reasoning about the bio-climato-geographical factors that appear to contribute to inequality between societies [DIA 00]. But to explain the variability of human destinies, such as those described in Box 6.1, are there not other mechanisms to be considered and explained? From this perspective, should we not look at the differences in living conditions prevailing within countries, i.e. the “intra” variation (inside) of earnings? And through this variation, to be interested in the achievement, for a more or less significant part of the populations of a country, of a standard of living that does not deviate too much from the standard of compatriots? Yes, it seems quite justified to look into this problem, if only because it speaks to us deeply and has always affected human societies (in ancient Greece [MOS 87]; in the 18th Century in Europe [ROU 16] and today [GUI 14 ; NAV 16]), which implies that it can only be useful and informative to analyze it. Before making quantified comparisons of the intrinsic economic inequality of nations, let us begin with a question: since Chapter 6 has shown that fences or walls can separate neighboring nations, do such separations have their “intra” counterparts? And if so, in which countries are these separations located, and for which reasons? Yes, internal barriers exist. But they are, most of the time, somewhat subtle and sometimes even fictional. Such barriers appear to be linked, for example, to the resources required to enter a restaurant or tourist agency as a potential customer. Or even, by pushing the prosperity button much further, to engage on the gangway of a yacht or a private jet. Rather yet, conversely, to go to disadvantaged cities or neighborhoods that are considered dangerous and can be experienced as disturbing.

The World’s Construction Mechanism: Trajectories, Imbalances and the Future of Societies, First Edition. Jacques Barnouin. © ISTE Ltd 2020. Published by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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As for physical barriers and no-man’s lands (such as forest-screens or empty expanses), these separations may have the following functions within States: to isolate visitors from the realities of the country, by hiding poor neighborhoods (Morocco, Uzbekistan)  using “screens”; to allow foreign executives to live their lives and cultural traits in complete safety and independence, with regard to the habits of the countries in which they are employed (Saudi Arabia, China, Qatar); to mark boundaries between community neighborhoods (Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods in Belfast, Northern Ireland: currently being taken down; Jewish Israeli settlements in Muslim Palestinian territory: under development; formerly: calls, ghettos, juderías, Jewries, mellahs imposed on Jews or wanted by them, within Christian states, as well as Muslim); to establish “an internal border” between areas with different political and economic status (China: separation between Hong Kong and Macao, on the one hand, and the rest of the country, on the other hand) and to safely separate rich neighborhoods from poor areas, slums and other favelas (Brazil, Kenya, Mexico, Peru, South Africa) or even individual residences (closed residences: Argentina, Canada, France, Great Britain, the United States). The reasons for separation most clearly linked to income disparities do not appear to differentiate, in the first analysis, between the PR+ and PR− nations, but to reflect another phenomenon. Indeed, among the countries with emblematic internal separations (Brazil, China, Kenya, Mexico, Peru, South Africa and South Africa), it is America that seems – at first sight – to be the most significant country for this type of inequality, while it is in Africa that 90% of the PR− countries are located (and no PR− is located in America). Moreover, only Kenya is part of both the PR− countries and the countries with significant internal separations, while no PR+ country appears to be very significantly affected by this phenomenon. To take this analysis of “intra” inequalities further, it is necessary to use a numerical indicator, such as the GDP at PPP per capita used to characterize the degree of a nation’s prosperity. Nevertheless, it seems much more difficult to obtain a reliable indicator of the measurement of income inequality within a country than to draw up an overall balance sheet. Indeed, the more or less accurate knowledge of income distribution depends on survey and reporting processes, the modalities of which differ from country to country. Thus, the assessment of this distribution may be distorted through data harmonization, survey design, underestimation of capital income, sub-sampling of higher incomes, failure to take into account income generated by assets held abroad or inadequate assessment of redistributions [UNI 17b]. Despite these potential biases, the Gini coefficient, the most widely considered indicator of income dispersion within a national population, will be used for reflection purposes, although it should be noted that this indicator treats inequalities between low and high income equally [FRA 78]. Applied to a country, a

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“Gini” of 0 corresponds to the total equality of its citizens’ incomes, and a Gini of 100 to its total inequality; thus, the higher its national Gini, the more a nation appears to be globally unequal with regard to its population’s incomes, and vice versa. Thus, if we consider “countries with internal separations” on the previous page, these all have a higher Gini coefficient (62.5 to 42.5) than the median Gini (37.9) of the 149 territorial entities whose Gini value is available through data compilation1. Thus, the phenomenon of “internal walls” appears to be associated, on the basis of the examples just mentioned, with high income inequalities. The “differences of prosperity between countries” and the “inequalities internal to the countries” seem to concern, in a first analysis, only partially overlapping factors. Indeed, the global mapping of the Gini coefficient (Figure 7.1) indicates that the low (equality trend) or high (inequality trend) Gini areas correspond, for some, and not corresponding, for others, to the areas of the planet in which the most and least prosperous large countries are located. Our journey will now have to address the following questions: at what level(s) are the greatest inequalities in the human condition? In the differences in prosperity between nations? Or in those related to the prosperity gaps between the populations of the same nation? Let us first consider the latter question: through the comparison between PR+ and PR− nations, we recall that the median value of GDP at PPP per capita is 19 times higher in PR+ countries than in PR− countries (and that the GDP at PPP of the most prosperous PR+ is 73 times that of the poorest PR−). If we now make the same comparison in terms of the income gap, we see that the value of the median Gini (41.2) of the 18 PRs – for which this index is available – is only 1.21 times higher than that (34.0) of the 20 PR+ states, which represents a rather low difference, and that the Gini ratio between the most unequal PR− (Zimbabwe, Gini: 50.1) and the most equal PR+ (the Czech Republic, Gini: 25.0) is only 2. As for the 10 countries with the highest Gini (the least equal) in the PR+ and PR− groups, they are: Zimbabwe (PR−, Gini: 50.1); Rwanda (PR−, Gini: 46.8); Malaysia (PR+, Gini: 46.2); Malawi (PR−, Gini: 46.1); South Sudan (PR−, 46.0); Saudi Arabia (PR+, 45.9); Mozambique (PR−, Gini: 45.6); the United States (PR+, 45.0); Cameroon (PR−, Gini: 44.6) and Chad (PR−, Gini: 43.3). It can be seen that three of the 10 nations with strong Gini are in fact PR+ countries (Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the United States), while in terms of GDP at PPP, no PR+ country “mixes” – by definition – with the PR countries (“the least prosperous of the large prosperous states”, Hungary, has a GDP at PPP 8.2 times higher than that of the “most prosperous of the big less prosperous states”, Cameroon).

1 www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook.

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Figure 7.1. Mapping of Gini coefficient values applied to country incomes (source: Araz Yaquboglu, CCBY and Jacques Barnouin). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

COMMENT ON FIGURE 7.1.– 1) Map: the colored countries: in gray, those for which a Gini value is unavailable (N/A); in burgundy, in red and orange, those more unequal than average; in green or dark green, those more equal than average and in yellow, those in a median position. The two “unequal zones” are circled in red, and the “equal zone” in blue. 2) Left box: the value of the Gini coefficient decreases from South to North, within the North and Central American zone. If we average, on a global scale, the wealth gaps “between” and “within” countries, the trend is the same, while being logically leveled. Thus, in 2013, inequalities between nations accounted for 65% of the total inequality, while 35% of inequalities were linked to internal inequalities [BAN 16] (Figure 7.2). Moreover, these percentages have changed, since in 1998, the inequality “between” countries represented 80% of the total inequality; this change would seem to be due both to a moderate decrease in “inter” inequalities and a significant increase in “intra” inequalities, through “the increase in wealth of the richest” [CHA 17] and the overconsumption and debt of the middle class. As for this phenomenon, it does not even spare Finland, which nevertheless appears to be the most fundamentally equal country, if we base it on its Gini value.

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Figure 7.2. Respective shares (in %) over the period 1988–2013 of income inequality due to various inequalities: between countries (beige column) and within countries (brown column). The blue curve shows the evolution of the Gini over the period 1998–2013 [BAN 16]. For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/ construction.zip

7.2. WCM and income inequality The mechanism that would explain the unequal living conditions between nations could also be associated, at least partially, with their internal inequalities. Indeed, the average Gini of the PR− countries is 21% higher (see previous page) than that of the PR+ countries. Nevertheless, since the global map of the Gini index is not in line with the distribution of countries’ prosperity – for less prosperous countries – factors other than the level of national prosperity must influence income inequality within nations. Thus, returning to Figure 7.1, we highlight two major areas of high internal inequality: on the one hand, North America, which includes only a below-average Gini State (Canada), and on the other hand, a nation of more than 200 million inhabitants that is both unequal and moderately prosperous (Brazil), as well as the southern African continent, which concentrates a set of high Gini States, the most populated of which is South Africa. Nevertheless, Europe appears to be the least unequal continent [CHA 17], as it has a strong majority of Gini states below 35 and no Gini nation above 50.

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In this respect, Northern Europe has the most states that are both very prosperous and very equal (not part of the group of the “great prosperous countries”, given their small population). And as for the “great countries”, five European nations, with a Gini of less than 30, are among the nations whose fate seems to be particularly enviable on a global scale. These nations, classified by decreasing GDP at PPP, are: Germany, Belgium, France, the Czech Republic and Hungary. In contrast, the PR− to Gini nations with more than 45, among the least enviable, are, per decreasing GDP at PPP: Southern Sudan, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Mozambique and Malawi. Moreover, if we differentiate between the nations with stronger and weaker Gini without taking into account the notion of “great countries”, the five most unequal countries are, according to the data set used to document our study: Lesotho, South Africa, Central Africa, Micronesia and Haiti, and the five least unequal are Finland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine and Sweden. While Europe appears to be favored by any criteria, some African countries – although not very prosperous – seem rather equal, since their Gini is lower than the average global Gini. These countries are, by increasing Gini value: Egypt, Liberia, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Niger, Algeria, Benin, Mauritania and Tanzania. If we now attempt a basic statistical approach to intra-country inequality – by ranking on a graph (Figure 7.3), according to the decreasing Gini values, the territorial entities – we see that Gini values increase in an almost linear way (along a straight line). The line summarizing the Gini distribution, known as the “trend curve”, whose equation is shown in Figure 7.3, correctly predicts, in nearly 95% of cases (R2 or coefficient of determination = 0.9484), the value of a nation’s Gini, relative to the value of the nation preceding it in the ranking. Thus, income inequality within nations should be associated with factors present in all countries, but at different levels. Nevertheless, such an assumption may not apply to the few countries for which the Gini is poorly predicted by the trend curve, in which specific inequality factors may exist (unless universal factors are at play in these countries, but at very high levels). In addition, it should be noted that the PR+ and PR− states have Gini values which, for some of them “come together”, in accordance with the observation established above.

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Figure 7.3. Distribution of the Gini coefficient in 149 territorial entities (source: CIA). Burgundy line: trend curve and its equation; blue dotted lines: limits of poorly predicted Gini (highest and lowest Gini); green arrow: variation range of Gini of PR+  countries; turquoise arrow: variation range of Gini of PR− countries. For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

Before attempting to approach the characteristics of countries associated with the value of their Gini, it is instructive to construct, in addition to Figure 7.3, the graph of the distribution of GDP at PPP per capita for all countries for which this indicator is available, according to World Bank data. Indeed, since the large prosperity gaps between countries illustrate the fact that many of them are immersed in “two different worlds”, it can be expected that the form of GDP at PPP distribution will differ from that of the Gini indices. This is indeed the case, since Figure 7.4 seems to indicate that the distribution of GDP at PPP is not linear in nature, but exponential. Indeed, while the trend curve of GDP at PPP per capita is plotted using a linear model, the coefficient for determining the line (R2) is only 0.6207, which means that a country’s GDP at PPP can only be predicted from this model in 62% of cases from the country value preceding the ranking, when ranking the Gini by their increasing values.

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On the other hand, while the trend curve of the distribution of GDP at PPP is plotted using an exponential model, the coefficient of determination is much higher (0.9775), which means that an exponential gives a much better account than a straight line of the pace of the distribution and dispersion of GDP values. Through the exponential curve highlighted in Figure 7.4, in agreement with the WCM, the reality of humanity with a “trial” tendency is composed of: first, a group of 90 States that have very little or little prosperity; second, a small number of 30 States with intermediate prosperity and third, about 50 nations with high or even very high prosperity, whose GDP at PPP values can be adequately predicted through the inflection of the exponential curve, except their two extreme values.

Figure 7.4. Distribution of GDP at PPP per capita ($) of 172 territorial entities in 2014. a) Line and label: black: linear trend curve and its equation; red: exponential trend curve and its equation. b) Arrow: green: range of variation of GDP at PPP per capita of PR+ countries; turquoise: same for PR− countries (source: World Bank). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

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7.3. Factors of income inequality Which nations can be studied, in order to address situations of economic inequality, and the factors at which these situations are associated? First, nations whose Gini coefficient value “surpasses” traces the trend curve (Figure 7.4) ; as such, can be considered, by descending Gini: Lesotho, South Africa, Central Africa, Micronesia, Haiti, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Hong Kong and Colombia. Next, we can look at the three PR+ states with the strongest Gini, namely Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and the United States. Finally, the particularly unequal nature of South and Central America and the Caribbean, compared to other continents or hemi-continents, leads us to consider, in order to hope to document our journey universally, at least two countries in this area with the highest Gini, namely Colombia (already mentioned) and Guatemala. Finally, we can therefore build a group of 14 territorial entities with “non-equal tendencies” (group EQ−) composed of: six African nations (Botswana, the Central African Republic, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia); four American nations (Colombia, Guatemala, Haiti, the United States); three Asian territorial entities (Hong Kong, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia) and one Oceanic (Micronesia). For comparison with the EQ− group of countries, it is necessary to set up “an equal-tendency control group” (EQ+), whose Gini will be below the median global Gini (37.9) and the numbers per continent as close as possible to those of the EQ− group. We thus end up selecting: the six African States with the lowest Gini, or by increasing Gini: Egypt, Liberia, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Niger and Algeria; two States from the Americas, Canada and El Salvador (the only two on their continent with a Gini below 37.9, although the El Salvador Gini exceeds 40 according to several sources, and it therefore seems preferable not to consider it); three Asian States, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Timor-Leste; and one Oceanic state, Australia (11 countries in total). Finally, in order to form groups of states that can be considered comparable, it is necessary to check that the EQ+ and EQ− groups are relatively well-balanced with regard to the number of “great countries” or the PR+ or PR− composing them; thus, it can be seen that the EQ− group includes three “great PR+ countries”, while the EQ+ group is composed of two “great PR+ countries” and two “great PR− countries”. What societal determinants could be linked to internal economic inequalities across states? Probably the fact of favoring or disadvantaging certain layers of their population; situations of conflict and violence (state, mafia, society) [UNI 17b]; corruption [GUP 02]; the absence of a policy of redistribution of income (progressive tax) and agricultural land (agrarian reform),  deficiencies in educational

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and social policies concerning the most impoverished; regional differences in wealth related to the soil, subsoil and touristic attractiveness and finally, the coexistence, within the same country, of very and very little gainful activities. Moreover, income inequalities seem to be maintained or aggravated by: fear and force; ancestral or historical domination; the transmission of privileges through cultural, military, partisan or religious hereditary elites [FLA 12] and through the clientelism that hereditary powers tend to generate and finally, legislation instituting differentiated rights – and sometimes life separations – according to ethnic origin and social group. In terms of knowledge of the causes of income inequality within countries, which must in particular be associated with a set of historical factors and sequences that are difficult to disentangle and prioritize, given the potential variations in the influence of these causes on “the long term”, the United Nations book Income Inequality Trends in sub-Saharan Africa is a very useful guide, this specifically with regard to knowledge of the factors of inequality concerning Africa, as well as all the countries in the world. It is a valuable guide, whose main lessons will be summarized in Box 7.1.

Lessons from a UN study Income inequality in sub-Saharan Africa is the result of an in-depth study conducted in sub-Saharan Africa by the UNDP (United Nations Development Program) Regional Office for Africa between 2015 and 2016. This book aims to examine the trends, causes and consequences of inequalities in the region since the 1990s, in order to draw lessons for policy development that can contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Agenda by 2030 in the region. The structural driving forces of inequality are first and foremost a dualist structure of the economy, in which jobs in the public service, multinationals and the resource sector are reserved for the elite, while the majority of the population has to make do with much lower incomes from the informal economy or livelihood sectors. Other drivers of inequality include: the high concentration of physical and human capital and, in the economies of European colonies in Eastern and Southern Africa, the high concentration of land; the “cursed natural resources” (negative effects of natural resource wealth: corruption, non-diversification, waste); the urban bias of public policies; the limited redistributive role of the State and ethnic and gender inequality. Trend analysis applied to data from the IID-SSA (Integrated Inequality Database for South-Saharan Africa) data set shows that the average regional result of the Gini coefficient on inequality in per capita household consumption declined slightly over the years 1991–2011. However, this trend masks a more complex reality, as trends in inequality have marked a significant divergence between countries. On the one hand, 17 countries (including nine predominantly agricultural West African countries, as well as a few others in East Africa

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and other regions), home to 40% of the region’s population, experienced a decline in inequality, particularly in the 2000s; on the other hand, Southern and Central Africa, and economies characterized by a large oil and mining sector, showed increasing inequality, especially from 2003 onwards. Overall, most countries with low inequality have experienced a decline in this area, while highly unequal economies have experienced a rise or stagnation in inequality at a high level. Therefore, since 2000, while the unweighted average Gini coefficient for sub-Saharan Africa has decreased, the standard deviation and coefficient of variation of the distribution of the Gini coefficient in the 29 IIS-SSA countries has increased. This suggests that the heterogeneity of inequality between countries, initially related to land tenure and resource allocation, has become more acute.

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Achieving the “final kilometer” in the fight against exclusion means focusing on the deep-rooted, visible determinants of exclusion that are reflected in persistent patterns of inequality in the distribution of assets and income. For example, it is now well-established and documented that current land distribution patterns and land tenure systems in Africa still largely reflect colonial settlement patterns. For example, large farms in Eastern and Southern Africa continue to exclude large groups of the population. Strong and persistent inequalities interact closely, through the political economy, with decisions that hinder growth and policies that aim to overcome the “final kilometer” in the race against exclusion. For example, the persistence of poverty results from the opposition of the ruling elites to reforms and education that benefit the poor. Even when the political economy is not so unfavorable, inequality can still interact with other characteristics of developing countries that perpetuate exclusion. For example, when capital markets are underdeveloped and imperfect, unequal income distribution limits access to credit, including for investments in human capital, and families continue to live in poverty. The second example concerns the relationship between inequality, social cohesion and conflict. Given the loss of income caused by violence and conflict that forces people to move or which plunge them into poverty, there is a direct link between all these elements, due to horizontal inequality. However, the 2030 Program integrates aspirations into “peaceful societies that are open to all”. Recent work has focused on the links between inequality and social cohesion, and between trust and social capital and the relationship between social capital and well-being. Targeted microstudies that review interventions aimed at strengthening social cohesion and trust in post-conflict contexts also support this. Randomized controlled trials applied to interventions – ranging from truth and reconciliation commissions to community development – show increased social cohesion in specific contexts (measured by the willingness to contribute to local public goods). Therefore, to the extent that inequality hinders social cohesion and trust, it can create conditions that can trigger the emergence or recurrence of conflict and violence. Note: the bibliographic references corresponding to the text in this box are available on a downloadable document at: www.africa.undp.org/. Box 7.1. Income inequality in sub-Saharan Africa

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Let us continue our journey, as an exploration of the apparent logic of the world. Thus, as shown in Table 7.1, the ratio of the Gini coefficients of the EQ− (56.0) and EQ+ (32.0)2 groups of states, which is 1.75, is higher than that existing between the PR− and PR+ countries, which is estimated at 1.21. In addition, the EQ+ and EQ− groups, in addition to being formed in order to be as homogeneous as possible with respect to their home continents, have a GDP at PPP per capita ratio of about 1 (0.8), while the same ratio is 18.9 between the PR+ and PR− groups. Therefore, the comparison of the EQ+ and EQ− groups of countries, whose prosperity levels and locations are therefore comparable – and the population densities very close (13.9 and 14.2 inhabitants/km2) – can be considered relevant enough in the first analysis, in order to study the national factors associated with greater or lesser inequality. The list of 25 States in Table 7.1 leads us to wonder; indeed, this list is made up of a mosaic of non-European nations of great cultural, economic, geographical and historical diversity, whose characteristics associated with their rather equal or unequal nature are not immediately apparent. This is in contrast to the visualization of the most and least prosperous countries, which has made it possible, through Chapter 2, to have a relatively clear idea of the factors that seem to be related to the national level of prosperity. But it is true that, if states were as unequal in terms of the distribution of their populations’ incomes as they are in terms of their levels of national prosperity, it would probably have been easier to highlight the factors governing, within nations, the trend towards equality versus inequality. In order to compare the EQ− and EQ+ countries against their “risk or inequality” or RINEQ, a list of 20 criteria (applying to a period or to the whole history) has been compiled. This list, which does not claim to be exhaustive – and to be fairly balanced – of the particularities and interactions underlying inequality, has been defined as the “best possible” on the basis of current knowledge, as well as evaluations. The 20 criteria specified in Table 7.2, whose values have been added up to estimate the value of national RINEQs, concern: colonization and historical violations of freedoms (five criteria), all periods together, and over the period 1945-2018 alone: economic and social distortions (seven criteria); lack of democracy and segregation (five criteria) and major violent crises (three criteria).

2 This Gini value (32.0) is close to the European Community average Gini of 31.0.

Continent

GDP at PPP per capita ($)

Number of inhabitants (in millions)

Surface area (in millions of km2)

South Africa

EQ−

Africa

13.127

54.1

1.22

62.5

Saudi Arabia

EQ−

Asia

52.626

30.8

2.15

45.9

Gini coefficient

Group of countries

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Country

180

Botswana

EQ−

Africa

16.764

2.2

0.58

60.3

The Central African Republic

EQ−

Africa

633

4.5

0.62

61.3

Colombia

EQ−

America

13.394

47.8

1.14

53.5

The United States

EQ−

America

54.598

318. 6

9.63

45.0

Guatemala

EQ−

America

7.529

15.9

0.11

53.0

Haiti

EQ−

America

1.741

10.6

0.03

60.8

Hong Kong

EQ−

Asia

55.514

7.2

0.001

53.7

Lesotho

EQ−

Africa

2.820

2.1

0.03

63.2

Malaysia

EQ−

Asia

25.486

30.2

0.33

46.2

Micronesia

EQ−

Oceania

3.297

0.1

0.0007

61.1

Namibia

EQ−

Africa

10.130

2.4

0.824

59.7

Zambia

EQ−

Africa

3.826

15.6

0.75

57.5

Average EQ–

…

…

18.677

17.2

1.24

56.0 35.3

Algeria

EQ+

Africa

14.203

39.1

2.381

Armenia

EQ+

Asia

8.396

2.9

0.030

31.5

Australia

EQ+

Oceania

46.446

23.5

7.692

30.3

Canada

EQ+

America

45.082

35.5

9.985

32.1

Egypt

EQ+

Africa

10.407

91.8

1.002

30.8

Ethiopia

EQ+

Africa

1.500

97.4

1.104

26.3

Kazakhstan

EQ+

Asia

24.845

17.3

0.200

32.0

Liberia

EQ+

Africa

847

4.39

0.111

34.0

Niger

EQ+

Africa

952

19.1

1.267

34.0

Sierra Leone

EQ+

Africa

1.782

7.1

0.072

34.0

Timor-Leste

EQ+

Asia

1.988

1.2

0.015

31.9

Average EQ+

…

…

14.222

30.8

2.17

32.0

Table 7.1. Characteristics of countries with high (“unequal” country group or EQ−; n = 14) and low (“equal” control country group or EQ+; n = 11) Gini coefficients (source: World Bank, 2016; CIA, 2017)

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Table 7.2 shows that the risk of inequality is 1.75 times higher in the EQ− group countries than in the EQ+ group (RINEQ values: 19.6 vs. 11.3). Thus, the relative gap between these two groups is strictly identical to the gap that has been calculated with respect to their average Gini. In addition, the RINEQs of the EQ+ countries are all lower than those of the EQ− countries, with the exception of Sierra Leone (RINEQ = 18). As for the trend curve (Figure 7.5) showing how the Gini increases as the RINEQ increases, it is linear and has a determination coefficient of 0.5213 (which implies that only half of the Gini value would be predicted by the RINEQ). Thus, since the average Gini – of the countries in Tables 7.1 and 7.2 – is 45.4, and since the RINEQ can be considered, as a first approximation and through a univariate analysis, as predicting 52% of this value, the corresponding “Gini share” can be estimated at 23.6. Moreover, the lowest national Gini, Finland (value: 21.5), the Nordic region par excellence (Helsinki latitude: 60.2° N; average temperature: 5.7°C; rainfall: 640 mm), should logically be close to the “minimum of income inequality achievable within a country, under current human development conditions”. Indeed, there is necessarily a lower limit to the level of inequality [ROU 16], because humans are not clones of body and mind: living in a constant and unique environment, whose destiny is independent of experience and family heritage, and not concerned by the law of chance. On the other hand: all different individuals, with very heritable levels of intelligence (about 80% in mature adults) [PLO 15]; struggling with diverse and changing environments; marked by their personal history and supported, in particular because of this, by a certain degree of will and a certain degree of resilience. Let us return to our demonstration test. If we add the Gini of Finland (“the incompressible inequality”) to the Gini value predicted by the RINEQ, the fraction of Gini not predicted by the RINEQ – and not explained by “the incompressible inequality” – would be equal, for the 25 countries in Table 7.2, to: 45.4 − (23.6 + 21.5) = 0.3. Thus, only less than 1% of the average Gini of the EQ− and EQ+ countries (0.3: 45.4 × 100) would not be associated, under the terms of this calculation, with the RINEQ evaluation criteria. Finally, the assessment and calculation of the risk of inequality, although obviously quite perfectible, because on the one hand, it is subject to assessments, and on the other hand, it is studied using univariate descriptive statistical analysis, can nevertheless be considered to be in fairly good stead with income inequality within a nation, as assessed using the Gini.

Risk of inequality (RINEQ) (20 criteria)

1945–2018: violent internal crises (3 criteria)

1945–2018: lack of democracy and segregation (5 criteria)

1945–2018: economic and social imbalance (7 criteria)

All periods: colonization, massacres and slavery (5 criteria)

Group of countries

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Country

182

South Africa

EQ−

7

9

3

1

20

Saudi Arabia

EQ−

2

9

6

0

17

Botswana

EQ−

4

10

4

0

18

The Central African Republic

EQ−

4

6

6

2

18

Colombia

EQ−

9

8

4

4

25

The United States

EQ−

8

9

2

3

22

Guatemala

EQ−

10

8

4

4

26

Haiti

EQ−

8

8

4

2

22

Hong Kong

EQ−

2

7

4

0

13

Lesotho

EQ−

2

11

4

0

17

Malaysia

EQ−

3

11

3

0

17

Micronesia

EQ−

4

9

3

0

16

Namibia

EQ−

6

8

5

3

22

Zambia

EQ−

5

9

5

2

21

Average EQ–

…

5.29

8.71

4.07

1.50

19.57

Algeria

EQ+

4

2

2

3

11

Armenia

EQ+

2

3

2

0

7

Australia

EQ+

5

5

2

0

12

Canada

EQ+

6

4

2

0

12

Egypt

EQ+

3

4

2

2

11

Ethiopia

EQ+

1

5

4

1

11

Kazakhstan

EQ+

0

4

2

0

6

Liberia

EQ+

1

7

4

2

14 11

Niger

EQ+

1

5

4

1

Sierra Leone

EQ+

4

9

3

2

18

Timor-Leste

EQ+

5

5

1

0

11

Average EQ+

…

2.90

4.82

2.55

1.00

11.27

EQ–/EQ+

…

1.82

1.81

1.60

1.50

1.74

Table 7.2. Estimation of an income inequality risk index (RINEQ, based on 20 criteria) in countries with high Gini (“unequal” countries or EQ−; n = 14) and low (“equal” control countries or EQ+; n = 11) Gini (source: CIA, 2017)

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COMMENT ON TABLE 7.2.– Criteria with unequal potential used in the estimation of the RINEQ: – during certain periods (five criteria): Western settlement/colonization after 1400; Western settlement before 1800; slavery system after 1400; genocide before 1789; ethnic massacre after 1789; – for at least two years over the period 1945–2018. a) Economic and social imbalances (seven criteria): no social cohesion; no/less redistribution; no socializing, communist regime; very low incomes; very high incomes; dispersed/imbalanced/economically unequal territorial subunits; no equal agricultural reform or rural code. b) Lack of democracy and segregation (five criteria): apartheid-segregation; power with a dictatorial tendency; sovereign with an absolutist tendency; no national revolution; powerful local powers. c) Violent internal crises (three criteria): powerful mafia; civil war; very significant terrorism. Criteria scoring system: for each criterion and country: score 0 = absence; score 1 = average presence; score 2 = strong presence. The value of a country’s RINEQ, which corresponds to the sum of the scores assigned to the 20 criteria, can therefore vary from 0 to 40.

Figure 7.5. Trend curve of the linear correlation between the risk of inequality or RINEQ and the Gini coefficient, within the 25 countries of the EQ− group (countries with an inequality trend) and EQ+ (countries with an equal trend) groups. Red line and box: trend curve, its equation and coefficient of determination (R2); blue diamonds: values analyzed (source: CIA, 2017). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

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The internal inequality within nations, let us continue with this, is not insensitive to the economic situation (it comes back in force through globalization) [BOU 12], although it appears to be mainly associated with long-term decisive factor. This implied that the Gini of the 25 nations in Table 7.1 was confronted, for clarification purposes, with a set of criteria concerning the “long term”. Long-term decisive factors to be sought, in addition to the notion of “incompressible inequality” (part of inequality that does not appear to be able to be sustainably compiled), in the historical roots of nations. Indeed, since the WCM’s chain of events was entered into force, they have mechanically induced structural inequalities punctuated by violence, appropriation and separation. In this regard, it should also be recalled that the purpose of our journey is not to find culprits for the mistakes of humanity. Indeed, unless there is a pathological exception, each sapiens reacts “the best he can, thanks to what he knows and has experienced”, in the face of the circumstances that push him, hinder him or distort his judgment. As a result, we can consider that none of us, through our home group, country and time, has total guilt – or total innocence – in reference to the mistakes, crimes and unwelcome upheavals of the society that houses it, and that those who carried out inhuman actions could, if chance had played otherwise, have been among the victims, and the victims may have turned into executioners. So it remains and this is the reason for the present scientific journey; to become aware, without turning our heads away from it, but by staring wide-eyed and opening and unfolding our minds, to the profound sources of the breaks in the balance. This in order to be penetrated by these sources, regardless of their dark sides, to confront them, to settle them and to endeavor to turn them into profits, with a view to a future based on consciousness and responsibility. While long-term factors appear to be more associated with inequality than shortterm ones, it seems instructive to try to validate this hypothesis by comparing the EQ− and EQ+ groups with the most recent data on three criteria: the democracy index (according to The Economist); the perception of corruption (according to Transparency International) and the voluntary homicide rate for 100,000 inhabitants (according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime). Table 7.3 presents the values of a combined index (CIND) summarizing the values of these three indicators within the EQ− and EQ+ groups. Result: the CIND, which can vary from 0 to 6 (since it is equal to the sum of the scores assigned to: level of democracy; perception of corruption and rate of homicides, or by criterion: score: 0 = a bit; 1 = average; 2 = a lot), is almost identical within the EQ− and EQ+ countries (3.07 vs. 3.18).

Other Potential Reasons for Societal Imbalances

Country

Group of countries

CIND coefficient

South Africa

EQ−

3

Saudi Arabia

EQ−

3

Botswana

EQ−

1

Central African Republic

EQ−

6

Colombia

EQ−

6

United States

EQ−

0

Guatemala

EQ−

6

Haiti

EQ−

5

Hong Kong (China)

EQ−

2

Lesotho

EQ−

3

Malaysia

EQ−

1

Micronesia

EQ−

0

Namibia

EQ−

3

Zambia

EQ−

4

Average EQ–

…

3.07

Algeria

EQ+

3

Armenia

EQ+

4

Australia

EQ+

0

Canada

EQ+

0

Egypt

EQ+

3

Ethiopia

EQ+

5

Kazakhstan

EQ+

5

Liberia

EQ+

4

Niger

EQ+

4

Sierra Leone

EQ+

4

Timor-Leste

EQ+

3

Average EQ+

…

3.18

EQ–/EQ+ ratio

…

0.97

185

Table 7.3. Values of an index (CIND) combining level of democracy, corruption perception and current homicide rates, determined in countries with high (EQ– “unequal” group, n = 14) and low (EQ+ “equal” control group, n = 11) Gini

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COMMENT ON TABLE 7.3.– The CIND may vary from 0 to 6 and is equal to the summed value of the three criteria (0 = a bit; 1 = average; 2 = a lot) (source: The Economist, 2017; Transparency International, 2017; United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2013). Thus, variables (levels of corruption, democracy and violence) considered to be associated with income inequality at the country level, but which are analyzed, in Table 7.3, using their current values – and not the values corresponding to their medium- to long-term trend – do not appear to be predictive of the Gini national level. It would therefore be long-term characteristics, such as those involved in Table 7.2, which would predict the risk of inequality. On this subject, if we look at this table, we see that the profile of pro-inequality factors differs from one country to another. Thus, there would rather be a preponderance of inequalities related to “colonizations and their consequences” (domain for which the EQ−/EQ+ ratio is highest); to “violent internal crises” in Guatemala and Colombia; to “economic and social inequalities” in Botswana, Lesotho and Malaysia and to “a lack of democracy and segregation”: in Saudi Arabia and Central Africa. And the two countries with the highest risk of inequality – all areas combined – appear to be, among the nations in Table 7.2, Guatemala and Colombia, four of the five most unequal States, being located on the American continent. The oldest settlements, which were part of the WCM’s machinery through the colonization of America, must have been detrimental to equality, because they were led by then very hierarchical and conservative states (Spain and Portugal) and in the hands of absolute monarchs, at a historical moment well before the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. Through colonization, ethnic discrimination and even legalized apartheids being established, this led to gaps being created between the indigenous, the mixed-race and settlers, as well as between gamblers and populations without rights, whose traditional societal frameworks were often broken. In general, colonizations tended to break historical balances, community structures and traditional solidarities. Of course, colonized territories were also affected by violence, slavery and inequality of condition, the sponsors or profiteers of which were perfectly indigenous. Returning to the settlers, they tended to take the best land and make it the most profitable area possible, using the “free personnel”, slave or semi-slave, indigenous or imported, for this purpose. Even after independence, such domains remained the property of the descendants of settlers or were taken over by indigenous elites who were focused on seeking maximum profit; and in other cases, these domains were no longer valued and maintained, due to a lack of resources, expertise or will, and were therefore in a better position to contribute to reducing inequalities in the countries where they were located. Thus, the despair, the feeling of injustice and violence that often resulted from these situations of inequality could be perpetuated beyond the

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colonial state and haunted minds until they impacted the present and spoiled the future. The non-European states that are among the most equal in their Gini coefficient, such as the countries of the EQ+ group (which are not models of equality on all criteria, but are at lower risk of inequality than the EQ− countries), have either never been colonized or were colonized after 1789 and in a relatively less brutal way than that of the “greediest” who discovered America. Either they are countries that have initiated agrarian reforms or revolutions, or have even established a rural code with an equal vocation, or they are nations that have been part of a socialist, communist or socializing state. Moreover, the countries of the EQ+ group have generally not experienced, over the reference period of the RINEQ calculation (1945–2018), absolute royalty, the empire, the total dictatorship of a civil or religious group or the segregating state. That is, unlike the majority of the nations of the EQ− group, these nations have not been governed very authoritatively, at any time in their recent history, by authorities imposing their power on all or some of the citizens without social compensation. Moreover, countries with an egalitarian profile have not, for many of them and despite very notable exceptions, been the scene of civil wars leading to the displacement and ruin of peasant populations, through acts of violence, murders, rapines and destructions; have not, in general, handed over their territories to mining, financial or development companies rewarding their employees with very high salaries, while the common man is expected to survive with meager wages; have not carried out mass killings of their populations; have redistributed part of the state’s subsidies to the poorest, in the form of social benefits; have set up actions to protect indigenous populations and guarantee them rights and have traditions of solidarity, or even take initiatives in the field of social cohesion, even though all these actions are sometimes very far from being actually successful. At the end of the study of the characteristics and circumstances, often intertwined, that would lead rather to inequalities or rather to income equality, there are societies that have historically experienced very significant differences. However, it is not easy to isolate, on the basis of these differences, the initial or precipitating cause, which would clearly be at the root of the level of income inequality. Thus, violence is considered as a matrix of inequality, but in the opposite direction, inequality is seen as a matrix of violence. Regardless of the intertwining of these factors, the “world construction mechanism” appears in many unequal facts, and it is this mechanism that seems to lead the world well by the nose, very mainly by dividing and separating nations, as well as by dividing humans at the heart of the nations of which they are the children.

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7.4. The creation of inequality Even though the approach to the roots of inequality is not at the center of our journey, it seems to be considered through it, as it is at the heart of the human being and as the descriptions illustrating this question abound, due to archaeologists and anthropologists. In this regard, The Creation of Inequality [FLA 12] is the work, striking in our opinion, of two archaeologists from the University of Michigan, which deals with the processes of inequality creation in primitive human societies. This is in terms of general inequality, not income equality. While the current sign of equality (=) is of European origin and can be dated back to the 16th Century [RUS 59], the ways in which inequality is created appear to be as prehistoric as they are universal. Therefore, Kent Flannery and Joyce Marcus borrow the case studies that have informed their research from many of the cultures that are characteristic of one or the other of the five continents. The authors’ idea and interest thus consisted of studying, with reference to the creation of inequality, in the oldest societies, in order to find themselves in the presence of societal constructions that could not have been altered by the processes of colonization and globalization. What seems particularly useful in Flannery and Marcus’ approach is that it seeks to summarize the studies that have concerned the problem and that it does not appear to be conducted through dogmatic solutions. This is despite the fact that this problem touches on a notion, equality versus primordial inequality, at the origin of rather clear-cut positions. This means that we can remain eventually disappointed if we believe that we can definitively approach the tutelary roots of inequality, after having read The Creation of Inequality, as well as other books and publications such as Jacques Cauvin’s book, Naissance des divinités, naissance de l’agriculture [CAU 98]. Biology, especially considering the ability of plant cells to dedifferentiate, can help to identify “equal project” of life. Indeed, differentiated plant cells are capable, by using their dedifferentiation capabilities [BUV 89], of descending from their pedestal of “specialist cells”, in order to become basic cells again from which new “specialist cells” can be created (it is the de-differentiation capability that enables the taking of cuttings, which is a kind of vegetal reincarnation). Thus, primordial human life, a little like that of plants, does not appear fundamentally attached to a particular social structure, but to practices that universally mobilize and concentrate the attention of sapiens. Practices that appear to revolve significantly around the immortalization and sacralization of the skulls of our direct ancestors, as well as those of their other bones and documents, places, events and myths related to their “truth”, “presumed” or “imaginary” primordial ancestor. It is indeed reassuring and rewarding for the human being, in the face of the ephemeral nature of life and the unknown nature of death, to be affiliated – or to be persuaded by himself – with renowned ancestors. Or even to transmit to his descendants a certain superiority, following the embellishment – or more or less fraudulent heroism – of what the lives of their primitive ancestors would have been like, and thus to give pre-eminence to

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their own existence. In any case, the universal attachment to the cult of the dead seems to be a sign of human will, which is not a scoop, to transform death into something that is always (memorably) alive and promising for the future. In many communities, including Madagascar [LEG 16], once the name of an ancestor has been forgotten by his descendants, he leaves the genealogical ancestral tradition to join the symbolic ancestral tradition common to all. However, some individuals remain more than others in the collective memory, given their agility in magico-religious and healing practices, or their reputation as warriors, organizers of collective celebrations or generous donors. Thus, the social group to which such ancestors belong is seen as the custodian of their aura, which can confer on the members of the group a de facto ascendant or a hierarchical rank involving, in this case, inequality, various advantages, or even a form of hereditary power without any link with any merit or talent. The cult of the dead, which therefore seems to have been the first form of gathering of humanity, is still in force in Madagascar, through the famadihana ceremony or “return of the dead” [SAN 08] – a ceremony consisting of periodically digging up ancestors, wrapping their bones in shrouds or even new clothes, walking them around their graves, dancing and burying them again (Figure 7.6).

Figure 7.6. Famadihana ceremony in Madagascar (source: Lemurbaby, CCBY)

The aura conferred on a group by the fame of its great ancestors may be fueled by exaggerations, changes or lies [POI 83], or it may be surpassed by the holding of exuberant ceremonies with complex processes, punctuated by sacrifices or offerings designed to impress crowds. The manipulation of the reputation of ancestors can also involve, for some members of a clan, keeping secret the ritual practices

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concerning these ancestors; this act of “intellectual property” can be interpreted as an attempt to pass “from father to son” from a leadership, this from the creation of a line of insiders becoming the exclusive agents of the conduct of ceremonies paying homage to ancestors [FLA 12]. In addition, the implementation by a clan of ceremonies honoring emblematic ancestors may be transferred to another clan, in the form of remuneration from the transferring clan. From about 9000 BCE in the Near East and 4000 BCE in South America (which gives a certain precocity to the Near East, sorry for this “levantocentrism”), achievement-based (success in its enterprises) – and not hereditary rank-based (genetic distance from the leader) – societies would have appeared [REA 97]. Within habitats of societies that appear to be based on social success and achievement, archaeologists have highlighted the accumulation of objects from commercial exchanges and sumptuary goods reserved for children, which testify to the benefits brought by success. In addition, population growth, agricultural development and climate improvements (trade globalization could now be added to these circumstances) would have been among the circumstances that produced inequalities, depending on whether or not the ancestral kinship was in a position to seize these enrichment opportunities. According to Flannery and Marcus, some primitive societies with an egalitarian tendency seemed, as suspected in populations that inhabited the California coast or the Alaska peninsula, to have transformed, at some point in their development, into societies based on rank. This was due to slavery or other types of debt (linked to the exorbitant cost of marriages, extravagant expenses to get noticed or war reparations) resulting in making some members of a clan servers, or members of clans neighboring slaves, in return for the cancellation of debts. Moreover, as complex societies began to emerge, minorities of “active” citizens would have gradually moved into a position to control and exploit the mass of “passive” citizens [WIN 89]. Individual ambition would thus have been one of the roots of inequality in primitive societies, but the question of ambition, common to all sapiens and which is neither a quality nor a defect, finally raises the question of the meaning given to existence, through the questioning that each human being can make his own: “What use is there of this time on Earth and what can be drawn from it?” [CAD 13]. Thus, ambition and its variations will probably only weaken when life weakens. The privatization of land, which began first among the Sumerians, was a significant factor in differentiating prosperity, insofar as it led to a division of society between rich landlords and poor serfs [SUN 03]. As for self-interest, it was in the logic of many fragile primitive societies to ensure that it was forced, in favor of a group strategy. But as soon as complex societies were established, human logic

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seemed to have evolved and personal interest was less constrained, and these developments contributed to accentuating inequalities. Let us now narrow the analysis grid. If we follow the conclusions of studies on the evolution of Polynesian societies [GOL 70], we can consider that three sources of power to be at the root of societies centered on hereditary rank: life force, which is a supranatural and spiritual energy associated with the notion of the sacred; personal or familial expertise and warlike force. As for the societies based on rank that appear to be the most solid through archaeological studies, they are those that combine both military strength and religious authority and consequently relegate expertise to the background. Societies of hereditary rank, both for the inequality they profess ad vitam aeternam and for the gag on initiatives, merit and freedom of thought they tend to put in place at the population level “non-ruling” or “non-allied”, are those whose sustainability does not seem desirable, with regard to the harmonious development of humanity. Because these societies are both structurally unjust and generally not very efficient, as well as contrary to certain natural laws, if we allow a parallel between the functioning of societies of hereditary ranks and the lives of our cousins the great apes. Thus, among chimpanzees, the fact that a male becomes a dominant individual (alpha) or a secondary male (beta) in the hierarchy of his troop is certainly favored if his father is himself a dominant male. Nevertheless, the position of a male within the hierarchy appears essentially dependent on the interactions between this male and the other individuals. Thus, the alpha male candidate first plays on his stature, weight and strength to conquer the rank to which he aspires, and also, especially if his size is not the most impressive (e.g. if he weighs only 37 kg and competes with a fellow troop member weighing 51 kg), on his ability to form alliances and on his intelligence [FOS 09]. Ways of doing things that are not unlike those that male alpha human candidates practice in politics, in order to conquer supreme office. Contrary to what happens in chimpanzees, the child of a great Ang (denomination of high-ranking people, supposed to hold magical powers in the Konyak, Asian Tibetan-Burmese tribes) [JAC 91] becomes himself a great Ang, even though he has only a weak talent, and a child born from the common marginal group will never be a great Ang, no matter how intelligent he may be. Societies with hereditary powers based on rank, initially conducted through traditional local powers such as chiefdoms [EAR 97], have given birth, in support of the development of humanity, to a number of kingdoms, starting about 5,000 years ago in Egypt and Mesopotamia. These kingdoms were the setting for perhaps the most unequal society – and the earliest to be created – that has ever been created, in this case, the Pharaonic society. As we learned from the pharaoh society, where they

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owned everything and they were everything, the transition from clan-structured rank societies to societies organized in the form of kingdoms appeared to constitute a kind of change of scale, including at the level of celestial spirits; in this context, they become gods3, i.e. ritual mental constructions of a higher order. According to Flannery and Marcus, the chiefdoms that became kingdoms thus got rid of their “low-level” ancestors and endowed themselves with more brilliant genealogies – associated with more generic divinities – allowing them to adorn themselves, in return, with a divine4 power, that is, much more extended. Thus began the era of temples, marked by the rise of impressive buildings of massive and professional appearance, when compared to the generally modest and amateur aspect of traditional buildings associated with the cult of ancestors. These buildings, despite the growing prominence of temples, had a second life in the family circle, through small altars that bowed down under the weight of offerings and surrounded the houses. To return to the pharaohs, “who had possession of everything”, had to be linked to a totalitarian origin itself. Thus, the Egyptian Pharaohs created a monarchy of the socalled divine origin, by claiming to be gods from the outset or by forging a divine destiny in two stages: first, by claiming that the pharaohs metamorphosed into gods after their death, and second, by claiming that the pharaohs were born divine. Following and next to the kingdoms, empires were created, perhaps 4,300 years ago through the Mesopotamian Sargon of Akkad or his predecessors. The original concretization of the notion of empire, which corresponds to a gathering of diverse societies under the influence of a discretional central power, obviously implied the loss of freedom of the societies encompassed in the empires and their transformation into colonies, this with all the inequalities to which such constructions open the door. Under the influence of the progress of democratic aspirations, the last great absolute monarchies and the last great empires were gradually abolished between 1642 (the beginning of the first British Revolution) and 1912 (the advent of the Chinese Republic). Nevertheless, there are still many strong monarchical powers or authoritarian systems in the world that shamelessly manipulate democracy or practice it in the form of luck, in order to guarantee the decision-making primacy of their allies and relatives. In wanting to relieve oneself of the factors of inequality for the sake of a better balance of humanity one should in addition to working to curb the WCM and stopping the strong biogeographical inequalities it conveys, declare the incompatibity with the general human interest the hereditary powers perpetuating 3 The word God comes from the Latin deus, a word itself derived from the Indo-European root dei- “to shine”, which, expanded to deiwo- and dyew-, serving to designate the luminous sky as a divinity, as well as celestial beings, as opposed to the less brilliant terrestrial beings that are humans. 4 The divine, among the peoples of the Fertile Crescent, was felt more as a power than as an idea but as a power that traded with the human unconsciousness [CAU 98].

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themselves through a family, a fraction, a party, a cult, a mafia, a caste or a set of these denominations. Nevertheless, it would be outrageous to distribute good and bad points on economic and political inequalities without recalling, for example, that European nations – although emblematic of the notion of equality – have sometimes taken a very significant amount of time to solidify and take this idea further. Thus, France (Gini = 29.2), which can be considered to have existed, as a State, from around 1200 onwards, built its egalitarian demonstration between 1290 (the beginning of the liberation of the serfs and the beginning of the rule of law) and 1944 (acquisition of the right to vote by women), i.e. nearly seven centuries.  This, while continuing to take the notion further (which involved monarchical restorations in the 19th Century and the production, in the 20th Century, of inequalities linked to the globalization of economies) during the election, in 2017, of the first National Assembly to which the party that had become the majority party had presented a proportion of candidates (52%) corresponding to the proportion of women in the French population, a population which demonstrated a desire for equality that had never been achieved before in the field of national representation (in the end, 39% of women, all parties combined, were elected as deputies). To continue discussing France, its egalitarian onward march did not prevent it: from expelling Jews from the 14th Century; to participating in their deportation to Nazi concentration camps in the 20th Century through the collaborationist Vichy government and not to effectively abolish slavery in its colonies in the Indian Ocean following the 1789 revolution, as well as to practice a kind of procrastination in terms of interaction between the metropolis and its colonized areas [WAH 12], this despite the abolition of slavery passed by the National Convention. Internal equality within nations – which is an objective to be kept in focus in order to better balance and pacify societies – is not easy to achieve, given the number of interdependent factors that seem associated with it. The objective of equality also comes up against, as we have seen, the heritability of human intelligence and the fact that individuals with strong cognitive abilities would also have better physical and mental health and a higher-than-average life expectancy [DEA 10; ARD 16]. To concretize the variability of human capacity to conceptualize, it must be recalled that some individuals appear capable of producing theories that a significant proportion of their fellow human beings seem unable to really understand or imagine the ins and outs of 5. In this regard, the emblematic

5 In any case, the variability of human capacities must be put into perspective and not only from the perspective of theorizing. The ability, for example, to carry out technical projects, coordinate work teams, develop works of art or be an emotional reference also highlights strong variability within a population. Thus, it is possible to design cutting-edge theories without significantly proving capable of having an artistic production, carrying out an

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example is Albert Einstein’s conception, at the beginning of the 20th Century, of the theory of general relativity, which has since become an essential conceptual tool in astrophysics. A theory according to which “the gravitational attraction observed between masses is caused by a deformation of space and time by the same masses” [LEB 15]. Thus, in all societies, even those most inclined to equality, some individuals, by their level of activity or strategic vision, or even their desire to be a forebearer, tend to become more prominent than others, this possibly by taking advantage, in addition to their will and talent, of the sometimes decisive advantages conferred by their social background and their address book [SAV 18]. This is a subject of inter-relationship that is both significant and timeless, with the more recent one related to the power of transnational firms. By virtue of their investment capacity, technological advances and financial agility, they are trying to circumvent, in the footsteps of a globalization that is difficult to control, international legality and democracy, and to promote and maintain hyper-consumption. But the problem of equality also comes up against the ability to accept inequalities; thus, the more inequalities are reduced, the less those that remain would they be accepted [DET 81], and as regards the principles of justice to which each individual refers culturally or ideologically, they appear to be at the origin of a more or less acute perception and tolerance of inequalities, regardless of the individual’s position in the social stratification [GAL 13]. 7.5. An Asian Energy? “Doubt being the mother of truth”, an idea arises at this moment of the journey: given the considerable demographic and civilizational importance of Asia, would there not be a kind of Asian energy explaining specifically the fate of the sapiens of this continent, outside the “world’s construction mechanism”? Indeed, at the time in our journey, when the world currently has more than 7.6 billion inhabitants: Asia alone has more than 4.5 billion, or 59.2% of the total number of sapiens; China and India, about 1.4 billion inhabitants each (36.8% of human beings), and Indonesia and Pakistan, nearly 500 million between them. To determine whether these figures have a structural value, it is necessary to analyze them historically, based on data partly prior to the period of the Industrial Revolution, this in order to find themselves in a situation in which the oldest population estimates cannot have been impacted by the economic and societal upheavals associated with this revolution. In this respect, Figure 7.7, which originates in 1750, shows that the numerical primacy of the Asian population is old industrial project, setting up an entrepreneurial coordination or being a referent in terms of affectivity.

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and does not appear to have changed significantly, in relative terms, over at least three centuries, since Asia represented between 56 and 65% of the world’s population during this period. The 200 million inhabitants (58% of the world’s population) might have been reached on the Asian continent at the end of the 16th Century [BIR 03], when the European population, which was then experiencing a period of good times under the influence of a “climatic optimum” and innovations from the “agricultural revolution, (plough, water wheel, windmill), was relatively larger than today and would have had about 48 million inhabitants [BIL 00]. The emergence of such an ancient demographic predominance – on the part of Asia – can therefore only be linked to natural favorable conditions, and first of all, to a food source that makes it possible to feed a large population on a regular basis, a source that can only be rice (Oryza sativa L.) in Asia.

Asie

Figure 7.7. Share of the world population by continent between 1750 and 2005 (in %). Curve colors: Asia = brick red; Europe = green; Africa = blue; South and Central America = purple; North America = turquoise; Oceania = orange (source: Marcelo Garza, CCBY). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/ construction.zip

Indeed, rice, the cereal of the Asian continent (which alone produces 90% of the world cereal harvest), has represented a solid food base in Asia for thousands of years; it can give up to three crops per year; can grow at an altitude of up to nearly 2,000 m; is not discouraged by hot temperatures; is cultivable outside; needs a lot of

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water to grow (1,500 tons of water per ton of rice); is compatible with submersion  techniques and requires a large workforce (rice cultivation can only be mechanized under the guise of major investments, such as the use of combine harvesters, which is only accessible to prosperous populations, such as American rice farmers). The physical characteristics of Asia that may explain its high population, as a counterpoint to rice cultivation, appear to be its 44 million km2 area (compared to 10 million km2 for Europe), which corresponds to 30% of the land surface. This makes Asia the largest continent on the planet, and its average altitude of 950 m, which makes it the highest continent in the world. These last data are reflected in particular by the presence, within the Asian continent, of the highest mountain ranges on the planet, including the Himalayas (“abode of the snow”, in Sanskrit). Finally, the geography of Asia provides a colossal snow reserve and induces a vast glacier area (the largest on earth, excluding the polar regions, while the only African ice cap, Kilimanjaro, is disappearing); is associated with monsoons, a system of winds bringing warm and humid air, and also including high precipitation;  being crossed by high-flow rivers (the Chinese Yangtze is the second largest river in the world after the Amazon, in terms of length-flow combination)6 ; and has vast alluvial plains with fertile silts crossed by many rivers. Rice, landscape and climate therefore make it possible, at the end of the day, to provide a basic food source for a large population, while in return requiring a lot of workers and working time. Hence, undoubtedly, the demographic spiral turning at full speed – and the high population densities – that characterize the rice growing regions. Here is the environmental system that seems to be the main driving force of Asia’s demographic influence. Such a system does not call into question the WCM’s determinants and chain of events; on the contrary, it brings, no pun intended, water to its mill. Indeed, the Asian observation somehow puts into perspective the idea that biogeography appears at the heart of human development, with “some small other things”. On the other hand, Asia is more threatened than other continents by the occurrence of conditions leading to the degradation of the system that has built its demographic influence. Thus, the sudden disappearance of the ancient Indus civilization should be a major subject of reflection for governments with the destiny of Asian societies in their hands.

6 An edifying comparison can be made between the Nile, the longest African river, and the Yangtze River, its Asian counterpart. Thus, the Nile (white), with its approximately 6,700 km length, has a flow rate of about 2,800 m3 per second, while the Yangtze River (length: 6,300 km) has a flow rate of about 30,000 m3 per second, almost 11 times that of the Nile.

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Because, while history may not always repeat itself in the same way, climatic accidents have no definitive reason not to reappear one day. Although some reassuring news for Asia is that glacier melting due to global warming appears less severe in Asia than elsewhere on the planet. Thus, according to some researchers, Asian glaciers are thinning by about 20 cm per year, half the average of glaciers globally, and as for the Karakoram and Kunlun glaciers (representing a third of Asia’s glaciers), they even gain in mass, which is not observed elsewhere on the planet [BRU 17]. Nevertheless, in complete contradiction with these findings, a study published in 2019 suggests that, in fact, two-thirds of the Himalayan and Hindu Kush glaciers could melt by the end of the century and destabilize the major rivers of Asia if greenhouse gas emissions are not, by then, controlled globally [WES 19]. So that is a real concern. 7.6. Combining equality and prosperity In conclusion to this step, in addition to the considerations in section 7.2, the lessons learned from the calculation of a “combined ranking index”, determined at the country level, the value of which corresponds, for each country, to the addition of its ranking in terms of GDP at PPP per capita (rank 1 = country with the highest GDP) and Gini (rank 1 = country with the lowest Gini) will be presented. This calculation highlights the 15 nations with both good prosperity and a good level of equality, given the low value of their combined index: Australia, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland. Three of these nations (Finland, Norway, Sweden) have a combined index below 25; eight have an index between 26 and 35 (Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland) and four have an index above 35 (Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, the Czech Republic). Fourteen of these nations, called favor, are therefore European, and one is Oceanic, and, in addition, 12 have a maritime frontage, 10 have their capital located at a northern latitude greater than 50°, 10 have less than 10 million inhabitants, eight have a capital whose average annual temperature is less than 10°C, and three are former communist countries. As for the most “attractive” of the favor nations, while at least the number of tourists makes it possible to approach the overall attractiveness of a country, it would be France, Germany and the Netherlands, with respectively more than 85 million, 35 million and 15 million tourists per year. Favor countries, which combine equality and prosperity, should, in view of this characteristic, have a particularly important role to play in the procedures for resolving the world’s disharmonies. As for the favor nation with the lowest combined index (value = 16), it is Norway, ranked 5th for prosperity and 11th for equality, and which is the most northern European country (like Canada, the country

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in the most northerly American continent and having the lowest combined index on this continent). Thus, Norway’s territory, which is very maritime, dotted with fjords and dotted with islands, extends to 71°N latitude. In addition, Norway’s current territory was once, along with Sweden and Denmark, the land of the Vikings, great navigators faced with the eternal thanks to their flat-bottomed boats (Figure 7.8) and their maritime science, which would have been based on the use of a solar compass and a depolarizing stone to locate the sun in cloudy weather [ROP 12; BER 14]. Navigators, as well as traders, explorers, pirates and conquerors (8th and 11th Centuries), the Vikings would have reached America long before Christopher Columbus, his carrack and caravels [GOD 09], according to a hypothesis supported by research, based on satellite imagery and stories of northern legends, undertaken in Canada by space archaeologist Sarah Parcak [JAR 16].

Figure 7.8. Viking period boat rebuilt from a skiff dating back to 1042 (source: William Murphy, CCBY)

While the Viking saga is only a distant – and dear – memory for Norwegians, Norway has since become, through the wealth brought by gas (third largest exporter in the world) and oil, as well as by other resources from its subsoil and forest, a bastion of social capitalism. On another level, the Norwegian nation – with 5.5 million inhabitants and the number one country in terms of human development, according to the United Nations Development Programme – is the least religious Western country, as only 35% of Norwegians declare themselves religious (in this case, they are mainly Lutherans). As for fate, the Viking ancestors of the Norwegians and other Scandinavian people “did not have an unchanging conception of it. And whatever the possible intentions of their gods, the ancient Scandinavians and ancient Germans remained free spirited and believed in their ability to influence

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their divinities and force fate. As well as luck, their talents, strength, will, ability to succeed and the support of their ancestors” [BOY 15]. Pragmatically, the Vikings, whose societies were nevertheless adepts of slavery, violent and profit-driven [BIS 08], would not have been “fatalists assigned a fate, but much more free men who could decide their fate, at the risk of displeasing the gods” [BOY 15]. Let us now return to the question around which the chapter that is ending is constructed: are there other factors, as decisive as the WCM, that could be linked to the differentiated development of human societies? According to our journey, it does not seem possible to respond positively to this question, even though the problem of inequality does not appear to be unrelated, as we have seen, to the functioning of the “world construction mechanism”. Nevertheless, there are still some burning questions that come to mind, with reference to the mechanism that seems to have decided the world. So let us ask ourselves these three “crucial questions”.

8 Three Crucial Questions

8.1. A potentially different world? So could the WCM be, in a way, the World definitively? Or could something have happened over the years that could have changed the appearance of our Earth, its history and its disharmonies, and resulted in having changed the mechanism that appears to have led to humanity, such as it is today? There is no doubt that there could not have, because it is rather difficult to imagine another evolution of the Earth than the one that has occurred, as the planet, its climate and geography – and the sapiens themselves – are solid elements that are quite difficult to modify. Nevertheless, could a major accidental phenomenon have disrupted the life of the Earth? Which phenomenon? In this matter, it seems that there would only be the collision of our planet with a large stone that could have caused our loss or strongly impacted our future. In addition, it may be useful to consider whether the interaction between Homo, especially between sapiens and neanderthalensis (Figure 8.1), or even between sapiens and other species, such as Homo naledi [DIR 17], could not have changed our destiny and disrupted our pre-eminence. To date, only the trail involving the sapiens (Hs) against the neanderthalensis (Hn) appears explorable, since their encounter would be the only one to have been temporally probable, with that of the Denisovans; encounter(s) which not only occurred because of interspecific crosses, but which also resulted in them [CON 16]. With regard to the factors favorable to the pre-eminence of sapiens, an analysis of the question of the possible “advantage of intelligence” conferred on our species, based on all archeological knowledge and the conclusions of 151 scientific publications, did not lead to the conclusion that sapiens have a competitive brain advantage [VIL 14], even though such an advantage cannot be definitively excluded. The theory to be adopted to explain the extinction of the Hn and the success of the Hs could be of a population nature. If, in fact, on many points, such as the maximum potential longevity, the age of the onset menstruation or the

The World’s Construction Mechanism: Trajectories, Imbalances and the Future of Societies, First Edition. Jacques Barnouin. © ISTE Ltd 2020. Published by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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duration of gestation, Hn and Hs do not seem to differ, paleoclimatic data suggest that the Neanderthals’ demographics who lived under highly fluctuating climatic conditions, would have been subject to bottlenecks [BOC 13]. The demographic instability of Neanderthals, combined with the fragmentation of the geographical areas in which they lived, would explain why their potential for technical creativity and the use of environmental resources may have been limited [RIC 09]. Thus, the population size of the Hn would have reached, according to various scenarios, 5,000–70,000 individuals, while the Hs would have been in the order of 4–5 million towards 30, 000 BCE [BIR 03], just before the Hn died out. In fact, the limited numbers of Neanderthals, perhaps linked to a decline in their fertility [DEG 19], would have led them to disappear, through the famous theory of the economist Ester Boserup, according to which low population growth prevents the stimulation of social progress [BOS 81; LEE 92]; and alongside the extinction of the Hn, the Hs developed within “primitive villages”, better structured than the Neanderthal institutions which were based on the extended family [FLA 12]. But what would be the cause of the low numbers of Neanderthals? In fact, our missing cousins may have suffered from the disadvantages of being specialist hunters – and great meat enthusiasts they seem to have been – according to the teachings of archeological excavations [RIC 09]. Compared to sapiens, the metabolic costs (oxygen consumption) of Neanderthals would have reached 3,500–5,000 kcal per day, compared to the 2,150–2,400 kcal per day consumption of a male sapiens. If we assume a similar distribution of nutrients between Hn and Hs, Hn would have needed twice as much ungulate meat as sapiens. From this nutritional difference and with similar hunting conditions, the consumption level of ungulates of the Hn would thus have been at the basis of a population density twice lower among Neanderthals compared to that which prevailed among sapiens [BOC 13]. The demographic difficulties that appear to have been experienced by Neanderthals, combined with the significant hunting times that their way of life must have involved, may also have resulted, based on the lessons of our research itinerary, in less cultural exchange time among the populations of Hn compared to their Hs counterparts. However, it is from an allround exchange that directions of life and new ideas can emerge, and that solidarity can be built to forge and strengthen the resilience of a prehistoric group struggling with the unpredictability of an environment on which it depends crucially, particularly with regard to its food security. But, in any case, only the weakness in their numbers, through the variables that generated it (low fertility?), could be at the root, according to Jean-Pierre Bocquet-Appel and Anna Degioanni, of the disappearance of Neanderthals [BOC 13].

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Figure 8.1. Sapiens (left) and neanderthalensis (right) face to face (source: hairymuseummatt, CCBY)

8.2. A potentially devastated world? Apart from a major celestial accident, only human action seems to be able to put humanity at risk, for example, through the reckless use of pesticides leading to a drastic drop in the fertility of sapiens. Unless, of course, we let ourselves be won over by catastrophist theories, such as those involving the destructive action of a supervirus accessing a perfect knowledge of our genome, naturally or by genomic construction [RIC 17]: a threat that the WHO includes in its 2019–2030 strategy through the risk of pandemic influenza. Concerning the course of history, only one moment of major risk seems to have presented itself to humanity so far. This moment corresponds to the situation that appears to be the most dangerous for human destinies, namely the fact that a militarily and economically powerful country, driven by a spirit of revenge, brings to power a leader who takes charge of their fantasies and hatreds, even though they turn out to have a strong antisocial propensity, a clear psychological imbalance, an exacerbated militarism and, finally, an uncontrollable dangerousness. The key moment in this regard began in 1933 in Germany. In that year, Hitler, who came to power in the context analyzed in section 1.6, instilled his warlike appetite into the Nazi apparatus and his anti-Semitism into everyday practices (such as the boycott of Jewish businesses) and into German legislation (dismissal of “non-Aryan” civil servants). In this context, among the very first dismissed were Jewish teachers and professors, including those in the field in which they excelled, atomic

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physics [FRA 16b]. This was at a time of fundamental discoveries that suggested – in the very near future – the development of devastating nuclear weapons. Thus, in the 1930s, Leo Szilard, a Hungarian physicist, with the collaboration of the Italian Enrico Fermi, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1938, conceived the chain reaction and the idea of the nuclear reactor. In 1934, Fermi, extending the work of the Austrian Wolfgang Pauli, put forward a theory on beta radiation emission (radioactive decay in which a beta particle, electron or positron is emitted). As for induced nuclear fission (breaking of a heavy nucleus, such as uranium, following its bombardment by neutrons, with very high energy production), it was described, one year before the outbreak of World War II, by the Germans Otto Hahn, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1944, and Fritz Strassmann (respectively “non-Nazi” and “anti-Nazi”)[BER 08], assisted by Lise Meitner, considered to be “the forgotten Nobel Prize winner”. As for Albert Einstein, the most famous scientist of his time, he had theorized – as early as 1905 – that a resting mass represents a quantity of releasable energy that could be more than a million times greater than that which could be released from conventional fuel. Thus, Einstein’s scientific reputation led Leo Szilard and his compatriots, the Hungarians Edward Teller and Eugene Wigner, joint winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963, to contact the famous physicist on the brink of the outbreak of world conflict. This was to ensure that Einstein intervened with Franklin Roosevelt, US President at the time, to raise his awareness of the high risk of the Nazis developing and using nuclear weapons without restraint; and consequently, of the need for the United States to seize this issue head-on. Thus, the letter addressed on August 2, 1939 to Roosevelt [DEM 15], prepared by Szilárd and signed by Einstein (who, as a pacifist, later regretted sending this), reached its target by triggering the mobilization of the American government. This was initiated in 1945 by the Manhattan project, of which Robert Oppenheimer had taken over the scientific direction, to develop operational atomic bombs, benefiting from the expertise of Isidor Rabbi (winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1944). These bombs, once developed, would be used to subvert Japan on September 2, 1945. Japan would surrender following, in addition to the explosion of two nuclear devices, on August 6 and 9 in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima (Figure 8.2) and Nagasaki, a conventional bomb attack, and an attack on Manchuria, which was then occupied by Japan, by Soviet Union troops.

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Figure 8.2. View of the city of Hiroshima, after the explosion of the atomic bomb that ravaged it in 1945 (source: US federal government)

Table 8.1, which presents the scientists who have just been mentioned as specialists in atomic sciences, shows that all these researchers more or less actively (or passively) refused to cooperate with Nazi Germany to help it develop atomic weapons. Indeed, two of these scientists, although German and still in Germany, delayed their commitment to Hitler. As for the others, as Jewish, of Jewish origin or married to Jewish people, they were settled in the United States, or, for the vast majority of them, fled Germany (or fascist Italy) before or after the Nazis took power, in order to preserve their lives and freedom. Thus, shown through the desertion of these scientists, Hitler’s hatred of Jewish people turned them against him; indeed, beyond atomic specialists, many Germans of Jewish origin who left their native country had important positions in many areas of thought. The contribution of Jewish people to universal knowledge appears to have been very significant beyond the case of the atom and the 1930s. Indeed, since 1901, 22% of Nobel Prizes have been awarded to laureates of Jewish origin, while Jewish people are said to represent only 0.2% of the global population; and that they have thus obtained 110 times more Nobel Prizes than expected, solely on the basis of their demographic influence. These successes could be linked, among Ashkenazi Jews (of Germanic origin and established in Central Europe), to genetic factors, but surely more to the very strong promotion of education practiced in Jewish families; and this, in a historical way, through the exegesis of the Torah [BOT 05; COC 06], regardless of the level of prosperity of the families and their country of settlement, following their early emigration from Judea (part of Israel and Palestine) and the crushing of their revolts – linked to a quest for independence – by the Roman legions, the last of which concerned the period from 132 CE to 135 CE.

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Country by birth

Leo Szilard

Hungary

Enrico Fermi

Italy

Origin and background

Country of origin of work

Jewish,

Hungary

middle class

Germany

United States, 1938

Non-Jewish (Jewish wife),

Italy

United States, 1939

middle class Wolfgang Pauli

Austria

Jewish, intellectual bourgeoisie Non-Jewish,

Otto Hahn

Germany

Fritz Strassmann

Germany

Lise Meitner

Austria

Albert Einstein

Germany

Edward Teller

Hungary

Eugene Wigner

Hungary

Robert Oppenheimer

United States

small entrepreneurial environment Non-Jewish, intellectual bourgeoisie

Poland

Germany Switzerland Canada Germany

Germany

Jewish,

Austria

intellectual bourgeoisie

Germany

Jewish,

Isidor Rabbi

Denmark

small entrepreneurial environment Jewish, high bourgeoisie Jewish, middle class Jewish, high bourgeoisie

Switzerland Germany

Country of work once emigrated England, 1933

United States, 1935

Did not emigrate: German non-Nazi Did not emigrate: German, antiNazi Sweden, 1938 United States, 1933

Germany

United States, 1933

Germany

United States, 1930

United States

Did not emigrate

Jewish,

Germany

middle class

United States

Father who emigrated to the United States, 1899

Table 8.1. European and American scientists who had a prominent role in the development of atomic theory and its military applications during the first half of the 20th Century (the order of citation of scientists in the table corresponds to their order of appearance in the text)

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So here we are, through World War II, back in the corridor of intercultural maturation in the Levant. Thus, Jewish people and their Hebrew ancestors, as stakeholders in this migration corridor, most probably benefited, although decimated by the Romans, from this decisive societal positioning. This benefit would last, even through their exile in Babylon1, which would have provided the Jewish elites with an opportunity for fruitful contact with Mesopotamia, a region that has left to the world, as we have seen, many of its cultural references. Thus, it would be in Babylon that the stories about the history of Abraham, Moses and the Promised Land would have matured, in particular, through the exile of the Hebrews [JOA 17]. While the Levant played a significant role, through Jewish education, in the fight against Nazi barbarism, our escapade will be an opportunity to specify that, alongside the Jewish people (whose intellectual successes can only confer eminent responsibility for building a balanced world), established in the South Levant, the Phoenicians, further north, were at the basis of very advanced societies [ARO 07] whose state structures flourished between 1,200 and 300 BCE. Thus, the Phoenicians, notable ancestors of the current Lebanese, were particularly enterprising and erudite, in particular because of the alphabetical principles inherited from Canaanite populations [HAB 17], which they transmitted to the Greeks. The Phoenician communities, unlike the Jewish communities, in search of a promised land, and thus facing conflicts with the powers of the Fertile Crescent, remained organized into city-states. Cities that were independent of each other, had their own particularities and were not particularly involved, it would seem, in struggles for regional pre-eminence. Even though this attitude did not prevent the Phoenicians, in addition to squabbling amongst themselves, from falling, at one point, under the vassalage of Egypt, and then losing their independence totally to Rome, while retaining their commercial power. Cornered by the sea, with behind them a thin strip of land rising towards peaks and arid areas, Phoenician cities had no choice but to assert themselves as maritime experts; and as a result, they projected themselves into the Mediterranean, which became their garden, through the consummate art of navigation and the foundation of rich trading posts (in Spain, North Africa, Sardinia and Sicily). Thus the Phoenician expansion resulted, especially in the 9th Century BCE, in the founding of Carthage (nowadays, Tunis), a city of several hundred thousand inhabitants at its height, and the seat of a brilliant civilization, called

1 The initiation of the Jewish diaspora (spread throughout the world, from the Greek διασπείρειν: “to spread”) is dated to the taking of Jerusalem by the Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar II (586 BCE), which led to the exile of some Hebrews in Babylon. This exile ended in 539 BCE, following the capture of Babylon by the Persian Emperor Cyrus II, liberator of the Hebrews.

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the Carthaginian. A civilization endowed in particular with excellence in agriculture2 and trade, which for nearly a century challenged the supremacy of Rome, thanks, in particular, to Hannibal’s military genius, before being wiped off the map in 146 BCE by the legions of Scipio Aemilianus. Unlike the Phoenicians, the Jewish population, given their location, circulated in areas of plateaus and plains, even of elevations, not exceeding 1,250 meters, in contrast to the more than 3,000 meters of the highest point of the former Phoenicia. Thus, there was no need for Jewish people to struggle to navigate and colonize the Mediterranean to ensure their future; but rather to be farmer-breeders, initially nomadic, before thinking, when urban development emerged in their era of life, of settling and becoming merchants. Hence, undoubtedly, part of the difference between the history of Lebanon and that of Israel and Palestine, entities whose future requires, for their own serenity and that of the world, that they strengthen themselves by constituting a common State; a State welcoming Jewish and Muslim cultures, while not excluding others such as Christians, who historically share these territories. With regard to Jewish people established in the Arab-Muslim Empire, the transition between agricultural and commercial activities was apparent for these communities between the 8th and 9th Centuries, a period during which Jewish people began to invest in activities (crafts, trade, loans) related to their new urban character [BOT 05 ; MUE 78]. The dramatic circumstance, linked to the atomic weapon and the origin of our new detour through the Levant, must obviously never be forgotten, but must be part of the dangers from which humanity must protect itself through a constructed mechanism. The major point in nuclear matters, apart from the issues of the proliferation, miniaturization and stealth of atomic weapons, concerns the danger that would be linked to the arrival in power, in one of the countries with a nuclear capacity (China, North Korea, United States, France, Great Britain, India, Israel, Pakistan, Russia), of an aggressive social leader; or even one driven by racist or revengeful hatred, to the point of using the supreme office entrusted to them by the population to indulge in their own moral turpitudes by attacking a community, state or culture, using weapons of mass destruction that could be the cause of a fatal downward spiral.

2 Magon, a Carthaginian from the 2nd Century BCE, is the author of a treatise on agriculture considered a major work. This treatise would have been the only work repatriated by the Roman armies to Rome, following the destruction of Carthage, in order to make Carthaginian agronomic techniques known [HEU 76].

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8.3. Any damage? Has the functioning of the WCM, in addition to the grueling living conditions it has produced in some countries, caused any damage? Probably. Of course, we can think about this. Do we mean damage in people’s minds and hearts, which is mostly underground? Moreover, how can we imagine the opposite, that is to say, that the mechanism that has contributed to shaping humanity with the inequalities of destiny that it has induced, through unconsciousness and coercion, cannot be translated, in reaction, into mistrust, hatred and forms of retaliation? But this is, undoubtedly in a rather vague and indirect way, insofar as the process within which we travel: either neither known, nor formalized; or “is in the air”, but in an unspoken, imprecise or repressed way; while being neither explained by societies with the idea of solving it, nor put in its right place by political theories. There are a thousand ways to bury your head in the sand or to divert it, in reference to the mechanism that would have been at the basis of an unequal world. This, even though the division of humanity produced by this long process has led to emblematic songs (Babacar, Michel Berger and France Gall, 1987), successful films (Twelve Years a Slave, Steve McQueen and Chiwetelu Ejiofor, 2013,  The Man Who Knew Infinity, Matt Brown and Dev Patel, 2015), civil society actions (Le Serment de l’Arche, 1990)3 and decisive mobilizations by major humanitarian structures, of which the Red Cross and Red Crescent are prominent precursors. And yet this discordant resilience of the human condition sometimes manages to hurt us, to disturb us, even to upset our most intimate thoughts; and even to bypass, at least for a moment, our detachments, leaving us questioning and helpless. While it has been responsible for millennia, this “b****y mechanism” is insufficiently considered by emancipatory theories, with the possible exception of Immanuel Kant’s (Figure 8.3) in Perpetual Peace4 [KAN 16], for so many intolerances, underestimations, lack of consideration and exclusion.

3 The Serment de l’Arche is an event organized by the association Survie through FrançoisXavier Verschave and Jacques Barnouin, through which parliamentarians, personalities and association leaders swore an oath on 6 June 1990 at the Grande Arche de la Défense (Paris) to act to pass a law “for the survival and development” of the most vulnerable populations on the planet, in response to the call of 116 Nobel Prize winners. 4 According to Immanuel Kant, in Perpetual Peace (1795), peace can only be achieved at the global level through the creation of a common legal framework. The first step in building perpetual peace would be, within this framework, the adoption by States of a republican constitution. States would form a federation of free nations, capable of substituting legal relations for power relations, on the basis of respect for the rights of individuals.

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Of course, let us reiterate, there is no point in placing guilt on the WCM and dwelling on it and its consequences. Moreover, it is not guilt that can be the driving force behind a societal rebalancing, but rather lucidity, knowledge and an extreme desire to succeed. Once again, it is not a question of finding those responsible for our problems, because there really are none apart perhaps from the morphology and inclination of the Earth, the heat and course of the sun or the area of the planet that has seen our species gradually extract itself from the mold of evolution. Thus, if we set ourselves the objective of resolving the disharmonies of societies, the worst course of action would be to start from the idea that there are, in this matter and in others, good people and evil people; the most suitable approach to succeed would seem to be, on the contrary, to seek points of convergence, to be innovative, to speak to each other and to argue without catechism. Today, how can we detect damage, how can we track reactions and detect more or less harmful actions that would constitute “without knowing it and in the long run” responses to the effects of the WCM? Probably, through many of the tensions and wars and terrorist activities, international or internal to nations, whose causes  we are trying to identify; and which target, in particular, Westerners, Americans, Europeans, non-believers, the wealthy and the servants of colonialism and capitalism. In this regard, since the USSR collapsed in 1991, proletarian anti-capitalist internationalism no longer has the logistical and mental bases to be the torchbearer of a struggle for proposals against the West, the international financial system and its supporters. Thus, the cement needed to build an alternative to a system as powerful as a fully launched liberalism – assisted by the steamroller of Chinese authoritarian capitalism – now has as its only activator, in addition to the growing awareness of ecological urgency, a religious ferment based on the past strength of an inclusive spirituality, which may nevertheless appear to some as a savior. Returning to the USSR, the 1970s marked the progressive economic obsolescence of the Soviet system, which Mikhail Gorbachev, who came to power in 1985, could not counter despite his willingness to reform. This was probably because the perestroika (economic reconstruction) and glasnost (transparency of the debates) in which Gorbachev engaged, held back by the ruling caste of the Communist Party wishing to stand firm on its privileges, arrived too late and had the final consequence of definitively destabilizing the Soviet economy and putting it in the hands of new oligarchs (members of a ruling class linked to a government), but also allowing the opening of Russian society to the world.

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Figure 8.3. The philosopher Immanuel Kant around 1790 (source: Amano1, CCBY)

The end of the 1970s, which thus corresponds to the provisional end of Soviet ambitions for world leadership, was also marked, in 1979, by the fall of the pro-Western and modernist Iranian regime of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In 1976, it abolished, in a symbolic and anecdotal way, the Islamic (lunar) calendar5 to replace it with the (solar) calendar of ancient Persia. After the fall of the Shah’s regime, religious conservatives, who were followers of an Islamic theocracy, took power in Iran, a country of high civilization, through the Shia dignitary Rouhollah Khomeini. This seizure of power, which turned out to be a considerable event perpetuated through Khomeini’s successors, marked a certain resurgence of Islam’s ambitions, whose golden age of civilization had spread between the 8th and 14th Centuries. This resurgence resulted, well beyond Iran, in the rise of anti-Westernism, the

5 The Islamic calendar is based on the phases of the moon, unlike the calendar of ancient Persia, which is solar and of Zoroastrian origin (Zoroastrianism is a pre-Islamic monotheistic religion still existing in Iran) [POU 12]. The Islamic lunar calendar, which “advances” each year by 11 days compared to the current solar calendar (the lunar year being 11 days shorter than the solar year), has its roots in the Koranic prescription of Muhammad. According to the Koran (“the recitation”), the Muslim bible, the Ramadan fast must begin with the observation of the new moon and end with the observation of the next new moon (in the Muslim tradition, it is not permitted to use astronomical calculations to determine the dates of the beginning and end of fasting). Moreover, the fact that Arabia, the country of birth of Islam, has had a desert climate and oasis agriculture since prehistoric times [BOU 13], means it is not really useful to adopt a solar or luni-solar calendar. Indeed, such fixed and seasonally appropriate calendars are particularly well suited to monitoring changes in agricultural practices (crop rotation, sowing, harvesting) during the year in countries with a milder and more changeable climate than that of Arabia, as well as the climate of much of the Iranian territory.

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dramatic consequences of which are well known, from the Middle East to Africa via the rest of the world; and in particular through New York, through the shock linked to the very deadly and dramatic combined air attacks of September 11, 2001. Attacks planned by the Islamist group Al Qaeda (“the base”), in connection with the historic East-West, North-South and PR+-PR– conflict zone of Afghanistan, destroyed the twin towers (415 and 417 meters tall) of the World Trade Center business building, killing nearly 3,000 people. But despite the heavy loss of life linked to the September 11 attack, the vast majority of victims of Islamist activism were concentrated in the East – primarily Iraq and Afghanistan – and to a lesser extent in Africa, including Somalia, Nigeria and Egypt. The same is true of terrorist attacks in general, half of which, according to the University of Maryland, affect the Middle East and North Africa, while Europe experiences no more than 1%. Behind these mistakes, failures and global threats, the zone of reason and benevolence that appears to persist best (with a view to preventing further damage) is Europe. Europe, fortunate in its placement and environment, and whose culture, despite the heavy colonial weight, the burden of the WCM, the isolationist impulses that surround it and the permanent struggle for solidification that a Europe concerned with preserving its unity implies, is based on the humanist tradition, the rule of law and the search for consensus. Thus, only Europe, all of Europe, including Russia, currently seems capable of establishing a new social contract with a global resonance, in response to economic savagery and anthropological ignorance. This is thanks to the cultural and social experience of these nations, through the establishment – on which the journey should focus, in its final stage – of profitable associations with other parts of the planet. Areas with strong cultural roots and deep cultural determinants, as well as traditions of solidarity, such as the Indian subcontinent, anciently associated with Sumer, and the African continent, rich in the diversity of the life forces of its nations, beyond Africa’s primordial human status.

9 Rebalancing Societies

9.1. In search of the human project This travel book, whose present and final stage will focus on indicating the perspectives, therefore consists of a study of the eternal human beings and the trajectory of societies, with regard to the structuring of a world built around a privileged center and an unarmed periphery. In this regard, and following Hegel’s philosophy, “we must seek in history a universal goal, the final goal of the world, and not a particular goal of the subjective mind or human feeling”. Although he was enthusiastic, this injunction, was not necessarily easy to implement, especially if the human project – provided that it could be captured – proved ultimately unfinishable, like a kind of perpetual work in progress [BIN 04]. To begin the conclusion of the study – and before addressing the question of major projects that have contributed to the functioning of human societies – what therefore seem to be, more individually, the components of the “generic project” of the sapiens? That is, what would our fellow congeners have tended to do to strengthen their communities and “fulfill”? Firstly, sapiens have tended – generally – to explore their living environment, thanks to the reflective capacities of their brains and the robustness of their members; this, before establishing their communities in areas compatible with an overall sense of well-being. This involves regions: with a cool and temperate atmosphere, or even where the cold dominates, located near a relatively permanent watercourse (Figure 9.1), a lake or a maritime space, and able to ensure an omnivorous diet, which implies access to diversified plant and animal food sources, synonymous with taste pleasure and good mental sensations. Sensations resulting from the satisfaction of prerequisites necessary for the optimal functioning of the human brain system, which consumes, as mentioned, seven times more energy than the others tissues, and this, in a very efficient way, insofar as sapiens are mammals

The World’s Construction Mechanism: Trajectories, Imbalances and the Future of Societies, First Edition. Jacques Barnouin. © ISTE Ltd 2020. Published by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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[ALL 09]. In this regard, it should be noted that the high energy demand of human neurons could be implicated, from exhaustion related to the hyper-energetic capacity of sapiens, in Parkinson’s disease [PAC 15], in interaction with other factors, such as age. In addition, it should be noted that when the human brain moves from the rest state to the active state, the amount of energy it consumes increases from 20% to 40% of the body’s total energy production [YU 16], which represents a very significant metabolic leap.

Figure 9.1. Living next to water (source: Jacques Barnouin)

The major nutritional needs, which concern, in reference to the brain, in addition to energy, vitamin B [KEN 16], polyunsaturated fatty acids [BOU 06] and other nutrients, could only be relatively important in Prehistoric Man, when we consider that our ancestor, in all the acts of his life, could often only rely on himself and his muscles. Thus, what we are experiencing today, namely, the fact that we are assisted by machines that help our neurons, joints, bones and muscles, with the risks inherent in hyper-sedentariness as a counterpart, corresponds to an extraordinarily recent situation, compared to the depth of human history. Thus, the fact that the Sapiens project seems to have consisted, for a large part and as in other animals, of “physiological satisfaction”, including that of the hyperactive brain, seems perfectly logical and does not represent in any way an observation of an overwhelming originality. As for the differences between the physical and mental priorities of our hunter-gatherer ancestors on the one hand, and those of great apes, including chimpanzees, on the other, they were proposed by anthropologist Marshall Sahlins [SAL 59], based on the consideration of the fundamental needs of sex, food and defense. Thus, in chimpanzees, sex would be the priority, ahead of food and defense. While in humans, the priority would be food (Figure 9.2), ahead of defense and sex. According to Marshall Salhins, this lesser importance of sex in human beings can be

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explained by the necessities of life in society. While the priority that sapiens would give to food would be in the sense that in Man, food, which is a powerful religious marker (negatively or positively), would constitute, through the nutritional needs that food reflects, an essential driving force of his satisfaction and therefore of his life project.

Figure 9.2. First, we eat (source: Jacques Barnouin)

The fact that the human project is somewhere the project of its brain, let us return to this question, which seems an acceptable proposal. Indeed, our brain is endowed with regulations so complex, so interrelated and so flexible that they make its decision tree completely inaccessible, which gives, consequently, a kind of autonomy to our brain. Finally, we do not really know how to decipher with finesse the decision-making processes and regulations managed by our brain (despite the eminent progress of neurobiology), nor a fortiori influencing, or even drastically short-circuiting, these regulations. Many of the brain mechanisms seem to be the result of superior arbitrations, which could be regulated to keep us alive “despite ourselves”. For example, yawning is related to a process of cooling the brain as part of the thermoregulatory mechanisms [THO 12; THO 17]. However, probably happily for our brain, we are not in a position to fundamentally prevent ourselves from yawning. Moreover, however much we seem to want to, it is sometimes difficult for us to control our emotions during adolescence [AHM 15]; this may be because the learning, “leave-alone” and emotional adjustment phase that is the adolescent period would be necessary to enable us, as adults, to better control our emotions. As for our vegetative nervous system as a whole, it controls and integrates organic functions not subject to voluntary control, such as the heartbeat; its rhythm is certainly

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partially controllable voluntarily through relaxation, but which, with a chance for our survival, our sole desire does not allow us to constrain too much. But, the main part of brain pre-eminence is perhaps to be found in the functioning of the memory and, more precisely, in the way in which the rules of storage – and sorting – of the elements memorized by our brain would influence, through threshold effects based on the integration of accumulations of experience (of which here again, we do not really know the rules), our behavior in the short, medium and long terms [DEL 13; SAH 16]. Thus, while it is very fashionable to talk about the dangers of artificial intelligence, which is supposed to be able to take control of our beings one day, it would be more useful to focus on the consequences associated with the fact that our brain system weighs on our “own”, and by mechanisms that largely escape us, on a large part of our lives. A characteristic of our brain functions, which is easy to observe insofar as we experience it quite often on a daily basis, seems to be, as mentioned above, our desire for optimization, which leads us to permanently function “in research mode”1. Thus, like a biological Global Positioning System (GPS) [STE 05] combined with high-performance optimization software, let us permanently calculate, in an automatic mode, the ways and means to do better and to progress as quickly as possible. This is done by using, through our neural GPS, “the relational database” represented by our extensive and selective memory, as well as our ability to summarize the available information. So, it makes sense with our way of functioning in the brain to be led to enjoy – without any real obstacle – the advantages linked to the environment in which we live, without really asking ourselves questions about what our ways of being imply for our fellow human beings, outside those who make up our close circle. In this regard, the brains of sapiens all operate according to the same laws, those who have tasted, without really being aware of it, the advantages that the WCM has given them, as inhabitants of prosperous countries, could have been those who have not had the opportunity to enjoy such an advantage, and some would probably have

1 Biological GPS has been highlighted by Edvard and May-Britt Moser at the University of Trondheim (latitude: 62.8° N; mean temperature: 5.8°C), a Norwegian city near the Arctic Circle. This discovery followed the study of the entorhinal cortex, a cerebral region located under the hippocampus and involved in olfaction and memory. Norwegian scientists have identified a special type of neuron in this cortex, namely, grid cells, which form hexagonal cellular networks corresponding to kinds of internal maps of the environment; networks that house stored references allowing us to locate ourselves in space. The entorhinal cortex is now considered as a kind of brain computing center specialized in spatial representation. The Moser couple’s discoveries earned them the prestigious Nobel Prize for “physiology or medicine” in 2014.

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realized, in the situation that would have been theirs, almost what the others have done, in the circumstances that they have been placed. The real hope that our brain functions generate is that we are therefore endowed with potentially many more advanced capacities for action and reaction than those required by our daily lives. These are punctuated by a number of recurring – and banal – activities focused on the accumulation of food and goods, and on the maintenance of our living environment, the relative importance of which may be part of the hyper-conservative strategy for the behavior of our species. Indeed, we are perfectly suited, thanks to our brain and if the circumstances lend themselves to it, in addition to devoting ourselves to a basic activity of rationalization and optimization, in order to accomplish “extraordinary” tasks (ideas, initiatives, inventions, perceptions, exploits). Thus, if these extraordinary capacities were put at the service of projects that are beneficial to the general interest, could we undoubtedly, for a large number of us, and this is perhaps a crucial point, go beyond the ordinary in which we are confined by our genes in terms of “daily functioning”, and accomplish “great things”. What seems to constitute another side of humanity’s original project and, with adaptations, that of all species, is freedom, which corresponds to the simple idea of “being able to do what you want” (“and being able to go away, if you want”) (see section 3.4). Moreover, for Hegel, through his Lectures on the Philosophy of History (1823), the history of the world is none other than the progress of the consciousness of freedom; is associated with the occurrence of a determined political and religious configuration meaning external and internal liberation; which implies that effective freedom would depend on the universality of the principle, i.e. the recognition that everyone is free [PAG 11]. Freedom, outside of philosophy, seems to be the essence of life (unless you are a coral or a sponge); this is especially true if you have two solid feet, a good GPS in your head and your existence consists of always wanting to push further, until you find an enchanting place, a wonderful being, a pure sound, a moment of grace or other exciting things. Besides living without breaking with the ordinary and caressing the beings through whom our affection flows, traveling at will, discovering, making a detour, coming and going in and out of the interstices and loopings of the world and getting away from it all – this is undoubtedly a great part of the human project. Consequently, if it is to be mobilizing, any societal project must be endowed with a good dose of freedom; and prosperity, because without prosperity, freedom is partly an abstraction; and control, because without control, freedom serves above all those who are able to use it for their benefit. On the other hand, any system of power, even one based on humanist values, risks rejection if it compromises freedom: to say what

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one thinks; to exchange with whom one wants to be able to; to express oneself without constraint through art; and to be able to oppose and deny without violence the powers in place, without risking one’s life. In addition to the project’s notion, the constants of the human being, “human nature” [WIL 13], everything that moves us forward, these are terms that can be used to describe the sapiens’ immemorial quest. In an attempt to grasp some of the features of this quest, let us take a trip back to the time of the first migrations and pause for a moment (without disdaining poetry, which is part of the overflows of beauty escaping the bubbling of our inner beings) in the moving company of our ancestors, on the edges, hollows and summits of the world. And let’s listen... Around us, cramped encampments – shaken by children’s cries and struck by the banging of flints – line up in oval circles at the edge of a spring, in the heart of the sounds of nature. Sounds from our own hearts and those of our own, but above all, trills of birds, sizzling insects, untimely wind rises, bursting waves and seepage from the rain, as well as dramatic falls of memorable showers, uninterrupted river flows, tiring torrents and long, tranquil flowing rivers; at the same time as the shivering of trees and the twisting of ears by the wind, as well as the breaking of leaves by the hail, the disturbing croaking of toads and the deafening storms; and finally, the long, distant and languishing roars of Cervidae. Listening to these sounds, both wild and familiar, the day passes by at lightning speed. The night came suddenly, as if the world was about to end. And with the night, silence settles in, until it deepens and settles in the dialogues of the nocturnal beasts, initially cautious, then multiplies and becomes like small disruptions. But at the same time, there is the ceiling of the world that lights up and the immensity of the sky that becomes infinite. The sky, for us almost banal and which must have been, for our very old ancestors, very old ancestors, an attractive and a very frightening mystery that seemed to contain – and transport – gods and goddesses set with gold, beaded with onyx and shining with diamonds, like jewels placed upon the particularly dark and thick velvet of the night. On this corner of the Earth where we are in thought, a very strong and concerned thought, the Ancestor-Man makes an existence for himself, through a show boosting imaginary. A show of infinite attraction, whose director and perfect set designer remain completely unknown to him. In the lives of our distant ancestors, two moments were probably more significant and more favorable than the others emotionally, and as such, involved, from the outset, in the structure of the essential human project. The first of these moments must be very simply death and, as a counterpoint, the necessary way to overcome it. Death, which can be explained today by biological observations, but which could not be explained by our ancestors, for whom the laws

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of life did not necessarily have any resonance, even if their funeral practices changed from an evolutionary point of view [AND 18]. Nevertheless, primitive man always and everywhere developed rituals intended to keep in touch with those “immobilized in death” or reduced by death “to a skeleton status”. According to André Glory and Romain Robert [GLO 47]: “Prehistoric sapiens thought almost universally that between the corpse and its life, there remained a participation so intimate that it amounted to an identity of substance. Thus they treated their loved ones’ skulls with the care reserved for a being gifted with life”.

Figure 9.3. Plastered skulls from the Tell Aswad excavations (Syria), around 8000 BCE (source: Laurent Dugué) [STO 07]

The oldest archaeological traces related to “skull worship”, dating from 12,000 to 10,000 BCE and found in the Fertile Crescent [DER 15], point to the idea that the skulls preserved were the subject of a selection, whose criteria remain mysterious [CAU 98]. In addition, some of these skulls, as the most preserved part of the deceased’s body, were carefully modeled in plaster or sometimes demonstrated in a flesh-like state, as shown quite dramatically in Figure 9.3 [STO 07]. Thus, our ancestors realistically reconstructed facial features (sleeping or resting) on the skull using coatings and brilliant colored materials [DER 15]. Features that, in humans, would reflect the hyper-communicating capacities of the species, since the superciliary arches of the sapiens, which are thinner and more restricted than those of the primitive Homo, are considered to allow them to translate a range of emotions that give them the opportunity to make their fellow humans understand that they are especially seeking cooperation and sympathy [GOD 18]. The second striking theme of the existence of our ancestors – which could only influence their life projects – appears centered on the sky, as an object of elevation, terror and fascination. This, undoubtedly in connection with the occurrence of meteorological phenomena (rainfall, rainbows, storms) and the questionable

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observation of celestial objects (stars, eclipses, comets, meteorites2). Hence, as already mentioned, the very large number of divinities associated, in one way or another (star = god; sky = deities; ascent to heaven = wonder), with these phenomena and objects. Thus, the idea of God and its multiple concretizations in terms of beliefs, those of yesterday, today and perhaps tomorrow, could correspond, in sapiens’ case, to the translation of a fundamental double emotional arch – as a kind of powerful vertical conductive channel that would include, on the one hand, a “local emotional  center articulated of extremity” around the remains, memories and emotional proximities of ancestors and, on the other hand, a “distant emotional center” constituted by the mysteries, beauties, threats and infinites of the sky (Figure 9.4). Finally, the fundamental life project of sapiens could therefore consist, in addition to communicating intensely and reproducing, living in an area that promotes physical and mental well-being, as well as nutritional satisfaction; having a pronounced taste for freedom, while being subservient to the arbitrations of their brain; wanting to optimize their survival by accumulating objects and food, and by developing the understanding of the world; and establishing a spiritual link between the memories and relics of their ancestors (true and generic ancestors) and the unfathomable mysteries of heaven. But apart from these basic constants, what other key innovative elements, and which projects unconsciously registered in the heads of sapiens, have been achieved by the human societies?

Figure 9.4. The sky, a distant emotional center (source: Jacques Barnouin)

2 The first recorded observation of the fall of a giant meteorite, said to date back to 3123 BCE, was recorded in cuneiform writing on a Sumerian tablet, which would, in fact, be an astrolabe, the oldest known type of astronomical instrument [BON 08].

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9.2. Two major societal innovations Just because you ask yourself a question does not mean you find an answer. Thus, this statement applies both to Gauguin’s questions that served as an introduction to this reflection and to the question that closed the previous section. While the world’s lines of force seem to have been built without any conscience, the first conscious project of magnitude to be put to the credit of human societies would have been the emergence of the State – around 2000 BCE in the Sumerian city of Ur or through the Pharaonic monarchy [MID 03] – as an institutional system for organizing community life within a city or nation (although the use of the word “State”, in its current sense, came much later). It was not until the 19th and 20th Centuries that sapiens societies began to separate, through laws, the State (based on general reason) and religious practice (based on particular belief). Then, to start building organizations that contributed to fostering peaceful international relations between nations, instead of having to endure them through blockade, war, conquest and destruction. To do this, it was necessary to give oneself the opportunity to exchange and gradually acquire a contractual mentality, needs that have historically been initiated as we have seen by the creation of significantly sized agglomerations, then by the emergence of States, whose motives for creation would have been mainly demographic, as well as ecological, economic, hierarchical and cooperative causes [DUB 06]. While the establishment of large organized States promotes the stability of national communities, this process can nevertheless lead, in the event of inter-State conflict, to large-scale war conflicts or economic aggression, the prevention of which has led to two international relational tools: economic-political communities and global forums. The first of these two tools was initiated by the creation of river commissions (the first, concerning the Rhine, dates from 1815) [WOE 08] and administrative unions (initiated in 1865 by the International Telegraph Union) [DEH 99]. As for the generalist economic and political communities, they developed in the 20th Century, following the example of the European Coal and Steel Community (1951; 6 countries), which became the Community, then the European Union (1993; 28 countries); the Organization of African Unity (OAU), which became the African Union (AU) (1963; 54 countries); and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEANs) (1967; 10 countries). These more or less assertive and binding groupings, whose aim is to activate economic prosperity and understanding between nations and populations, represent an obstacle to nationalism, if we understand, like François Mitterrand’s statements to the European Parliament in 1995, that “nationalism, this is war” In this regard, and according to Franz-Olivier Giesbert, “it is an exacerbation of nationalist passions that in 1914, through a cause-and-effect

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mechanism, led us to the First World War, even before most rulers of the period had time to understand what was happening to them. One thing leading to another, if you will, the murder of an Austrian archduke in Sarajevo ended up killing 20 million people” [GIE 14]. Thus, the first major international forum, the League of Nations (LoN), was created in 1919, in order to overcome international misunderstanding and the shameful return of a “Great War”. But this forum ultimately proved powerless and ineffective against Hitler’s aggressiveness and militarism, which were therefore the cause for the outbreak of World War II in 1939. As for global forums, the one that has the great merit of existing today, the UN (United Nations), allows differences in the views of nations to be expressed without damage. The UN, created on October 24, 1945, at the end of World War II, was originally composed of 51 countries, and now includes 193. Countries among which five have, as permanent members of the “Security Council” (UNSC), special prerogatives, while being nuclear powers and being part, for at least four of them, of the PR+ group of countries. As for the global role of the UN, it is perhaps worth recalling: the expression of national views; the prevention of the outbreak and extension of crises and conflicts; and respect for international rules. Finally, the UN is at the center of a plethora of global organizations – whose fields of competence range from food to justice, education, health and monetary stability – and which tend to facilitate the internationalization of major global issues. The existence of international regulatory bodies and the exchange habits acquired by nations through these consultation structures – including the informal “G” 5, 6, 7 and 8 and “peace forums”, whose first meeting was held in Paris in 2018 – have facilitated and can only continue to facilitate, despite many delays, blockages and competing visions, the emergence of projects to overcome strategic opposition between blocs of nations (with economic, geographical, ideological and/or political foundations) or between superpowers. Thus, the fight against global warming and tax havens, or the preservation of biodiversity, have only been launched through international work that has resulted in focusing inter-State collaboration on concrete areas of interest. Nevertheless, the UN, to speak only of itself, represents a world order that appears fixed on the results (winners vs. losers) of the 1939–1945 war and the world views that emerged from that period, which are now partly obsolete. This implies that if the world view were to evolve – and the reality of a WCM with unbearable biogeographical inequalities were to be recognized – the UN would no longer be representative, through the UNSC, of the actors involved in the necessary revision of worldwide equilibrium, and therefore, no longer really able to ensure relationships, harmony and reparation at the international level.

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While the consultation and co-construction of a “humanity of nations” are indeed among the major objectives that seem to turn the heads of sapiens, the question of the WCM should be able to be put on the international table. With the limits that any strategy can contain3 this mechanism and to resolve the gaps in life expectancy, well-being and the development of talent that it implies should require, as a means of rebalancing societies that would be a real mobilization. In other words, a mobilization aimed at obtaining significant results that transform (“philosophers have only interpreted the world in different ways, what matters is to transform it”, according to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels) and is not most often made up only of gestures, emotions and declarations of principle. This is on the part of States that, having been in a position to take advantage of the “unbalanced humanity” mechanism, would become aware of it and would endeavor to resolve its effects, through the establishment of bold and effective cooperation with the people who have suffered the consequences. These third type of cooperation, which could be called “alliances”, in view of the strong symbolic charge of this term, would help to put States – and their federations – back at the center of human decision-making as historical structures of democratic expression. This at a time when the power – to be controlled and put at the service of the balance of humanity – of the firms of the digital economy (Batx, Gafam and other Nafu) and moreover the aggressiveness of international nebulae (financial, mafia, terrorists) seem able to crack down many of the gains resulting from the constitution of democratic systems. 9.3. Containing the WCM 9.3.1. Obstacles Striving to block the WCM (which cannot be miraculously overtured) and its systemic consequences requires considering the obstacles to this and, of course, the ways and means to remove these obstacles. The first challenge to be taken up seems to be, in this sense, that of a universal disclosure of knowledge and information concerning the structure of human populations; the societal trajectory of humanity; what it has produced, with reference to the WCM; and the potentialities for the development of humanity that the containment of the WCM appears to reflect. As for the countries and populations that would have a particular – and enthusiastic – responsibility for the implementation of measures to contain the “mechanism”, they 3 Containment is the act of blocking, i.e. interfering with the functioning of a mechanism (chain of events, ammunition weapons); confining a social problem (unemployment, violence); or controlling a biological process (stopping the spread of a pathogen or a loss of biodiversity).

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could concern the countries of the PR+ group; the countries of the favor group; the prosperous nations bordering one or more countries, against which there is a significant GDP at PPP differential; the permanent member countries of the UN Security Council; and finally, small very prosperous States. By studying these criteria, we propose an obviously open list of 40 countries “universally and enthusiastically responsible”, including Australia, the Bahamas, Belgium, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, United Arab Emirates, United States, Iceland, Israel, Luxembourg, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, United Kingdom, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and the Czech Republic. In addition to a near total lack of knowledge of the factors that seem to underlie the differences in prosperity between nations, the obstacles to the containment of the WCM are not insignificant. Indeed, several elements can annihilate the capacity of populations in favor of countries to have no foresight in the face of world disharmonies and to be unable to put their problems into perspective [PRZ 13]: firstly, the human capacities to distance themselves and to suppress “trouble” [BEN 12]; secondly, “the habit of supremacy and the reason of force” involving that the dominant4 positions of the rich countries are seen as normal and legitimate by the majority of their citizens, and that they tend to reject in a large way the analyses pointing to the historical responsibilities of their nations; thirdly, the tendency to escalate, in prosperous nations, climate anxieties (“weather warnings”), eternal fears (“the fear of lacking something”) and the negative side of any progress (“the flipside”), ways of making the inhabitants of these nations focus on themselves more; and fourthly, the fact that a real geographical distance separates the realities of the world; thus only a very small fraction of the populations of the favor nations has the opportunity, during its existence, to directly witness the fate of the inhabitants of the deprived countries, the tourism statistics published by the World Tourism Organisation indicating, on this subject, that 14 of the 20 most visited countries in the world are PR+ countries and that none is a PR– country. As for the opposite situation, which mainly takes the form of migrations for protection, to escape distress or for opportunity (“climatic-economic-security”) to Europe and North America, it triggers a diversity of reactions in the countries of arrival, ranging from empathy and solidarity, to rejection and exploitation. Yet, such migration is useful to citizens in prosperous countries, particularly insofar as it 4 Based on a major study using standardized interviews, Michael Kraus and Dacher Keltner found in the United States that the more a person feels they belong to a high social class, the more they subscribe to the theory of a just world. Thus, if one has the impression of succeeding, one wants to believe that success comes to those who deserve it [KRA 13].

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allows them to become aware, through the experiences of migrants, of the acute problems faced by poor nations. In this respect, in 1990, during the preparation of the aforementioned Serment de l’Arche, an impromptu and massive maritime arrival of migrants in Saintes-Mariesde-la-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhône, France)  was imagined; this, to “highlight” and help to bridge the gap between the imbalances of the world5, and as a nod to the evangelical account of the stranding, in the 1st Century off the Camargue coast, of the three Marys: Mary (mother of Jesus), Mary Magdalene and Mary of Clopas), popularized in the 13th Century by the Italian chronicler Jacobus da Varagine, in his book Golden Legend [COS 07]. On another level, not symbolic but economic, if we want to accept the fact that in prosperous countries, work corresponding to jobs considered poorly paid, not very rewarding and constraining do not easily find takers, migrant populations can help to solve this thorny issue, as well as contribute to a form of redistribution from rich countries to poor nations through the regular sending of subsidies by migrant populations to their families (thus, 200 million migrants now provide for 800 million of their relatives, according to the International Fund for Agricultural Development). Ultimately, in many Western countries where one can afford to look for a certain job, and not just any job, there are positions as cooks, drivers, workers (construction, agri-food industry, machine tools, public works), security or maintenance workers, working in the personal services or working as carers for children, or even public positions that pay less than their private counterparts, including jobs as hospital doctors and carers. In any case, many western countries must be able to rely on migrant populations, foreign contract workers or nationals of foreign origin in order for these positions to be occupied. Nevertheless, data that could help corroborate this “field observation” are not available in many countries, including France [SIM 17]; while in the United States, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics provides detailed information6, the results of which appear to be in good agreement with the observation to which reference has just been made to France. In any case, in some sports, such as soccer, the contribution of foreign nationals, particularly from Africa, is indisputable, and Africans have thus become a clear majority in many iconic clubs. As for the French football team, the 2018 World Cup champions, 50% of players were of African origin at the final of this competition, and as for the French rugby team, it included up to 40% of players from Africa or Polynesia during the 2018–2019 season, whereas 20 years earlier, this percentage did not exceed 10–15%. 5 The 1990 imagination somehow turned into reality in 2018, when dozens of migrants – from Morocco – landed on a Spanish beach near Tarifa (Andalusia), under the stunned gaze of holidaymakers lying on the sand and sheltering under their parasols. 6 www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat18.pdf.

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One issue, which could contribute to hindering the consideration of the WCM, is also associated with the fight against current global warming. This warming, which has been emphasized since the end of the 20th Century by Western governments and international conferences, is therefore mainly linked to the consequences of industrial and agricultural pollution. Pollution whose emergence appears to be part of the harmful consequences (there were some positive ones) of the Industrial Revolution of the 19th Century initiated by the PR+ countries, as stated and reaffirmed. During our scientific trip, we made many observations about the fact that many of the world’s unprofitable regions have suffered for millennia from an excess of radiation and that this problem is involved in the disharmonious development of nations. Therefore, in view of this ecological awareness, the warming to which the PR– countries – and others countries  – are subjected, should not be ignored, and the inhabitants of poor countries should not be asked to question their desire to access greater prosperity by forcing them, through the fight against global warming induced by the lifestyle initiated by the PR+ countries, to force their desire to consume in order to moderate their polluting emissions, without giving them extremely significant compensation in terms of development. This is due to the fact that, since prosperous nations have emitted too much greenhouse gases – and dispersed too many pollutants – as a result of the uncontrolled rise in their agricultural and industrial prosperity, everyone must now make the same effort, whether they are prosperous early polluters or structurally disadvantaged people wishing to access, with a very long delay, a certain existential well-being. Thus, the feared consequences of warming could make us forget the damage caused by another, the one with which the poor nations of the high-calorie zone are structurally and painfully confronted (Figure 9.5).

Figure 9.5. Working with bricks in a desert climate (source: Jacques Barnouin)

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Beyond the reaffirmation of humanist principles, which is always welcome, but often insufficient, great caution must be exercised in the construction of the world with regard to the overly general and all-encompassing declarations; this is in line with the example of the UN General Secretariat, which, on the occasion of World Environment Day in 2015, called for us “to consume in moderation to preserve the planet”. Although the more differentiated position of the International Labour Organization, which stated through its Director General on the same World Environment Day 2015, that “industrialized countries will have to significantly reduce the amount of resources they use and the volume of their emissions of gases with a greenhouse effect” is to be welcomed. 9.3.2. The educational component The educational question raised by the journey that has just been completed is that of educating all the young people on the planet about the knowledge of the trajectory of humanity and the factors that have led to it. Indeed, these are essential elements of knowledge, both explanatory of the present, construction of the future and knowledge about the human being, through the evolutionary history of the species that is ours, in relation to its environment. Finally, what does school teach a citizen of the emerging world about Man, especially Prehistoric, about the genesis of our physical and mental traits and our migrations, if not an imagery detached from a global context and sometimes blissfully naturalistic and involuntarily illustrative of the idea of “noble savage”? [OUE 01]? Like, for example, saying that our ancestors lived in rock shelters, hunted mammoths and mastered fire. Not, moreover, by rubbing flints together, as is often said, but rather by knocking a flint against a ferruginous stone, in order to produce sparks; by then igniting, via these sparks, a flammable material, such as vegetable tinder, and letting it ignite, and finally, by placing grass and dry twigs on these embers, until flames rise, trying not to smother them and marvel – finally – at the crackle of fire! Not really easy, Prehistoric life: was it, children? Thus, in addition to the national histories and those of emblematic areas of the planet, it should be applied, through international agreements, certainly preceded by national initiatives, to ensure that all students on the planet have a thorough knowledge of the mechanism for building humanity, the issues of the uniqueness of humankind, racism [MAJ 18], fraternity [HEN 16] and the conditions for founding societies. The concretization of such objectives in programs (from basic schooling to university) seems necessary, if we want to bring sapiens closer together and unite them, and not leave them powerless, in the face of the stigmatizing ideologies of the Other, concerned to build power on ignorance and hatred. Thus, developing

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knowledge, through educational measures, of the reality of the ins and outs of the trajectory of societies, should undoubtedly become a global educational program. Thus, up-to-date information on the demographic, biological and climatogeographical dynamics and configurations underlying the diversity of human destinies should be clearly provided to young people throughout the world, following the work carried out by educational structures and teacher–researchers in voluntary states, jointly with UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). Through this work, a kind of house arrest within their own country where millions of young people experiencing psychological survival via poverty, the difficulty of moving around and the impossibility of obtaining answers for their future, could be overcome through the organized and encouraged collaboration of these young people in solving the problems they are acutely aware of, insofar as they themselves have had the opportunity to experience the consequences. 9.3.3. The institutional aspect A reflection on the resolution of a structural societal imbalance can only address, on the one hand, the intelligence of nations as a whole and, on the other hand, the capacity for initiative and innovation of each national structure and each population, without forgetting the motivated individual and emblematic personalities. But once this evidence has been formulated, the next step does not necessarily seem easy to mark out. Unless it was enough, which is not the case, to highlight a major problem so that it could be put without a hitch on the agenda of the nations’ entente, and so that it could be treated in a positive and disinterested state of mind. In this respect, it took the IPCC many years to take this example again, to move from the busybody stage to that of an oracle of climate reconciliation. In the case of the vital global balance issues raised by our perambulation, if it is easy to imagine that international organizations could take over such issues, it is difficult to see how they could resolve them themselves. This, given the frequent blocking positions created by the functioning of the UN Security Council, which tends, for sensitive issues, to be paralyzed by veto rights [FAT 17] (to be noted, in this regard: since 1946, more than 200 legally binding motions for resolutions submitted to the Security Council have been blocked, mainly by Russia or the United States). On the other hand, international organizations – relatively more technical than political – as UNESCO has been saying with reference to the writing of educational documents, could play a very important role in providing expertise and support for an integrated battle, in the form of the “mother of all battles”, against the damage caused by the workings of the world’s auto-mechanism. The limitation is that

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international organizations are financed by States and that their operating costs, particularly in terms of salaries, are far from negligible. The development of a twofold process: of “organized rebalancing” of power in international governmental and non-governmental organizations for the benefit of disenfranchised nations (to which could be assigned a permanent seat as a member of the UNSC), and of the creation of “mutually beneficial alliances”, as tools for a social and preventive rethinking of the planet, appears to be able to constitute “an answer” to the questions raised by the WCM. Alliances of mutual benefit, which would cover all areas related to a nation’s economy and quality of life, would be likely to be “allied”, for example, one or two favor States, and one or two States in the EXP– group (see Figure 6.4), and would constitute interstate organizational frameworks dedicated to the cross-development of economies, populations and cultures. A framework through which everything would have to be invented, in a way that would allow us to preserve the cultural particularities of the stakeholders, unlike a technocratic takeover by the administrations, or economic through the big enterprises, and to have no scent of neo-colonization, no smell of charity, no smell of revenge. To build the organizational framework for alliances, which should probably be initiated by pilot nations, it would be useful to draw some lessons from the procedures that have proven useful – or problematic – in developing emblematic agreements, reconciliations and reunifications. Among them, we can mention the European construction (1957), the construction of the United Arab Emirates (1971), the reunification of Vietnam (1976), the reunification of Germany (1990), the constitution of the Russian Federation (1991), the convergence of New Caledonia (1998) and national reconciliation in Rwanda (2015) [JUN 14]. The major novelty of alliances would challenge traditional forms of assistance for prosperous states by allocating a share of their national budgets to poor nations (“official development assistance” or ODA). This is in addition to the international loans, mentioned here for the record and supposed to represent, via the World Bank or the IMF (International Monetary Fund), a form of support for fragile countries, which nevertheless raises, in a more or less recurring manner, the problematic issue of restructuring and debt cancellation [BAS 02; UN 14b]. As for France, through the renewal of its humanitarian strategy, it is increasing the resources devoted to its development and international solidarity policy, so that 0.55% of its gross national income is devoted to ODA, in 2022, from a rate of 0.44%. For its part, the European Union as a whole spent 0.51% of its gross national income on ODA in 2016 (with EU state aid totaling just under €60 billion); and Australia did the same, with 0.25%, Japan with 0.20% and the United States with 0.18% [LES 18]. Figures which,

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although reflecting appreciable efforts, do not appear to be able to bridge the enormous existential gap between the extreme sides of the world. Thus, whatever the bases of calculation that we set ourselves, the efforts to be made to rebalance humanity in society (which should undoubtedly be made, in addition to the richest countries, by all countries whose prosperity is statistically above average) appear to be significantly higher than those that have been made so far. One of the questions that arises in this regard is through which structures the “great rebalancing” should be materialized, outside the States and the organizations that would be involved. On this subject and since the end of the 20th Century, new types of players in the global economy, which have already been discussed throughout our journey, are coming: giant web companies and multinational companies. Given their economic and technological power and the significant profits they generate – and the control that their activities require, in order not to threaten the financial equilibrium of States – mega-companies can only be invited to devote themselves very significantly to the search for a better distribution of prosperity. If we consider, in this regard, only Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon, these four companies have a stock market valuation higher than France’s GDP. This is achieved by employing fewer than 450,000 people, a workforce that makes these highly profitable companies dwarfed in comparison in terms of employment, a characteristic that highlights an unacceptable economic model when dealing with the social balance of the planet. As such, it may be necessary for humanity “to roll its sleeves up”, if it finds ways to achieve better unity among its member states, in order to turn these conquering companies into universalized firms at the service of the planet, in addition to being at the service of their shareholders. As for migration, particularly economic migration, if it cannot be reasonably prevented or totally rejected, it must be regulated (while, if possible, directed towards sparsely populated areas), with reference to the “worldwide Pact for safe, orderly and regular migration” (2018). This is in order to avoid: producing phenomena of massive rejection of migrants in the prosperous countries; nationalist and racist abuse; to be at the origin uncontrollable moments; and to ultimately lead to a decline in democratic practices within the countries with the most resources. All situations can only lead, from a decline in solidarity, to increased difficulties in establishing the famous “general interest of the world”, as well as to conflicts of scale. Migration to prosperous countries, which is obviously not a panacea and could, if exacerbated, lead to an unacceptable imbalance being replaced by a global catastrophe, also contains its share of inequality. Indeed, these migrations rarely seem to be undertaken by the poorest. Thus, “it is not uprooted peasants who wander”, noted in 2016 Patrick Simon, researcher at the Institut national des études démographiques. In Syria, in Iraq, they are the ones who have the most resources, engineers, teachers, technicians. In any case, people who have reason to believe that they can do better elsewhere.”

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Another migratory mechanism, that of which we have been fully aware and have used for all eternity to select the “useful migrants”, concerns selective immigration. Thus, according to Danièle Lochak [LOC 06], “In Ancient Greece, the figure of the foreigner is split: the Barbarian has nothing in common with the Xenos. The Barbarian represents the other side of humanity, of civilization, with which no relationship is conceivable, the foreigner-foe, who can be reduced to slavery when defeated. The Xenos, originating from another city, belongs to the Greek culture and can acquire rights in the host city, if he settles there and acquires immigrant status. The latter is treated better than the mere transient foreigner, because his activity is essential to the city. He is allowed to stay in the territory for essentially utilitarian reasons, and in particular for the purposes of trade.” Today, while selective immigration is “active”, by definition, codified, it is coupled with a “passive” chosen immigration. In prosperous states, this consists of providing access to education, often at high cost, for foreign students who are able to pay the tuition fees for such education and who have the resources to live in their host university country. Before these students make an effort, for a large part of them, to find employment in the country that has fulfilled their education. This procedure is, in fact, a way of repatriating interesting human and financial resources from less developed countries at low cost to prosperous countries. The institutional containment component of the WCM should also consider, in the best possible way, the major actors of civil society, namely, NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and humanitarian associations. These structures, whose action has already been mentioned, are now considered as “innovations that have become institutions” [QUE 07]. The action of humanitarian organizations in favor of urgency, microcredit and development – in the least prosperous and most conflict-laden countries – should thus constitute a stimulus and a contribution of professional experts and volunteers, with a view to changing public opinion in favor of setting in motion a real economic and social rebalancing of humanity. This is on condition that transparency, quality of governance, autonomy from companies and religious neutrality characterize the NGOs that would be involved in this rebalancing. NGOs whose list of the 10 most influential and well-structured at the global level has been compiled by NGO Advisor, a medium specialized in the evaluation of civil society organizations. While Médecins Sans Frontières, founded in 1971 and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999, is the first of these NGOs in terms of budget (€1.61 billion in 2018), and the BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) the most staffed (120,000 employees) [MAR 14], thousands of other associations with targeted actions, motivated volunteers and budgets of a few tens of thousands of euros, working in many countries, would be the partners of choice for the WCM’s effectiveness.

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9.4. The future: containment or conflict? The frustrations related to the WCM can only be accentuated by one of the phenomena that have always seemed to significantly explain human movements, in this case, demography. It is indeed difficult not to think, with particular reference to Africa, that the demographic pressure facing this continent, which is expected to increase despite a relative but slow decline in fertility [PIS 17] (Figure 9.6), cannot lead to destabilizing many African economies, and further eroding the legitimate aspirations of many people in Africa for a better life on Earth. Aspirations that the knowledge, now available in images and in real time, of what the inhabitants of the prosperous world are experiencing can only make it more and more difficult not to see them considered.

Figure 9.6. Evolution of the African population in billions of inhabitants until 2100, according to three fertility scenarios [PIS 17]

The question of the possible outbreak of a revolutionary conflict induced by the WCM and the suffering it seems to bring is, in fact, a question of whether the majority of the populations of prosperous countries do not constitute, if compared to the majority of the populations of underprivileged countries, a dominant upper class, even a “nobility”. Unless our areas of reflection have been closed off, the journey that has just been accomplished can only encourage an affirmative response to such a questioning; even if the comparison between the realities of the 21st Century and the revolutionary turbulence of the 18th Century must be handled with great care. In any case, the inhabitants of the PR+ countries have, as has been pointed out, lived

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very separate and very different lives from those of the citizens of the PR– countries; and as for the differences in living conditions differentiating these two types of countries, they appear in a first analysis likely to be of the same order as the differences that distinguished, in their time, on the one hand, the lives of the noble populations and, on the other hand, those of the mass of the peasantry and the urban people from absolutist kings. Yes, according to the lessons of the scientific journey that is about to end, it seems clear that the inhabitants of prosperous countries, unlike many other populations and for a very large number of them, have particularly large, free, protective and facilitative living spaces capable of nourishing their dreams and ensuring their social efficiency. Nevertheless, if the question of distance is to be abolished, like the abolition of royalty, between the levels of prosperity of nations appears to be a fundamental priority, this question does not erase the need to make progress, within the various societies. In terms of contraction of the income scale; limitation of professional accumulations; fight against all forms of discrimination; control of economic blockades; banning of fiscal paradises; restitution of works of art unduly acquired; and respect for the environment, at both local and global levels, through the development of low-carbon energies and the strict limitation of the use of xenobiotics. Finally, it seems necessary, in response to the functioning of the WCM, that all those who, in countries of prosperity, act, often with great determination, to improve their living conditions, and who sometimes are bothered by “situations in which there is not enough of something” or “when things don’t add up in terms of salaries, advantages and services”, that the vast majority of humans would envy them (birthplace explains 80% of world inequality) [MIL 19], have the ability to look with clarity elsewhere. In order to work, through their social expertise, their willingness to succeed, the use of their reflexive lucidity and the support of the institutions on which they depend: to contribute to stopping – with the least possible delay – the functioning of the mechanism that oppresses people in countries where it is not good to live, and to mobilize in the short- to medium-term, so that the inhabitants of the underprivileged corners of the planet can fully experience their minds and bodies, seeing the end of their grueling living conditions. While, in the context of the global societal imbalance that our scientific route has sought to shed light on, history turned out badly because the citizens, leaders, entrepreneurs and activists of prosperous humanity would have turned their heads away from the harmful consequences of the “great mechanism” and been too focused on making a mountain out of a molehill, their doctrines of downturn (cultural, identity-based, national) and the rehashing of their existential concerns, the heads of the citizens of the beautiful world might one day be threatened. This is in line with those of the supporters of the absolutist regime – defeated in 1789 in

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France – by the action of the “sans-culottes” and the liberal elites, and in connection with the initiation, at the initiative of the forgotten masses of the planet, of a clearly revolutionary process requiring a rapid and shared application of fundamental human rights on a global scale. A revolution in the making, the trigger, the scale and the possible disaster scenario of which nevertheless appear very difficult to predict on the basis of the auscultation of the major revolutions of the past, which were, in fact, triggered and conducted in institutional, social, mental, political and technological contexts extremely different from those prevailing today. Nevertheless, in order to prevent the risk of “great misconduct”, human societies should be able, in view of their tremendous potential for innovation, to remember the very painful conflicting experiences they have lived and their degree of knowledge of the unbalanced realities of the world: to consider the acceleration of awareness of these realities, induced by the digital technologies of communication; to feel, at the sight of the planet’s disharmonies, an invading sense of dizziness; to see their abilities to hide and refuse the disturbing be undermined by the pressure of reality; to transform their feeling that “something is wrong with the world” into the awareness and documented certainty that its structure must be reconsidered; and to find without delay, in judicious anticipation and all-out negotiations, provided that enlightened citizen forces, listening nations and respected individuals help them, a solid and credible solution to the acute contradictions that surround them. 9.5. Arrival This is the end of our journey. Throughout the route that is coming to a close, which has been an opportunity to explore multiple corners of humanity, we have tried to keep prejudices at bay, propose ways of taking reasoning further and providing responses to Gauguin (Figure 9.7) [WIL 13]. In addition to the mechanics of unequal development that it explained, the reflection was an opportunity to highlight the importance and genius of animal species in relation to the construction of human societies. Thus, through the examples of the stone collecting monkey and the learning bumblebee, it has been mentioned that, while sapiens are animals that are probably more familiar with the world than others, proximity with their companions in the animal kingdom is for them both a source of fascination and a tool for understanding. Indeed, the human being, this unrepentant busybody, has found many ideas, we have witnessed them with silk, following the observation of animal behavior (in this sense, it is interesting to go to the Metiers Art Museum Paris, to discover “Avion III” by Clément Ader, who would have been the designer of the first plane, if his machine had taken off significantly).

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Figure 9.7. Self-portrait (Paul Gauguin, circa 1893) (source: McNay Art Museum, San Antonio; CCBY). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/barnouin/construction.zip

Thus, like humans, animals make the world work, and by exchanging signals and caresses with sapiens, animality prefigures humanity in its talkative and tactile ways. Consequently, the need to preserve animal (and plant) biodiversity (since Jean Senebier in 1800, plants have been considered as “sensitive and poorly-understood”) [DEN 10] can only be reaffirmed, and misconduct committed against animals better prevented and repressed. Because, if we want to continue to benefit from relationships and animal skills, it seems necessary that respect for animals be clearly outlined and that the diversity of wild species be preserved, through the existence of large populations going into their natural environment, and not collections of individuals beating the pavement in zoos or circuses. In this regard, a conservative mission of great importance for humanity could be entrusted to the populations of equatorial and tropical countries in need, whose territories contain, probably for a short time to come [IPB 19], an abundance and diversity of species; this, as a mission that would be devolved to these populations, as part of the implementation of a new WCM. While animal and plant biodiversity must be conserved and re-enriched, in particular, through controlled environmental pollution control, in view of its role in making the biosphere adaptable to environmental changes and in providing life insurance for populations whose existence depends significantly on the availability of certain natural resources [FAO 19], human cultural biodiversity must also be

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preserved. As well as investigated, restored and rehabilitated wherever it has been violated. The preservation of our biodiversity, which therefore includes, in the first place, the protection of originality, equality and fraternal interpenetration of cultures, appears to be a major tool for protecting sapiens against the dangers of division that feelings of pre-eminence and elitism can generate. In this sense, all cultures could be considered, in addition to the affirmation of human and civil rights, as being at the heart of the “sacred human universe”; because, in particular, it is its cultural arsenal that seems to have enabled our species, through the role of social protector and moral frame of reference that such an arsenal has played, to survive and develop, despite the harshness and tensions that sapiens have had to face during their spatial and temporal saga. Thus, the main danger of economic globalization is undoubtedly through a profit-centric desire to distribute “as quickly as possible products calibrated to a large number of consumers”, that this globalization becomes a factor of destruction of ways of being, processes and products resulting from cultural traditions, as soon as they seem able to slow the spread of standards sold on a global scale by giant companies in the food or chemical industry. Indeed, in the perspective that an uncontrolled pursuit of profit would be necessary in this matter, we could succeed in emptying the world of its civilizations, its societal particularities and its protective diversities, a little like the civilizational impasses that destroyed, in their time, many Native American cultures. Another point to consider, in conclusion to our journey: starting from a work on the phenomena of detachment, which seem as necessary to the human being as they are problematic – and if we admit that any sapiens can pass from a distancing attitude to an identifying attitude [MIC 12] – we should seek the conditions to be created so that the majority of the inhabitants of the countries spoilt by nature feel like “investees of the mission to rebalance the world”. While this challenge, at this very hypothetical stage, could have a form of concretization, especially for young people, we would undoubtedly have a driving force capable of getting a societal recovery off the planet, as a new and decisive step in the liberating sense of history. In addition, the health of the populations of underprivileged countries – weighed down by solar radiation – could be promoted, in addition to what has previously been weakened, by making “survival and comfort kits” available to these populations, through local entrepreneurs. Kits composed, on the one hand, of solar electricity production equipment such as photovoltaic cell panels with perovskites [BOU 18] and, on the other hand, split air conditioners. This would be a pragmatic way of acting so that people facing structural climate change can be provided – at home – with a “climate” that is favorable to their well-being and respect for their physiology. In addition, according to a developing technique, an air conditioner could extract 10–100 liters of drinking water per day from the air

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(www.majikwater.co), and contribute, in addition, to providing thermal comfort, to solve the acute problems of access to water for the people of hypercaloric countries [WWA 19]. The poor regions in which many of our fellow human beings survive should also be able to benefit, in “the general non-native interest of humanity”, from the establishment of ad hoc networks for the transport of goods, people, energy and data; networks necessary both to open up populations in isolated regions and to circulate ideas, with a view to facilitating the progress of all nations towards prosperity and access to a dignified existence. Let us conclude with political considerations, since the role of political actors should be decisive, beyond that of human communities and individuals, in recognizing the reality of the “world construction mechanism”. And let us recall, on the subject of politics, the words of the philosopher Paul Ricoeur [RIC 07]: “Political concerns decisions of historical importance, those that change in a lasting way the destiny of the human group that the State organizes and directs. Politics, on the other hand, is decision-making: probable analysis of situations, betting on the future. Politics takes on its meaning after the fact, in reflection, in retrospection, politics is played out in measure, in prospecting, in the project, in other words in an uncertain deciphering of contemporary events and in the firmness of resolutions. This is why, if politics is not intermittent, we can say in a sense that politics only exists in great moments, in crises, in turning points, in historical knots.” It remains to be seen whether politicians and their opinions will be able to unravel the knots of the world’s disharmonies. Knots and disharmonies that appear much narrower and more accentuated than before; because, almost nothing of the raw and divisive differences that separate the daily life of human societies avoids today, as previously mentioned, anyone who has the opportunity and the desire to be informed. Also, if we refer to the motivations of human collective intelligence [WOO 10] and if we have the will to act so that the future becomes a much more secure value, we should strive to set up a “new process’” chain of events and initiate the cooperative development of our species. In this perspective, we will have to embrace, without giving up our enthusiasm, the idea that the world’s disharmonies are, beyond economic indicators and general statements, suffering bodies and hundreds of millions of lives placed in a position where they are unable to bring their offering to humanity. Bodies and lives on which we will have to act in the first degree, i.e. in a sensitive way, leaving aside for a while our spiritual imaginaries and intellectual shields. Yes, it will be fundamentally necessary, through what the “world construction mechanism” teaches, to go down to the bottom of the glebe land and to touch with your finger realities that are less aloof – and less remunerative for our egos – than the high-flying conceptions of which we are aplenty.

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Finally, a race therefore appears to be underway: between the risky pursuit of all our non-consciousness (environmental, historical, social); and the emergence of an awareness of the world as it is, and not as our misunderstandings and distances present it to us or block it. The problem is that we no longer seem to have centuries ahead of us to procrastinate, to throw ourselves into the face of theories, to turn our backs on reality, to quibble over details and to postpone the time to work hard on the balances to be established, with a view to the viability of the world, but perhaps only for decades. Nevertheless, through the challenges of the “great rebalancing”, there is for sapiens, if clairvoyance prevails in them, the very considerable promise of becoming fully human. We have reached our destination7.

7 The author’s contact address: [email protected].

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Index

A, B, C Abydos, 82 adaptation, 6, 7, 37, 43, 49, 50, 55, 74, 91, 123, 126, 137, 138, 143 Afghanistan, 30, 149, 153, 155, 158, 160, 212 agriculture, 34, 47, 59, 67, 70, 74, 75, 77, 80, 95, 96, 99, 100, 104, 116, 136, 137, 188, 190, 208, 211 Agrigento, 69 alcohol, 127 Aleppo, 75 Alexander, 100, 106, 108, 109 Algeria, 16, 107, 162, 172, 175, 180, 182, 185 alphabet, 86, 87, 89, 123 America, 3, 5, 9–12, 14, 28, 32, 39, 44, 50, 53, 54, 126, 146, 148, 154, 157, 168, 170, 171, 175, 180, 186, 187, 190, 195, 198, 224 ancestors, 4, 6, 9, 21, 48, 49, 55, 57–59, 63, 64, 67, 68, 77, 86, 98, 112, 136, 146, 188, 189, 192, 198, 207, 214, 218–220, 227 apartheid, 20, 183 Arabic, 89 architecture, 69 Argentina, 168

Aristotle, 3, 56, 66, 108 Ark, 81, 133, 209, 225 Aryan, 17 Aten, 89 Austria, 19, 111, 206 Babylonians, 83 Bahamas, 9, 10, 224 barley, 73, 77, 80, 95 Beijing, 36, 123, 124, 133, 146 Berlin, 19, 23, 53, 162 Bernier, 3 Biasutti, 7–9, 12, 27 Bible, 13, 81, 86 biodiversity, 222, 223 bipedalism, 4, 70 black, 2, 3, 6, 21–23, 32, 101, 155, 165 Black Sea, 79, 98 blond, 2, 21 blue, 2, 21, 40, 41, 48, 76, 96, 98, 101, 113, 117, 118, 129, 144, 170, 195 Bodin, 43 Bolivia, 12, 149, 155 bomb, 205 Bombus terrestris, 92 bonobo, 57, 64 borders, 19, 110, 112, 125, 161 Bos taurus, 42 bovine (see also cattle), 122, 127

The World’s Construction Mechanism: Trajectories, Imbalances and the Future of Societies, First Edition. Jacques Barnouin. © ISTE Ltd 2020. Published by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

272

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BRAC, 231 brain, 6, 27, 35, 38, 42, 44, 49, 137, 143, 213–216, 220 Brazil, 10, 44, 168, 171 Brestead, 79 Buffon, 3 bumblebee, 92, 234 Burundi, 23, 149 Cameroon, 30, 107, 149, 163, 164, 169 Canaanite, 87 Canada, 20, 28, 39, 107, 110, 168, 171, 175, 180, 182, 185, 197, 206, 224 Capadoccia, 71, 72 capital, 27–29, 32, 34, 36, 39, 53, 123, 124, 158, 197 capitalism, 198, 210 Capra hircus, 78 caste, 23, 123, 193, 210 cattle (see also bovine), 104 cave, 55, 77, 105 cells, 3, 57, 76, 188, 216, 236 cereals, 21, 45, 72, 75, 77, 78, 80, 93, 116, 127 Chamberlain, 16 Charlemagne, 111 children, 16, 42, 74, 129, 164, 187, 190, 218, 225, 227 chimpanzee, 49, 191, 214 Christians, 17, 89, 168 civilization, 15, 22, 80, 82, 93, 100, 101, 104–106, 111, 112, 115, 119, 121–124, 145, 146, 196, 207, 211, 231 climate, 3, 7, 30, 31, 33, 39, 43, 44, 46, 48, 49, 53, 62, 66, 87, 94, 96, 100, 114, 123, 125, 126, 129, 138, 157, 158, 196, 201, 211, 226 climatization, 32, 33, 36 Clovis, 111 code, 13, 66, 84, 183, 187

cold, 16, 34–36, 38–40, 42, 45, 49, 50, 126, 137, 143, 213 Colombia, 36, 175, 180, 182, 185, 186 colonization, 9, 10, 14, 16, 18, 19, 93, 106, 110, 146, 182, 183, 186, 188 Columbus, 9, 10, 25, 126, 198 communists, 15, 197 Congo, 19, 30, 58, 107, 133, 147, 149 control, 15, 43, 86, 119, 130, 146, 160, 215, 217, 229, 230 copy, 81 corridor, 50, 60–64, 74, 86, 94, 115, 118, 143, 207 Cortés, 11 cortex, 43, 140, 216 Crete, 105 Cuba, 9–11 culture, 16, 44, 56, 62, 65, 69, 74, 77, 80, 101, 108, 110, 115, 116, 119, 120, 122, 124, 127, 131, 135–137, 140, 141, 196, 208, 212, 228, 231 curse, 13, 23 Cyclades, 105 Cyprus, 18, 95, 162 Cyrus, 100, 207 Czech Republic, 28, 110, 111, 169, 172, 197, 224 D, E, F Damascus, 82 Danube, 98, 103, 126 Dardanelles, 98 Darwin, 4, 136 demarcation, 162 democracy, 111, 179, 182–186, 192, 194 demography, 65, 68, 129, 196, 202, 232 denisovensis, 138 Denmark, 19, 40, 154, 197, 198, 206, 224 Dickinsonia, 45

Index

diffusion, 56, 70, 82, 85, 91–93, 96–106, 108, 112, 115–117, 121, 128, 129, 131, 208, 236 diseases, 7, 10, 16, 20, 44, 45, 137, 149, 155 DNA, 3, 55, 57, 59, 76, 92, 134 domestication, 6, 59, 74, 78, 104, 127–129, 145 ecology, 134 Ecuador, 36 Egypt, 13, 58, 59, 62, 63, 80, 82, 84–87, 89, 100, 101, 143, 144, 160, 162, 172, 175, 180, 182, 185, 191, 207, 212 Egyptians, 13, 58, 59, 82, 86, 87, 192 einkorn wheat, 73, 77 Einstein, 193, 204, 206 emperor, 13, 18, 90, 100, 120–123, 125, 207 energy, 6, 32–36, 38, 44, 47, 74–78, 109, 138, 191, 204, 213, 214, 237 Equus caballus, 126, 128, 129 przewalskii, 126 Erligang, 122 Erlitou, 120, 122, 124 Ethiopia, 14, 20, 30, 115, 133, 145, 149, 154, 158, 172, 175, 180, 182, 185 Etruscan, 105, 106 evolution, 5, 9, 33, 45, 46, 48, 50, 55, 56, 62, 70, 73, 89, 100, 127, 128, 134, 136, 137, 139, 143, 171, 191, 201, 210, 211 extermination, 11, 16, 17 famadihana, 189 Fermi, 204, 206 Ferry, 16 Fertile Crescent, 97 fertility, 42 Finland, 40, 154, 170, 172, 181, 197, 224 fire, 4, 35, 61, 143, 227 fish, 1, 61, 73, 94, 138 flint, 72, 218, 227 food, 36, 45, 77, 126, 129, 214, 222

273

France, 16, 19, 20, 24, 28, 39, 55, 106, 107, 110, 111, 154, 158, 162–164, 168, 172, 193, 197, 208, 209, 224, 225, 229, 230, 234 Frederick II, 17 freedom, 2, 85, 111, 217, 220 G, H, I Gabriel, 122 gas, 20, 33, 47, 76, 149, 157, 197, 198, 226 GDP, 28, 30–34, 36, 40, 49, 110, 125, 147, 160, 168, 169, 172–174, 179, 180, 197, 230 gene, 6, 21, 54, 67, 126, 137, 148 general interest, 193, 217 Genghis Khan, 100, 129 genocide, 24 Germany, 15–17, 19, 23, 28, 72, 106, 110, 111, 133, 153, 162, 172, 197, 203, 205, 206, 224 Gibraltar, 58, 98 Gilgamesh, 85 Gini, 168–173, 175–177, 179–187, 193, 197 Girard, 56 glaciation, 59, 61, 62, 81, 131 glucose, 38, 75, 76, 78 goat, 78, 79 Göbekli Tepe, 68, 69, 71, 72 Gobineau, 16, 23 Gorbachev, 210 gorilla, 57, 155 Great European Lake, 98, 99, 101, 106, 107, 144–146 Greece, 28, 77, 94, 103, 105–107, 110, 123, 133, 167, 224, 231 Guatemala, 12, 175, 180, 182, 185, 186 habilis, 57 Hagenbeck, 15 Haiti, 9, 10, 107, 149, 172, 175, 180, 182, 185

274

The World’s Construction Mechanism

Ham, 13, 23 Hammurabi, 13, 84 Hannibal, 208 harvesting, 67, 73 Hathor, 87 heat, 7, 30, 35–38, 42, 47, 119, 126, 137, 210 Hebrews, 84–86, 207 Hegel, 43, 213, 217 hemisphere, 28–33, 54, 58 hieroglyphics, 82, 87 Hiroshima, 204, 205 Hitler, 15–18, 203, 205 Homo ferus, 1 Hormuz, 113, 114 horse, 42, 126–129 Hungary, 19, 28, 110, 160, 162, 169, 172, 206, 224 hunting, 7, 36, 50, 67, 73, 96, 138, 141, 202 Hutus, 24 Iceland, 40, 197, 224 ideograms, 86, 87, 123 IMF, 164, 229 imitation, 56, 77, 91, 92, 108, 135, 140 India, 23, 59, 107, 112, 113, 115, 120, 123, 125, 133, 149, 162, 194, 208 Indonesia, 4, 107, 149, 194 Indus, 100, 101, 112, 115, 119, 120, 133, 196 inequalities, 168–171, 175–177, 186, 187, 190–194, 209, 222, 233 innovation, 56, 77, 86, 89, 94, 96, 115, 146, 154, 228, 234 intelligence, 54, 56, 62–64, 70, 135, 137, 156, 181, 191, 193, 201, 216, 228, 237 IPCC, 157, 228 IQ (intellectual quotient), 49 Iran, 82, 96, 112, 113, 160, 211 Iraq, 19, 66, 83, 94, 113, 133, 149, 160, 162, 212, 230 Ireland, 168, 197, 224 irrigation, 80, 82, 83, 104

Israel, 18, 19, 50, 61, 62, 73, 77, 85, 154, 160, 162, 205, 208, 224 Italy, 15, 19, 28, 69, 105, 106, 110, 111, 158, 205, 206, 224 J, K, L Japan, 28, 39, 111, 123, 125, 147, 155, 204, 224, 229 Jaucourt, 147 Jemdet Nasr, 83 Jericho, 67, 81 Jerusalem, 9, 18, 19, 25, 48, 63, 207 Jesus, 17, 24, 25, 58 Jews, 8, 15–17, 20, 168, 193, 205, 207, 208 Jordan, 18, 19, 160 Judea, 205 Kalahari, 54 Kant, 2, 209, 211 Kebarians, 62, 65, 66 Khomeini, 211 Koran, 211 Korea, 28, 111, 125, 155, 162, 208, 224 koumis, 129 Kublai Khan, 130 language, 63, 66, 137, 141, 159 Lebanon, 18, 19, 50, 58, 94, 107, 208 Ledi-Geraru, 145 legumes, 75, 77, 78 lentils, 77, 95 Lesotho, 148, 172, 175, 180, 182, 185, 186 Linnaeus, 1, 2, 138, 158 Longshan, 120 Luxembourg, 19, 111, 224 Lyon, 39, 40, 62, 113, 133 M, N, O Macedonia, 100, 105 Madagascar, 16, 30, 107, 149, 189 Magon, 208

Index

malaria, 44, 137 Malaysia, 28, 29, 32–34, 40, 107, 111, 133, 153, 169, 175, 180, 182, 185, 186, 224 Mali, 30, 107, 149, 158 mammals, 57, 214 mammoths, 50, 51 Mammuthus, 47, 50 Manchus, 123, 124, 129, 131 Manusmriti, 120 marathon, 38, 39 Marx, 223 Mary, 24 meat, 42, 78, 129, 202 Mediterranean, 50, 58, 59, 61, 66, 79, 94–97, 103, 111, 133, 144, 159, 207, 208 Mesopotamia, 80–82, 91, 101, 191, 207 metabolism, 6, 42, 49, 50, 64, 127, 137 meteorites, 46, 220 methane, 47 Mexico, 10, 11, 39, 77, 112, 133, 160, 162, 168 Middle East, 100, 107, 160, 161, 212 migrants, 93, 95, 96, 105, 113–115, 144, 162, 225, 230 migrations, 4, 9, 49, 50, 59, 62–64, 70, 74, 93, 95, 96, 100, 102, 105, 110, 115, 128, 143, 147, 218, 224, 230 milk, 21, 42, 78, 129, 136 millet, 77, 116 model, 34, 64, 67, 75, 91, 102, 107, 110, 146, 173, 174, 230 modeling, 38, 102, 103, 134, 146 monkey, 60, 234 monotheism, 89 Montesquieu, 43 Morocco, 40, 58, 107, 133, 162, 168, 225 mouse, 155 Muhammad, 211

275

Muslims, 211 Mussolini, 8, 15 Mutsuhito, 125 Nagasaki, 204 naledi, 201 Namibia, 19, 40, 54, 149, 175, 180, 182, 185 nationalists, 221 Native American, 11 Natufians, 65, 66 navigation, 95, 98, 107, 115, 145, 154, 155, 207 neanderthalensis, 62, 63, 138, 201, 203 Neolithic, 66, 67, 95, 96, 117 Nepal, 30, 149 neurons, 35, 42, 54, 140, 214, 216 Neve, 25 NGO, 231 Niger, 30, 58, 107, 149, 158, 172, 175, 180, 182, 185 Nile, 58–60, 79, 80, 86, 87, 91, 94, 96, 111, 112, 133, 143–145, 196 Noah, 13, 84 nomadic, 67, 70, 74 Norway, 19, 40, 154, 197, 198, 224 Obeid, 80 obsidian, 71–73, 94, 111 Oceania, 5, 14, 28, 32, 54, 107, 148, 180, 195 ODA, 229 oil, 32, 34, 198 Oppenheimer, 204, 206 optimization, 56, 77, 143, 216, 217 organization, 14, 17, 20, 64, 67, 68, 82, 87, 91, 93, 101, 104, 107–109, 120, 121, 123, 125, 164, 221, 229 Orthodox, 90 Osiris, 82 Ottawa, 39, 41, 62, 113, 133 Ovis aries, 78

276

The World’s Construction Mechanism

P, Q, R Pakistan, 100, 107, 113, 149, 162, 194, 208 Palestine, 18, 19, 50, 62, 67, 81, 85, 160, 162, 205, 208 Pan troglodytes, 57 Paris, 15, 37, 109, 164, 165, 209, 222, 234 Pauli, 204, 206 Peru, 12, 36, 133, 168 phalanx, 109 pharoah, 84, 191 Phoenicians, 58, 84, 86, 207, 208 Picq, 62 pinyin, 87, 123 Pizarro, 12 pluralism, 26, 111 Poland, 18, 28, 129, 154, 206, 224 policy (see also politics), 17, 57, 120, 175, 178, 217, 229 politics (see also policy), 26, 191, 237 pollutants, 99, 149, 226 pollution, 47 Polybius, 79, 109 polytheism, 120 pork, 42 Portugal, 19, 28, 106, 110, 125, 158, 186, 224 poverty, 228 Prussia, 17, 18 qi (original breath), 22 Qing, 121, 123, 124 race, 5, 15, 16, 20, 24, 126 radiation, 33, 35, 41, 44, 47, 96, 98, 157, 158, 204, 226, 236 rainfall, 62, 181 rank, 3, 16, 17, 35, 94, 100, 114, 122, 125, 129, 154, 189–191, 197, 229 rat, 155, 156 relativity, 194 religion, 90, 120, 211 republic, 106, 120, 124

revolutions, 123, 157, 187, 234 Reza, 211 rice, 45, 104, 116, 195, 196 Ricœur, 237 Rift, 55 rights, 1, 84, 153, 176, 186, 187, 228, 231, 234, 236 River Jordan, 61, 111 rodents, 155 Romans, 58, 106, 207 Russia, 16, 19, 28, 34, 131, 154, 208, 212, 224, 228, 229 Rwanda, 23, 24, 30, 149, 154, 169, 172, 229 S, T, U Sahara, 54, 158, 162 Sahelanthropus tchadensis, 60 Sargon, 192 Saudi Arabia, 28, 29, 32–34, 40, 158, 160, 168, 169, 175, 180, 182, 185, 186, 224 Scipio, 208 security, 28, 222 sedentarization, 65–68, 77, 126, 144 selection, 32, 136, 138, 219 Senegal, 30, 107, 149, 154 separations, 161, 167–169, 176, 184 Serabit, 87, 88 sex, 214 sheep, 21, 78, 115, 129 Siberia, 50, 123, 131 silk, 16, 112, 117, 118, 133, 234 Simmonds, 81 Sippar, 84 Skagerrak, 98 skin, 3, 5–9, 11–14, 19–25, 49, 137, 138 sky, 58, 84, 192, 218–220 Slav, 16 slavery, 2, 3, 10, 11, 13, 85, 182, 183, 186, 190, 193, 199, 231 Slovenia, 111, 162, 172, 197, 224

Index

Spain, 9–11, 19, 28, 54, 106, 107, 110, 111, 158, 186, 207, 224 sphinx, 87 starch, 75, 76, 136 steppe, 73, 126–131 Sudan, 30, 62, 100, 148, 158, 169, 172 Sumer, 80, 81, 85, 100, 101, 108, 112, 116, 119, 144, 212 Sumerians, 58, 79–86, 96, 108, 113, 190 Sweden, 19, 40, 154, 172, 197, 198, 206, 224 Switzerland, 39, 111, 154, 197, 206, 224 Syria, 18, 19, 50, 66, 75, 82, 88, 94, 107, 162, 219, 230 Szilàrd, 204, 206 tablet, 81–83, 220 Tanzania, 30, 107, 149, 154, 172 tao, 120 Tasmania, 7 temperate, 31, 145 temperature, 35, 37–40, 42–49, 62, 70, 76, 113, 114, 124, 143, 157, 181, 197, 216 testosterone, 64 Torah, 86, 205 trade, 41, 59, 68, 70, 71, 80, 82, 86, 111, 125, 192, 207, 208, 231 tuberculosis, 152, 153 Tunisia, 105, 107, 162 Turkey, 18, 19, 66, 68, 69, 71, 72, 96, 101, 107, 110, 133, 162 Tutsis, 24 Uganda, 24, 30, 149 UNESCO, 228 United Kingdom, 9, 19, 28, 110, 154, 162, 224

277

United Nations (UN), 12, 154, 164, 186, 222, 224, 227, 228 Ursus arctos, 138 maritimus, 138 Uruk, 81, 82, 84, 85 USSR, 16, 34, 53, 160, 210 V, W, X Venice, 124 vertebrates, 50, 155 Vikings, 198 vitamin, 6, 7, 77 Wagner, 16 wall, 130, 161, 162 warming, 6, 37, 38, 47–49, 50, 62, 114, 157, 197, 222, 226 wheat, 76, 95, 116 white, 2, 6, 17, 21, 22, 121, 138, 196 work, 9, 11, 16, 38, 39, 42, 59, 65, 101, 102, 104, 133, 165, 193, 196, 206, 222, 225, 227, 228, 236 writing, 66, 82, 85–88, 119, 120, 122, 123, 165, 220, 228 Xiongnu, 129 Y, Z yakut, 126 Yemen, 113, 149, 160 yin, 22 Zagros, 96 Zheng, 121 Zimbabwe, 30, 149, 162, 169, 172

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