• afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Tall poppy syndrome of small communities is probably the biggest factor in why our technological progress was so slow for so long. Humans 100,000 years ago were basically the same as us and yet inventions took thousands of years.

    • AnarchistsForDemocracy@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Tall poppy syndrome

      this exists in the city too

      envy is not limited to small towns

      it’s a culture thing.

      NOOOOOOO! it was SEEMINGLY slow because science progresses exponentially.

      being the first to invent fire is a lot more difficult than to write the software that makes your phone work.

    • livus@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      @afraid_of_zombies

      Inventions are cumulative.

      Societies tend to go through faster periods of inventions when certain conditions are met. One of them is war, that drives inventions.

      Another one is a more equal society. In societies where you get to use your invention yourself and benefit from it yourself there is more incentive for more people to do it. If your invention is mainly going to benefit elites, fewer people spend time inventing. This is one of the reasons why empires historically stagnate towards the end.