Unstoppable Us, Volume 1: How Humans Took Over the World

Millions of years ago, humans were among the earth’s many animals. They did not have a fixed home and gathered wild foods from trees and plants, just like other animals. Fellow animals felt no fear around humans like they do today because of this coexistence. Humans did not have tools or weapons and were weaker than other animals, like lions, from whom they might have had to flee.

Eventually, humans discovered that they could use rocks to crack open bones and extract the marrow as a food source. This discovery was the first step toward creating stone tools, and it distinguished humans from other animals. Soon, they began creating stone tools and using sticks to hunt small animals and gather wild plants. They later discovered how to create fire when they realized how to strike flint against pyrite or how to twist twigs inside of another piece of wood filled with dry leaves. Humans no longer had to wait for lightning to strike a tree to provide warmth. They could create and control fire themselves, and they began cooking food. This discovery also set humans apart from other animals, leading to evolutionary changes in the human brain and body. Consuming uncooked food was challenging, but cooked food could be eaten more quickly and was easier to digest: “As a result, humans started to change: they had smaller teeth, smaller stomachs […] and much more free time” (9).