The Germ of a Theory

Randy Thornhill

Two very interesting books, Cod and Salt, trace the evolution of societies through the hunt for these two culinary items. Evolutionary biologist Randy Thornhill has a different theory. Civilizations grew and evolved ~ and continue to do so ~ he argues, in response to our need to avoid the pathogens that cause infection and sickness. This need can explain the rise and fall of dictatorships, political values, war, religious rites, xenophobia, and more of humanity's peculiarities in our time on Earth. "Once we started looking for evidence that pathogens shape culture," Thornhill says, "we began to find it in damn near every place we looked": http://www.psmag.com/navigation/health-and-behavior/bugs-like-made-germ-theory-democracy-beliefs-73958/