Tom Phillips - Humans - A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up

taking of Guam, 147–48

deforestation on Rapa Nui, 66–69

Delco, 244

democracy

citizenship and, 124

development of, 123

devolvement into dictatorships, 124–25

elections, 128–34

Deryagin, Boris, 230

Diamond, Jared, 54–55, 68, 69

dictators. See autocrats

Điện Biên Phủ, Vietnam, 154–55

Dietrich, Otto, 132, 133

Digital Equipment Corporation, 267–68

diplomacy

defined, 203

enemy’s enemy delusion, 208–11, 210

examples of failures of, 222

isolationism and, 207–8

mistake of friendliness and trust, 204–7

power balance shifts and, 208–11

rejection of pacts and, 212–20

dirty water, 232–33

Discover , 54–55

diseases

agriculture and, 54

antimicrobial-resistant, 279

in colonies, 190–91

warming world and, 268–69

Dobrovolski, Georgiy, 267

doges, 125–26

dogs, 75, 76, 128

Dunning, David, 43

Dunning–Kruger effect, 43

Duplessis orphans, 135–36

Dust Bowl, 57, 58 , 82

Dutch East India Company, 184–85

dynamite, 264

Easter Island (Rapa Nui), 66–69

East India Company, 183–84

economic predictions, 265, 268

Egypt, 96

Einstein, Albert, 266

El Salvador, 159

engine knock solutions, 242–46, 251–52

England. See Britain; United Kingdom

environment

agricultural and technological changes to, 55–61, 64–65, 83–86

breeding and development of new species, 82–83

CFCs in, 250–51, 252, 279

Cleveland clean-up laws, 63

cryptocurrencies and, 275–77

diseases and warming world, 268–69

human communication and changes to, 33–34

industry and changes to, 61–64, 63

introduction of new animal species to, 77–82, 79 , 81 , 87–89

introduction of new plant species to, 82

lead in, 247–48

spiritual and political causes of change, 66–69

Eratosthenes, 167

Eriksdottir, Freydis, 169

Eriksson, Leif, 168–69

Erik the Red, 169

ethanol, 244–45

Ethyl fuel, 245

eugenics, 239–40

Eurocentric thinking, 168–69, 172

European colonialism

basis of arguments for benefits of, 172–73

as bringer of enlightened governance and rule of law, 173–75

Columbus and, 170, 174, 204

consequences of, 171–72

financial institutions, 182

incompetence of explorers, 167–68, 176–81, 179 , 196–97

incompetence of financiers and planners, 180–81, 182, 183, 187–94, 195

European exploration

Álvares Cabral, Pedro, 168

Columbus, 165–68, 170, 174, 204

Corte-Real brothers, 168

Cortés, 204–6

examples of failed expeditions, 196–97

Vikings, 168–69

Evans, John, 196

evolution

antimicrobial resistance and, 279

of human brain, 35

human communication and, 33

“fake news,” 44

Farouk I of Egypt, 104–6, 105

Fedyakin, Nikolai, 230

financial manias, 46, 186

Fisher, Irving, 265

flat-earth theory, 166–67

Football War (1969), 159

Four Pests campaign, 83–86

Frigidaire, 250

Fuller, Richard Buckminster, 266

Galton, Francis, 238–39

garbage, 65 , 65–66

Gatling, Richard, 264

General Motors, 244–45, 249–50

genetics, 108–9, 239–41

Genghis Khan, 212–20, 213

Germany

eugenics in Nazi, 240

Hitler and, 131–34, 149–51, 266

Lenin and, 208–9

N-rays, 237

X-rays, 236

Zimmerman Telegram, 222

gray squirrels, 90

Great Pacific Trash Vortex, 66

Great Wall of China, 98

greed

financial manias, 46, 186

solution to engine knocking and, 243–45

tragedy of the commons and, 44–45

wishful thinking and, 44

groupthink, 42–43

Guam, 147–48

Guiyu, China, 65, 65

Gulf of Mexico dead zone, 64–65

Hamilton, Alexander, 189, 193

Hanfstaengl, Ernst, 132–33

Hannibal, 124–25

Harappan civilization, 142–43

Herostratus, 69

Hispaniola, 170–71

history, accuracy of, 25

Hitler, Adolf, 131–34, 149–51, 266

The Hitler I Knew (Dietrich), 132

Holland, John, 187

Homo neanderthalensis, 32–33

Homo sapiens

extinction of Neanderthals and, 32–33

meaning of term, 33

migration out of Africa, 31

Honduras, 159

Horton, Mark, 195

hubris, 22, 43

human brain

ability to imagine futures, 21

ability to see mental models from patterns that are communicated to others, 33

choice-supportive bias, 41–42

confirmation bias and, 40–41

development of society/culture, 33–34

evolution of, 35

faulty spotting of patterns, 36–37

mechanisms for judging danger, 40

mental shortcuts and, 36, 38–40

Huskisson, William, 263–64

Ibrahim (Sultan of Ottoman Empire), 113–15

“illusory correlation,” 36–37

imagination, making of mental models and, 33

immigration, 127

Inalchuq Qayir-Khan, 215–16

Incas, 222

industry

changes to environment and, 61–64, 63

profit motive and, 243, 244–45, 249

inequality, development of, 96

insects

“Africanized” bees, 82–83

Four Pests campaign and, 84–85

International African Association, 175, 177

Iraq, 211

Ireland

gray squirrels in, 90

unification with England and Scotland, 182, 195

ISIS, 211

Italy, 126

James I (of England) and VI (of Scotland)

death of, 144

unification of crowns of England, Ireland, and Scotland, 182

witch obsession of, 117

Jebel Sahaba, 141

Jefferson, Thomas, 176

Johanson, Donald, 26

Joseph II (Emperor of Austria), 146

Julius Caesar, 125

Kahneman, Daniel, 39

Katskee, Edwin, 253

Kelvin, Lord, 264–65

Kennedy, John F., 156–59

Kerr, Warwick Estevam, 82–83

Kessler, Donald, 280–81

Kessler syndrome, 280–81

Kettering, Charles, 243

Khwarezmian Empire, 212–20

Kösem (mother of Ottoman sultans), 112, 113, 114, 115

Kruger, Justin, 43

Kudlow, Larry, 268

kudzu, 82

Lake Victoria, 80–82

Lasseter, Lewis, 197

laughing epidemics, 46, 47

Lazear, Jesse William, 253

leaded gasoline, 243–49

leaders

earliest, 96

war and, 96–97

See also autocrats; Ottoman Empire sultans

Leber, Brad, 128

Ledyard, John, 176–77

Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich, 208–9, 210

Leopold II (King of Belgium), 175

locusts, 84–85

Lucy, 19–20, 25–26

Ludwig II of Bavaria (“Mad King Ludwig”), 100–103

luminiferous ether, 234

Lysenko, Trofim, 86, 240–41

machine guns, 265

Máel Brigte the Bucktoothed, 22

manias, 46–47, 186, 275–77

Maori, 174

Mao Zedong, 83–85

Marconi, Guglielmo, 265

Mars Climate Orbiter, 227, 228–29

Maxim, Hiram, 265

Maya, 70

McNeil, J. R., 251

Mehmed III (Sultan of Ottoman Empire), 109

mental shortcuts

anchoring heuristic, 38–39, 40

availability heuristic, 39–40

as survival mechanism, 36

Mexica, 204–6

Mexico

Americans in Texas and, 127

San José Mogote, 97

Zimmerman Telegram and, 222

Mexico City, 136

Midgley, Thomas, Jr., 242

about, 241–42

engine knocking and, 242–43, 245, 246

refrigeration and, 249–50

reputation of, 251

Moctezuma, 204–6

Modena, 159