[TL;DR We’re just really smart apes]
Our Timeline
~13.8 billion years ago: The Big Bang creates the Universe
~4.6 billion years ago: The Sun and planets form
~3.7 billion years ago: Life begins on Earth
~2.7 billion years ago: Eukaryotes evolve
~600 million years ago: Multicellular life evolves
~480 million years ago: First vertebrates evolve
~210 million years ago: First mammals evolve
~55 million years ago: First primates evolve
~7 million years ago: First hominins evolve
~3 million years ago: First humans evolve
~176 thousand years ago: Evidence of material culture/built constructions
~12 thousand years ago: Evidence of homo genus interbreeding (end of neanderthals)
~11 thousand years ago: Evidence of agriculture/storable grains
~10 thousand years ago: Age of Richat structure
Evidence of complex civilizations as early as ~8,000 BCE
~5 thousand years ago: Evidence of numerals/full writing
~4 thousand years ago: Hard evidence of complex civilizations
586 years ago: Printing press invented
479 years ago: Christian empire accepts solar system
242 years ago: Industrial revolutions begin (economies of scale take effect)
163 years ago: Charles Darwin proposes evolution
146 years ago: Telegraphy invented
77 years ago: Digital revolutions begin/WW2 ends/UN established
54 years ago: Global population growth rate peaks at 2.1%
49 years ago: Cellular phones invented
48 years ago: Home computers invented
38 years ago: Cellular data (1G) invented
33 years ago: World wide web invented
30 years ago: Dial-up internet invented
25 years ago: WiFi invented
22 years ago: Broadband invented
20 years ago: Blackberry invented
15 years ago: iPhone invented (smartphones)
14 years ago: Bitcoin invented (blockchain)
7 years ago: UN sustainable development goals/Paris agreement established
1 year ago: El Salvador accepts Bitcoin as legal tender
Summary
Exponential pace of evolution: biological to technological
Cultural & political roadblocks
Compounding effect of retained knowledge/progress
The inflection point: communications technology (printing press, internet)
The human superpower: complex communication & collaboration
Further Readings (with a grain of salt)
The history of world empires
The impact of the printing press, internet & blockchain
Stoned ape theory (weed & psychedelics)
“Homo Techno”