Section 12: The Boiling Frog Summary

On May 18, B lectures on The Boiling Frog at Schauspielhaus Wahnfriend in Radenau. He explains that if one puts a frog in boiling water, it will try to escape; however, if one puts it in warm water and gradually increases the temperature, the frog, stuck in a stupor, will allow itself to be boiled to death. For Man, the Agricultural Revolution is the warm water, and signs of distress do not appear until much later when the water is boiling. Mankind begins to overrun the earth because agriculture increases the food supply, causing the water to heat up and signs of distress to appear. From 5000 to 3000 B.C.E., the world becomes more crowded, and the age of war begins which continues through the present. Crime emerges as a problem between 3000 and 1400 B.C.E. The years...