[About the gap]

I don’t understand why the gap is a problem. Yes, there is a gap between agriculture revolution and the appearance of Homo sapiens, but so what? If the gap is a huge deal, then there must be close connections between the arrival of the new species and Neolithic revolution. But what is the strong connection? Why should they have close connections? I read from a history book that rapid growth of population causes the Sedentism, and then following the agriculture revolution, which has nothing to do with the new species. And I also think that the two can be put into different phases. The appearance of Homo sapiens is in speciation phase, and agriculture revolution is in tectonic phase. According to the author, the main influences in those two phases are totally different. I couldn’t see any close connections; therefore I don’t understand why there is a paradox.

[About predictions]

As the author admitted in PREHISTORY, countless factors influence the culture revolution. And it is hard to determine which is prior.  Take computers as an example. It was originally made for the war, but now it has changed our world. An invention for the war is not considered a major factor in the culture revolution, but computers did change our live tremendously.

Also, those inventions cannot be predicted, so as the culture. Ten years ago, who could predict there would be an invention called Facebook, which changes the way we socialize? Therefore, I strongly believe cultural changes are unpredictable.