The Molecule of More

Chapter 6

PROGRESS

What happens when the servant becomes the master?

In which dopamine ensures the survival of early humans

and the extinction of the human race.

OUT OF AFRICA

Modern humans evolved in Africa about 200,000 years ago and began
spreading to other parts of the world approximately 100,000 years
later. This migration was essential for the survival of the human race,
and there’s genetic evidence that we almost didn’t make it. One of the
unusual characteristics of the human genome is that there is far less
variation from person to person compared to other primate species
such as  chimpanzees or  gorillas. This high level of genetic similarity 
suggests that we are all descendants of a relatively small number of
ancestors. In fact, early in our evolutionary history, unknown events

... the beginning is where the end gets born.
—Catherynne M. Valente, writer