Five thousand years ago, we developed powerful new technologies of transportation and communication. These included large seagoing ships, wagons pulled by beasts of burden, and forms of writing that enabled us to record information for posterity and to communicate with others over vast distances. These technologies of interaction enabled us to build cities, create civilizations, and evolve increasingly sophisticated forms of art, science, commerce, warfare, and religion that soon lifted humanity into a new position of supremacy over all other forms of life.
