Part 5/8:

The Historical Pathway to Convergence

Much like the cellular convergence of the natural world, human tribes joined to form six significant civilizations: the Middle East, China, India, North Africa, Europe, and Mesoamerica. This trajectory toward complexity and convergence is ongoing, though it has not been an automatic process.

A historical example illustrates this dynamic vividly. In Eastern Asia, several states were once engulfed in warfare, erecting walls to isolate themselves from each other. After over two centuries of conflict, a leader named Qin Shi Huang arose, ultimately unifying these states. His notable first act was to dismantle the defensive walls that separated them, reusing the materials to construct an expansive wall to fend off nomadic tribes in the north.