- 4,000,000 years ago (83,000 generations) Postural Stability
After nearly 4 billion years of evolution our DNA figured out it was advantageous to walk upright. With this new development the earth saw the arrival of the first human like apes.
- 200,000 years ago (7,500 generations) Earliest evidence of Homo Sapiens.
If you could time travel this is the farthest back you could go and be able to successfully breed with something else on the planet.
- 12,000 years ago* (500 generations) Emergence of Civilization.
It took 7000 generations of incremental progress but finally we figured out how to live together in groups.
- 5,200 years ago (220 generations) The Birth of Writing.
For the first time we could accurately pass knowledge both laterally across to our contemporaries and vertically down to the generations to come.
- 450 years ago (20 generations) The Scientific Revolution
The application of reason and logic to our understanding of the world we live in.
- 200 years ago (8 generations) The Industrial Revolution
The mass production of goods along with improvements in transportation, energy and communication improved living standards across the world and elevated our productive capabilities.
- 50 years ago (2 generations) The Computer gives rise to the Internet
Networked computation connected our world and gave each person access to all of human knowledge.
We now have a new contender for this list. Be Prepared.