"This is a key to understanding our history and psychology. Genus Homo’s position in the food chain was, until quite recently, solidly in the middle. For millions of years, humans hunted smaller creatures and gather what they could, all the while being hunted by larger predators. It was only 400,000 years ago that several species of man began to hunt large game on a regular basis, and only in the last 100,000 years - with the rise of Homo sapiens - that man jumped to the top of the food chain.

     That spectacular leap from the middle to the top had enormous consequences. Other animals at the top of the pyramid, such as lions and sharks, evolved into that position very gradually, over millions of years. This enabled the ecosystem to develop checks and balances that prevent lions and sharks from wrecking too much havoc [...] in contrast, humankind ascended to the top so quickly that the ecosystem was not given time to adjust. Moreover, human themselves failed to adjust. Most top predators of the planet are majestic creatures. Millions of years of dominion have filled them with self-confidence. Sapiens, by contrast, it’s more like a Banana Republic dictator. Having so recently been one of the underdogs of the Savannah, we are full of fears and anxieties over our position, which makes it doubly cruel and dangerous. Many historical calamities, from deadly wars to ecological catastrophes, have resulted from this over-hasty jump."

Excerpt from SAPIENS [A Brief History of Humankind] by YUVAL NOAH HARARI