In some of the writing in this and other series here such as Econ 01 we have mentioned the role of competition while discussing innovation. And further in TecC 19 and TecC 20, we looked at the role of adversity in, not so much directly innovation per se, but how it could undo past innovation and achievement.

Let’s now explore the opposite - cases where adversity might have spurred innovation, alongside competition. Along the way, we’ll also explore two other extraordinarily influential civilizations in continuation with one extraordinarily influential one we looked in some depth at 10 episodes ago, but not ‘civilizations’ as we are accustomed to define that word!

Let’s go back briefly to the Indus Valley in the year 2200 BCE when...

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Article written by Ash Stuart

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Further Reading & Reference

* Anthony, David W. (2010). The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1400831104. (Complete text at archive.org)

* Fortson IV, Benjamin W. (2010). Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction. 2nd Edition. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1405188968. (Complete text at archive.org)

* Mallory, J.P & Adams. D. Q. (2006). Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199287918.

* Watkins, Calvert. (1995). How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195085957.

* Benveniste, Émile. (2016). Dictionary of Indo-European Concepts. Hau Books. ISBN 978-0986132599.

* Parpola, Asko. (2015). The Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-019022690-9.

* Reich, David. (2018). Who We Are and How We Got Here. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0198821250.

* Mallory, J.P. (1989). In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archeology and Myth. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0500276161 (Complete text at archive.org)

* Jamison, Stephanie W & Brereton, Joel P. (2014). The Rigveda: the earliest religious poetry of India. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199370184.

* Parpola, Asko. (2005). The Nāsatyas, the Chariot and Proto-Aryan Religion. Kyoto International Community House.

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