Human Tech Tree

Civilization

Society, Economy & Law

57 points from the earliest roots to the research frontier: 41 researched, 6 current research, 5 unsolved and 5 that become possible once they are solved. State of knowledge: October 2026.

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Prehistorybefore 3000 BC

  • Trade & Division of Labor~7000 BCResearchedSpecializing and exchanging yields more than everyone producing alone; trade networks link villages, cities and later continents.

Antiquity3000 BC – 500 AD

  • State & Administration~3000 BCResearchedWith writing, taxes and officials, states such as Sumer and ancient Egypt coordinate thousands to millions of people.
  • Codified Law~1754 BCResearchedWritten laws such as the Code of Hammurabi (~1754 BC) make rules public and checkable for everyone.
  • Money~600 BCResearchedMoney as common medium of exchange, unit of account and store of value: from shells and silver weights to Lydia's coins (~600 BC).
  • Democracy in Athens508 BCResearchedCleisthenes' reforms make the assembly the center of power; for the first time, citizens decide laws directly.

Middle Ages & Renaissance500 – 1700

  • Roman Law (Corpus Juris)534ResearchedJustinian's Corpus Juris Civilis (529-534) collects Roman law and becomes the base of civil law in Europe and beyond.
  • Paper Money~1000ResearchedSichuan merchants and then the Song state issue paper notes around 1000: money becomes a promise instead of a piece of metal.
  • Magna Carta1215ResearchedEnglish barons force King John to accept that the ruler himself is bound by law.
  • Banks & Double-Entry Bookkeeping~1340-1494ResearchedCredit, bills of exchange and double-entry bookkeeping (Genoa ~1340, Pacioli 1494) make wealth calculable and trade financeable.
  • Patent System1474ResearchedVenice's statute of 1474 grants inventors a time-limited monopoly in return for disclosure: ideas become protected property and invention a business.
  • Joint-Stock Company & Exchange1602ResearchedThe Dutch VOC (1602) is the first large company with tradable shares, pooling the capital and risk of many investors.
  • Newspapers & the Public Sphere1605ResearchedWeekly printed news sheets (Strasbourg, 1605) create a reading public that follows events beyond its own town and debates them.
  • Sovereign States (Westphalia)1648ResearchedThe Peace of Westphalia (1648) ends the Thirty Years' War and becomes the symbol of a system of equal sovereign states.
  • Insurance & Risk Pooling~1690ResearchedMerchants pool risk (Lloyd's, by 1688) and price it with mortality tables: uncertainty becomes something that can be bought and sold.
  • Central Bank & State Currency1694ResearchedThe Bank of England (1694) makes a bank the guardian of the currency; the Fed (1913) and the ECB (1998) continue the model.

Industrial Age1700 – 1900

  • Copyright (Statute of Anne)1710ResearchedBritain's Statute of Anne (1710) gives authors, not printers, a limited right to their works.
  • Economics1776ResearchedAdam Smith's 'Wealth of Nations' (1776) explains markets, division of labor and prices as a system: economics becomes a science.
  • Constitutions & Checks on Power1787ResearchedMontesquieu (1748) and the US Constitution (1787) separate legislative, executive and judicial power: power is limited.
  • Abolition of Slavery1833ResearchedFrom the Haitian Revolution to Britain's 1833 act, the US 13th Amendment (1865) and Brazil (1888), legal slavery is outlawed.
  • Secret Ballot1856ResearchedAustralian colonies introduce the state-printed secret ballot (1856), protecting voters from bribery and pressure.
  • Geneva Conventions & Red Cross1864ResearchedThe 1864 Geneva Convention protects wounded soldiers and medical staff; later conventions cover prisoners and civilians.
  • Trade Unions & Labour Law1871ResearchedWorkers' associations win legal recognition (UK 1871) and bargain over wages, hours and safety.
  • Social Insurance1883ResearchedBismarck's health (1883), accident (1884) and pension insurance (1889) protect workers against life risks.
  • Competition Law (Sherman Act)1890ResearchedThe US Sherman Act (1890) outlaws cartels and monopolisation and becomes the template for competition law worldwide.
  • Forensics & Fingerprints1892ResearchedGalton's study of fingerprints (1892) and Henry's classification make physical traces a standard of proof.
  • Universal Suffrage1893ResearchedFrom France's universal male vote (1848) and New Zealand's women's vote (1893) to the US Voting Rights Act (1965), the vote reaches all adult…

Machine Age1900 – 1945

  • League of Nations1920ResearchedThe first worldwide organisation for collective security (1920) fails to stop the 1930s wars but supplies the blueprint for the UN.
  • National Accounts & GDP1934ResearchedKuznets' national-income estimates (1934) give governments one yardstick for the whole economy: GDP.
  • Bretton Woods, IMF, World Bank1944ResearchedAllied nations agree a post-war monetary order and found the IMF and the World Bank (1944).
  • Game Theory1944ResearchedVon Neumann and Morgenstern (1944) and Nash (1950) describe decisions whose outcome depends on what others do.

Atomic & Space Age1945 – 1990

  • Nuremberg Trials1945ResearchedThe trials of 1945-46 establish that individuals, including leaders, can be held criminally responsible under international law.
  • United Nations1945ResearchedAfter two world wars, 51 states found the UN (1945); IMF/World Bank (1944) and WHO (1948) frame international cooperation.
  • Human Rights (1948)1948ResearchedThe Universal Declaration of Human Rights (10 December 1948) sets out equal basic rights for all people for the first time.
  • European Integration1951ResearchedSix states pool coal and steel (1951); step by step this grows into the single market, the euro and today's EU of 27.
  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty1968ResearchedThe 1968 treaty: non-nuclear states forgo weapons, nuclear-weapon states pursue disarmament, and all may use nuclear technology peacefully.
  • Behavioral Economics1979ResearchedKahneman and Tversky show (1979) that people deviate systematically from 'rational' choice: economics turns psychological.
  • Open Licences (GPL, CC)1989ResearchedThe GNU GPL (1989) and Creative Commons licences (2002) use copyright itself to guarantee that anyone may share and reuse works.

Digital Age1990 – 2015

  • Platform Economy1995-2009ResearchedeBay (1995), Amazon, Airbnb (2008), Uber (2009): digital marketplaces connect supply and demand at almost zero marginal cost.
  • Social Media & Algorithmic Feeds2004-2012ResearchedFacebook (2004), YouTube, Twitter and Instagram built feeds of posts from friends and strangers; Facebook reached one billion monthly users in…
  • Disability Rights Convention2006ResearchedThe UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) treats access and participation as human rights.

Present2015 – Oct 2026

  • Data Protection (GDPR)2018ResearchedThe EU's General Data Protection Regulation (applied May 2018) gives people rights over their personal data and binds firms worldwide.
  • Platform Regulation (DMA/DSA)2023-2026Current researchThe EU reins in digital gatekeepers with the DMA (market power) and DSA (content); fines so far include EUR 890 million against Google.
  • Crypto & Stablecoin Rules2024-2026Current researchThe EU (MiCA) and the US (GENIUS Act, July 2025) regulate crypto-assets; stablecoins reach roughly $300 billion in circulation.
  • EU AI Act2024-2028Current researchThe world's first comprehensive AI law applies in stages since 2024; in 2026 high-risk duties were postponed to December 2027 and August 2028.
  • AI & the Labor Market2025-2026Current researchEarly data show falling employment for young entrants in AI-exposed jobs; no economy-wide drop in employment is visible yet.
  • WHO Pandemic Agreement2025Current researchOn 20 May 2025 the World Health Assembly adopted the first pandemic agreement; without the PABS annex it cannot yet be signed.
  • Digital Euro2026Current researchThe European Parliament set its position on the digital euro in July 2026; trilogue talks follow, first issuance earliest 2029.

Research Frontier · Todayunsolved as of Oct 2026

  • Aging SocietiesopenUnsolvedFewer births and longer lives shift the ratio of workers to older people: pensions, care and growth come under pressure.
  • Disinformation & TrustopenUnsolvedAI fakes and recommendation algorithms make it hard to tell what is true; trust in information is eroding.
  • Global CoordinationopenUnsolvedClimate, pandemics and AI ignore borders, yet binding, enforceable agreements between states rarely succeed.
  • Measuring Beyond GDPopenUnsolvedGDP measures output, not well-being or sustainability: a shared, robust yardstick for that does not exist worldwide.
  • Work & Distribution with AIopenUnsolvedAs machines take over more work: how do people secure income, purpose and participation, and who gains from the productivity?

If Solvedbecomes possible

  • Beyond-GDP Indicators Adopted2030s?If solvedGovernments and statistics offices publish an agreed set of well-being and sustainability indicators next to GDP and use it in budgets and policy…
  • Participation Amid Automation2030s-2040s?If solvedTested models spread AI productivity gains broadly and secure income and meaning when less paid work is needed.
  • Verifiable Information World2030s?If solvedThe origin and editing history of digital content is verifiable by default: fakes lose their effect.
  • Sustainable Aging Society2040s?If solvedPensions, care and labor markets are stable with an older population, because people stay healthy longer and care is partly automated.
  • Fast Global Crisis ResponseopenIf solvedBinding, funded and verifiable cooperation lets states respond to pandemics, climate and AI risks within days instead of years.