In order for nimble hunter/gatherers to survive climate change, most must die off periodically to maintain the balance. Farming prevented this kill off. We can return to be hunter/gatherers if we will accept high infant mortality, short life spans, and the loss of ten thousand years of accumulated knowledge.
And the deaths of about 5 billion+ people. Not a happy thought.
The most apparent contradiction is that if Fagan were correct, most human societies today would still be hunter-gatherer. But they are not.
The point the author doesn't notice is that 'hunter-gatherer' and 'farming' refers to societies, not individuals: a subsistence farmer in drought conditions may be more vulnerable than a given member of a hunter-gatherer society to drought, since the latter can just move without abandoning an expensive investment in cleared land, irrigation works, and livestock. But those investments mean the farming society recovers more quickly and (above all) is more powerful when fighting hunter-gatherers who can simply be swamped by greater numbers.
"In order for nimble hunter/gatherers to survive climate change, most must die off periodically to maintain the balance. Farming prevented this kill off. We can return to be hunter/gatherers if we will accept high infant mortality, short life spans, and the loss of ten thousand years of accumulated knowledge."
True. Along the same lines. We have these great immune systems. Where did they come from? From natural selection, which is to say, massive and continual death. What effect do you think modern medicine is having on our immune systems? They will quickly atrophy, like any system not needed.
Only if the population is reduced by about 95%.
Bingo.