Proposes a structural account of the cambrian explosion. The precambrian was the first life, with evolution dominated by geology alone. The cambrian explosion occurred when life finally became the dominant complexity encountered by other life, causing a feedback loop. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20682905
The medieval period was called the dark ages largely because of our ignorance of it. The Medieval spans about 1,000 years. There were plagues which made labor immensely more valuable, & wars that lasted generations. Any blanket statement about it is bound to be somewhere between false and meaningless. Including this one.
After an aggressive post sales upsell call: "You must buy more licenses" I laughed at them, dropped them, and they went on my "I Don't Work With Bastards" list. Of course one doesn't always have a choice, but with that list in mind, I often end up with more choice than expected. See also: last man on earth, ten foot pole.
That sounds just like the (very generous interpretation of) Yelp business model. Automated systems that are as effective as elevator door close buttons, & human support available only to paying customers.
I think the origin of this wasn't even originally sinister. It's just that "free" services aren't willing to provide human support, so youtube, gmail, etc. rely on automated systems. Ultimately, only paying customers get human support, and that simple system (even assuming all actors behave well) progressively skews to the advantage of paying customers. The house edge is small, but cumulative.