Published on February 13, 2024 – Updated on February 13, 2024

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Solar Eclipses and the Origins of Critical Thinking and Complexity

The process of acquiring human capital is of paramount importance for the development of societies; however, it remains largely unknown despite its undeniable relevance. In this article, we seek to understand one of the possible underlying determinants of early human capital development among pre-modern societies: curiosity. However, given the difficulty of directly measuring curiosity, we propose the study of a potential trigger, namely unusual natural phenomena.

Read the blog article in French

Reference: Litina A. & Fernández, E. R. (2023) Solar Eclipses and the Origins of Critical Thinking and Complexity. The Economic Journal, in press