01
Walk a capability's lineage all the way back
Click any node, then click 'walk back' to highlight the dependency path.
civlab·civilization-tree.psyverse.fun·tree
❦ Civilization Tree
A living branching map of human civilization — eras, technologies, ideas, and the dependencies that link them.
Civilization Tree is a structural view of human progress as a directed graph of capabilities, where each node unlocks others. Stone tools enabled animal domestication, which enabled grain agriculture, which enabled cities, which enabled writing. Print enabled mass literacy, which enabled the modern citizen. Transistors enabled computing, which enabled the internet, which enabled foundation models. Each node carries its date of first significant use, its prerequisites, and what it unlocked downstream.
The tree is not a tech tree from a video game. Real history has parallel discoveries, dead ends, regressions, and re-inventions. The data model captures all of these. A user can pick any modern capability — say, mRNA vaccines — and walk backward through the chain of dependencies all the way to fire.
Interactive demo
Use it — don't read about it.
−700,000−10,00015002025
Tip: click any node to highlight its dependency path back to 'fire' and 'spoken language'.
Features
What this platform promises.
02
Filter by era, region, or domain
Hide everything except (say) Song-dynasty inventions.
03
Random capability discovery
Surface one node you've never thought about today.
Modules
Modules that compose this platform.
01 · node-graph
Capability nodes
Each capability is a node with year, prerequisites, civilization-of-origin.
02 · lineage
Lineage walker
Pick any modern capability; walk backward through every prerequisite to root.
03 · parallels
Parallel discoveries
Surface multiple independent inventions of the same capability across cultures.
04 · regressions
Regressions & dead ends
Roman concrete, Antikythera mechanism, lost ancient knowledge — visible.
05 · rate-clock
Rate clock
How long between each unlock? Visualization of the accelerating cadence.
Data model
Capability
field
type
note
id
uuid
Capability id
year
year
Year of first significant use
prerequisites
uuid[]
Capabilities required for this one
origin
string
Civilization of origin
unlocks
uuid[]
Capabilities directly unlocked
domain
enum
{material, social, info, energy, life}