Human Civilization Thought History: Redefining Thinkers and the Grassroots Evolution of Ideas Across Millennia

This work revolutionizes the traditional narrative of intellectual history by dismantling the elite monopoly on "thinker" definitions, proposing a panoramic framework that traces human thought evolution from the earliest hominins millions of years ago to modern society. Rooted in the core formula \mathbf{X}_+(\text{Positive Intellectual Contribution}) - \mathbf{X}_-(\text{Negative Limitations/Constraints}) = \mathbf{X}_0(\text{Steady State}), it redefines thought as a universal birthright, not the privilege of sages, and thinkers as all individuals—whether anonymous craftsmen, farmers, women, or nomads—who engage with survival, nature, and society through action and reflection. The book unfolds three revolutionary perspectives: the "decentralization" of intellectual history (reintegrating ordinary people’s thoughts omitted by traditional records, such as Dunhuang anonymous painters and Song Dynasty blacksmiths), the "de-authorization" of intellectual value (establishing an "Intellectual Equality Scale" to equate Aristotle’s philosophical inquiries with a Persian merchant’s practical reflections), and the "de-textualization" of intellectual transmission (recognizing bodily memory, collective narratives, and daily artifacts as valid carriers of thought). It chronicles the evolutionary trajectory of human thought: from early hominins’ survival rationality (tool-making, environmental adaptation), to the germination of natural law cognition (celestial observation, resource management), the binding of symbols and meaning (calendar creation, symbolic marking), and finally to the leap from survival to creation (agricultural innovation, social system construction). Across cultures and eras—from Andean terrace farmers and Zapotec calendar priests to Chinese Huang Daopo and Indian Rani Lakshmibai—the work highlights how ordinary people’s wisdom shaped civilizations. It critiques the academic circle’s "survivor bias" that deifies a handful of elites, arguing that true intellectual history is woven by countless unnamed individuals who transformed life experiences into replicable strategies, technical innovations, and social norms. Ultimately, it asserts that thought’s essence lies in "living in the heart" rather than being written down, and that every person who dares to question, reflect, and care for the world is a true thinker.