Life in Mesopotamia, the Electoral College explained, and the science behind early risers.
🏺 The First Cities: Life in Mesopotamia
The world’s first true cities emerged around 4000 BCE in the region known as Mesopotamia “the land between rivers,” bordered by the Tigris and Euphrates in modern-day Iraq. Fertile soil and irrigation transformed once-nomadic peoples, like the Sumerians, into settled communities capable of producing food surpluses. This abundance sparked the rise of urban centers such as Uruk, Ur, and Eridu, cities with tens of thousands of residents and bustling trade networks stretching to Persia and the Indus Valley.
Life in these cities revolved around a blend of religion, trade, and administration. Priests managed temples that also acted as banks, collecting offerings and redistributing resources. Scribes used the world’s first writing system, cuneiform, to record transactions, myths, and laws. And so the first taxes emerged, not coins or bills, but baskets of wheat and flocks of sheep given in tribute to the divine order.
The population was diverse. Sumerians, Akkadians, and later Babylonians mingled through commerce and conquest, creating one of history’s first multicultural societies. Uruk itself, home to the legendary King Gilgamesh, was the largest city in the world at its peak. From its clay tablets to its walled defenses, Mesopotamia’s urban experiment laid the foundation for government, economics, and social order as we know them.
Map of Ancient Mesopotamia
🗳How the U.S. Electoral College Works
Every four years, Americans head to the polls to choose their president, but technically, they’re not voting for the candidate. They’re voting for a group of people called electors, who make up the Electoral College, the body that casts the official votes for president and vice president.
Here’s how it works: each state gets a number of electors equal to its total seats in Congress: two for its senators, plus however many representatives it has in the House. That means big states like California get 54 votes, while small ones like Vermont get just 3. There are 538 electors in total, and a candidate needs 270 to win the presidency.
In 48 of the 50 states, the rule is “winner takes all” whoever wins the popular vote in that state gets all of its electoral votes. That’s why it’s possible to win the national popular vote but lose the presidency. It happened in 2000 (Bush vs. Gore), 2016 (Trump vs. Clinton), and even 1824, when no candidate reached a majority and the House of Representatives chose John Quincy Adams.
The Electoral College was created in 1787 by the Constitution’s framers, the delegates who designed America’s government. It was a compromise between those who wanted Congress to pick the president and those who wanted a direct public vote.
Today, supporters say it protects smaller states and forces candidates to campaign broadly; critics argue it distorts democracy by giving swing states outsized power.
🌅 The Science of Early Rising
Long before productivity gurus praised 5 a.m. routines, philosophers and scientists noticed a curious truth: mornings change the mind. Biologically, our circadian rhythms (the 24-hour cycles that regulate sleep, energy, and hormones) are deeply influenced by light. Exposure to early sunlight triggers a surge of cortisol and serotonin, sharpening focus and mood. Morning light also suppresses melatonin, the sleep hormone, helping your body’s clock align naturally with the day.
Studies show that consistent early risers often report better mental health, stronger self-discipline, and higher academic or professional performance. It’s not magic, it’s structure. Even Benjamin Franklin’s “early to bed, early to rise” wasn’t moral preaching, it was time management.
But chronotype matters. About 30% of people are natural “night owls,” genetically predisposed to peak later in the day. For them, forcing a dawn routine can backfire. The key, researchers say, is not when you wake, but how consistently. Aligning your sleep and light exposure to your body’s rhythm leads to better mood, learning, and health outcomes overall.
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Next issue: How McDonald’s mastered franchising, why the Magna Carta still matters, and what Plato’s Cave teaches us today.
— The A Little Wiser Team
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