Humanity in civilization has invented a formal knowledge system, with individuals able to speak and exchange ideas, constituting an enclosed group, a single cultural organism, a community. According to the French philosopher Émile Durkheim, men started off with “mechanical solidarity.” This meant that each could substitute in work for the other. Gradually, he theorized, humanity moved to a new form of organization, “organic solidarity,” with individuals specializing in what they do: fishermen, farmers, administrators, medicine men, and soldiers.