I believe that if we had never happened across an adaptation that resulted in the formation of complex societies (likely sedentary-based agriculture in response to climate changes), we may never have ventured into ecological overshoot. Our hunting-gathering forbearers tended to live in balance with nature.

That being said, it is possible that such a lifestyle may have led us there eventually...we'll never know.

But, once complex societies arose and the necessary organisational structures developed to keep it all functioning (i.e., solving the problems of living in large, complex ways), those problematic power structures cropped up due to differential access/control of resources.

So, if nothing else, our ruling elite expedited our journey into overshoot with their attempts to retain/sustain/expand their privileged positions. Perhaps not as quickly as fossil fuels have done, but as we can see the elite have certainly leveraged the energy provided by this one-time cache of dense, transportable energy to meet their primary goal even more expeditiously.

Non-linear, positive feedback loops everywhere...