The Birth of Civilization

Sep 01, 2005 17:08

College classes just started and I'm getting used to the new schedule. It seems a little busier than I'd like, but I suppose it always will. I'm taking Western Civilization to 1500CE, Critical Thinking, Psychology of Personality, and Life Science. They're all very interesting classes that I'm looking forward too. Over this summer I missed that intellectual rigor of thought necessary for school. It makes me feel much more productive, like I'm really learning something. Yes, school does get exhausting at times (especially toward the end of spring) but I just love learning so much, I wish I could keep going my whole life. Maybe I will, but just one class at a time.

I became really interested in history towards the end of last semester, around March or April. The class I choose starts right at the birth of civilization and looks at the whole of western history, up to 1500AD. What I hope to develop through it is a historical perspective. By which I mean having a more complete view of the world, by putting things in their historical context, and seeing how they came to be that way in the first place. And of course there is much to be learned from history in terms of mistakes to avoid as well.

Already I've encountered a very "enlightening" theory about the cause of inequality through a movie we're watching in the class. The inequality it attempts to explain is why certain cultures have advanced, technologically, materially, agriculturally, and otherwise much more than others. In our recent history it has been explained by the notion that certain races are simply more evolved, and thus superior to others. However this turned out to not be the case. The two extremes compared were modern American culture and the hunter-gatherer societies of Papua New Guinea. I will try to briefly capture the story.

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Humans evolved into their present form (Homo sapiens sapiens) about 100,000 years ago when the previous Ice Age was just coming to an end. During most of this period (Paleolithic/Stone Age) humans were slowly growing in number and spreading out from Africa. They were creating new tools and behaving in more and more complex ways. Another Ice Age (the last) occurred lasting from about 60,000 to 20,000 years before present. Humans gathered into small nomadic groups to increase their collective chance for survival. These groups continued to thrive by hunting and gathering for their food. At this point all people were at about the same level of advancement; they were "equal." They all had tools, temporary shelters, primitive clothing, basic language, concept of numbers, mythical beliefs, and they left their mark by carving images into stone.

The first permanent settlements began to form around 11,000 years ago, however they did not arise everywhere only in certain locations, primarily near the Fertile Crescent. These permanent settlements were now possible because of the invention of agriculture and farming. This was a big turning point for civilization which lead to the agricultural revolution (Neolithic Age). But why did some human groups experience this change and not others? It may be due to mere geographic luck. Certain locations were more ideal for farming because of a combination of factors related to the local environment. These area's, such as the middle east, which contained crops like wheat and barley were ideal for cultivation because these crops were comparatively low maintenance, stored for a long time, and were nutritionally beneficial. In addition to this advantage, these areas also tended to have animals that were ideal for domestication such as the goat and sheep (and later horses and cattle). This provided those societies not only with a continuous source of food throughout the year, but also tools to aid the agricultural process (plowing) and provided milk and wool. All of these factors combined created an atmosphere that would galvanize the advancement of those societies. Also written language emerged in these groups about 6000-7000 years ago, marking the beginning of recorded history. On the other hand, in other areas of the world like New Guinea, the main plant based food sources were not as nutritional (lacked protein), took a lot of work to harvest, and did not store for long before rotting. Additionally, pretty much the only animal domesticable was the pig which, unlike the beasts of burden of the Middle East, did not produce milk or wool and couldn't be used for manual labor. These factors made the hunter-gatherer lifestyle more ideal to their environment, and it largely remained the same there too today.

So in such ideal areas as the Fertile Crescent, the technological advancements in agriculture led to more free time. Not everyone was fully occupied with the job of feeding the group, which paved the way for priests, philosophers, scientists, artists, architects, explorers and behold CIVILIZATION! Soon after, groups began trading with each other, spreading new ideas and innovations. Local governments were established and new inventions and discoveries abounded. After a while the Church took over and halted all progress for a while (Middle/Dark Ages). But the human spirit and curiosity couldn't be stifled for long, and soon exploded again during the Renaissance, ushering in many of the old ideas and aspirations as well as many new ones. Around this time, a guy and some of his buddies were fed up with the religious control of their government sailed across the ocean to a new land and started society anew, after killing the locals. After a little bickering with their homeland and then amongst themselves, they established a very strong and resilient government. Some new inventions had a huge impact leading to the Industrial Revolution, which lead to many more inventions. Soon, humans occupied the majority of the globe and had greater and greater control over their environment. The harnessing of electricity also had a great influence and led to incredibly fast communication. Today we are continuing on this path of innovation in all areas of interest. Who knows what is yet in store for us. I can't wait to find out.

Ok, that last paragraph was all my own, and a rather biased (and not entirely serious) account at that. Nevertheless, the story of man is so intriguing, with its own hero's and villains; tragedies and triumphs. A history book contains, perhaps, the greatest epic tale ever told by man. Of course there are always going to variations in how people tell it, there is no objective account, but what we can infer from the different telling is, if nothing else, a great tale of the human endeavor.
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