Prologue, Chapter 1 & 2
Prologue:
As I was reading through the Prologue I found the reading to be very relevant to some of today's environmental issue that we are facing in current times. In the book, written by Strayer, it states that there was a "Permian mass extinction around 250 million years ago and eliminated some 96%of living species on the planet". Natural disasters such as, a volcanic eruption and release of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere were contributing factors to the mass destruction. The book referred to this as global warming. When I read the words global warming and volcanoes, bells went off in my head. Today, there is an active volcano in Hawaii erupting and we are in a constant struggle dealing with the effects of global warming. Our planet and our oceans are being effected by the green house gas effect. It makes me wonder, will something this catastrophic happen again? Are humans to ignorant or self-absorbed to take note of the history? Granted, some of these events are out of our control, however, there are things society can be doing to prevent such an event so we can preserve our planet. There is proof that there is damage already. The ocean temperature is rising, the arctic is melting, and the ozone layer is depleting. I hope that as a community people can wake up and strive to make changes to delay or prevent our planet from experiencing such a devastation.
Chapter 1:
As I read through chapter 1, I found myself impressed with the paleolithic era. The simple way of life was efficient and it was productive. The innovations and creativity of this era cannot go unnoticed. As we shifted into Agriculture, I thought that life would get easier as people shifted from gathering and hunting. There were advantages but there were several challenges as well. It seemed like it made things a lot more complicated. Life did not improve in the farming community. Life was harder, diseases were introduced and new challenges like famine caused issues. The book states, "there was a deterioration in health- more tooth decay, malnutrition, and anemia; a shorter physical stature; and adminished life expectancy". Further, the agricultural way of life threatened exposure to diseases like small pox, flu, measles chicken pox and rabies. This was the beginning of epidemics threatening communities and killing several people. Prior to agriculture, gathering and hunting did not have the challenges of famine. In the agricultural era if there was a natural disaster or your crops died, you had no food because your resources have been depleted. These challenges complicated the simplistic way of the paleolithic era and created new challenges for the next era.
I did find that in the agricultural village based society there was a level of order and respect that the people followed. They managed to maintain and adapt within their group and preserve equality. There seemed to be a level of consideration in the group and for their neighbors. Peace was maintained without a power struggle and it was a very productive society.
As Chapter 1 ended, there was a question in the reading that caught my attention. The question was "What have we lost in the mad rush to modernity, and how can we recover it"? My thoughts on this question is that we live in a society that is no longer "present" or connected to their neighbors and environment. Generally speaking, we are amongst people who are busy and self absorbed. Many of us are locked on our "screens" and we have lost the art of communicating and human touch. In the past, the only way people survived was by communicating and being accountable. There was no room for slacking or selfish behaviors. If you were a member of a group you had a job and the survival of the group depended on everyone. Today, in our world it is no longer like that. In order to recover what was lost it is important to note, that looking at these readings and studying history, we can learn from the past. Another thing to note, is that we could work on being present and mindful in our every day lives. We could simplify our lives and learn from the past. The paleolithic era was a society that looked out for each other and not just for themselves. There was no room for self absorption or a lack of accountability. History is studied so we can learn from the past and try not to repeat the mistakes that have already been made.
Chapter 2:
Chapter 2 is about the development of the first civilizations. The origins of civilizations is believed to have began in the agricultural revolution. The need for the production of more food and the development of irrigation helped to develop civilizations. Each society was unique and the familiarity of the village or the paleolithic way of life was lost. The society shifted from a kinship
society to a society that was no longer equal or personal. The hierarchies of class is seen as the beginning of inequality. The book states, "this transition represents one of the major turning points in the social history of humankind." This time period marks the social injustices that are still observed today in modern time. Prior to the identification of civilizations, people got along and worked together. Men and women had equal roles and coexisted peacefully. After civilizations were established wealth and power become important. The way of looking out for everyone was gone and hierarchies were established. Now, the wealthy enjoyed all of the finer things in life, while peasants and slaves scrambled to survive. Men believed they were superior to women and their was a double standard for the way men and women were treated. For example, a man could have an affair with another woman. If the woman was caught having an affair, the husband could pick her punishment. It is believed in the book that this inequality may stem from the fact that men are stronger than women in farming practices, women were caregivers and often pregnant or because of warfare.
Another interesting fact was how the civilizations survived. It is believed that civilizations stayed together because of the organizational structure of states. State's organized around particular cities and were ruled by a king.
Egypt and Mesopotamia were discussed throughout the chapter and they were both very functional and effective. It was stated that they were separate civilizations but they were able to work together. They both had an impact on trade, culture and military. The intricate civilizations they created and the inventions they are known for are still used today. Both civilizations were advanced in their thought process and innovative ideas. Again, studying this time in history is useful for the success in modern times so we can attempt to keep from repeating the same mistakes again.
As I was reading through the Prologue I found the reading to be very relevant to some of today's environmental issue that we are facing in current times. In the book, written by Strayer, it states that there was a "Permian mass extinction around 250 million years ago and eliminated some 96%of living species on the planet". Natural disasters such as, a volcanic eruption and release of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere were contributing factors to the mass destruction. The book referred to this as global warming. When I read the words global warming and volcanoes, bells went off in my head. Today, there is an active volcano in Hawaii erupting and we are in a constant struggle dealing with the effects of global warming. Our planet and our oceans are being effected by the green house gas effect. It makes me wonder, will something this catastrophic happen again? Are humans to ignorant or self-absorbed to take note of the history? Granted, some of these events are out of our control, however, there are things society can be doing to prevent such an event so we can preserve our planet. There is proof that there is damage already. The ocean temperature is rising, the arctic is melting, and the ozone layer is depleting. I hope that as a community people can wake up and strive to make changes to delay or prevent our planet from experiencing such a devastation.
Chapter 1:
As I read through chapter 1, I found myself impressed with the paleolithic era. The simple way of life was efficient and it was productive. The innovations and creativity of this era cannot go unnoticed. As we shifted into Agriculture, I thought that life would get easier as people shifted from gathering and hunting. There were advantages but there were several challenges as well. It seemed like it made things a lot more complicated. Life did not improve in the farming community. Life was harder, diseases were introduced and new challenges like famine caused issues. The book states, "there was a deterioration in health- more tooth decay, malnutrition, and anemia; a shorter physical stature; and adminished life expectancy". Further, the agricultural way of life threatened exposure to diseases like small pox, flu, measles chicken pox and rabies. This was the beginning of epidemics threatening communities and killing several people. Prior to agriculture, gathering and hunting did not have the challenges of famine. In the agricultural era if there was a natural disaster or your crops died, you had no food because your resources have been depleted. These challenges complicated the simplistic way of the paleolithic era and created new challenges for the next era.
I did find that in the agricultural village based society there was a level of order and respect that the people followed. They managed to maintain and adapt within their group and preserve equality. There seemed to be a level of consideration in the group and for their neighbors. Peace was maintained without a power struggle and it was a very productive society.
As Chapter 1 ended, there was a question in the reading that caught my attention. The question was "What have we lost in the mad rush to modernity, and how can we recover it"? My thoughts on this question is that we live in a society that is no longer "present" or connected to their neighbors and environment. Generally speaking, we are amongst people who are busy and self absorbed. Many of us are locked on our "screens" and we have lost the art of communicating and human touch. In the past, the only way people survived was by communicating and being accountable. There was no room for slacking or selfish behaviors. If you were a member of a group you had a job and the survival of the group depended on everyone. Today, in our world it is no longer like that. In order to recover what was lost it is important to note, that looking at these readings and studying history, we can learn from the past. Another thing to note, is that we could work on being present and mindful in our every day lives. We could simplify our lives and learn from the past. The paleolithic era was a society that looked out for each other and not just for themselves. There was no room for self absorption or a lack of accountability. History is studied so we can learn from the past and try not to repeat the mistakes that have already been made.
Chapter 2:
Chapter 2 is about the development of the first civilizations. The origins of civilizations is believed to have began in the agricultural revolution. The need for the production of more food and the development of irrigation helped to develop civilizations. Each society was unique and the familiarity of the village or the paleolithic way of life was lost. The society shifted from a kinship
society to a society that was no longer equal or personal. The hierarchies of class is seen as the beginning of inequality. The book states, "this transition represents one of the major turning points in the social history of humankind." This time period marks the social injustices that are still observed today in modern time. Prior to the identification of civilizations, people got along and worked together. Men and women had equal roles and coexisted peacefully. After civilizations were established wealth and power become important. The way of looking out for everyone was gone and hierarchies were established. Now, the wealthy enjoyed all of the finer things in life, while peasants and slaves scrambled to survive. Men believed they were superior to women and their was a double standard for the way men and women were treated. For example, a man could have an affair with another woman. If the woman was caught having an affair, the husband could pick her punishment. It is believed in the book that this inequality may stem from the fact that men are stronger than women in farming practices, women were caregivers and often pregnant or because of warfare.
Another interesting fact was how the civilizations survived. It is believed that civilizations stayed together because of the organizational structure of states. State's organized around particular cities and were ruled by a king.
Egypt and Mesopotamia were discussed throughout the chapter and they were both very functional and effective. It was stated that they were separate civilizations but they were able to work together. They both had an impact on trade, culture and military. The intricate civilizations they created and the inventions they are known for are still used today. Both civilizations were advanced in their thought process and innovative ideas. Again, studying this time in history is useful for the success in modern times so we can attempt to keep from repeating the same mistakes again.
Comments
Post a Comment