do now: was farming the greatest achievement or worst mistake in human history?
TRANSCRIPT
Do Now:
Was farming the greatest
achievement or worst mistake
in human history?
Moon Landing
Bombing of Hiroshima
The Neolithic Revolution
Was farming the greatest
achievement or worst mistake in human history?
What was the Neolithic Revolution?
• Date – 8,000 BC to 4,000 BC• Neolithic Revolution – When people
stopped moving in search of food because they learned how to grow crops. They became the first farmers and began to build villages.
• Civilization – These are complex societies that have cities, organized governments, art, religion, class divisions, and a writing system.
How did farming impact our world?
How did the Neolithic Revolution Impact the
World?• Economies• Lifestyle• Specialization of Labor• Social Class Division• Warfare• Governments and laws• Increase in population• Health• Calendar• Food Surplus
Farming As an Achievement• Food Surplus• Creation of cities• Government • Increase in
technology• Development of
Formal Education• Increase in
Personal Property
Farming As a Mistake
One Bushman, when asked why he hadn't [copied] neighboring tribes by adopting agriculture, replied, “Why should we, when there are so many mongongo
nuts in the world?"
Farming As a Mistake
• Health: – Height decreased: Pre-Farming 5’9
for men and 5’5 for women… Post-Farming 5’5 for men and 5’0 for women.
– Life Expectancy: Pre-Farming 26 years, Post Farming 19 years
– Malnutrition– Disease spreads quickly in villages &
cities
Farming As a Mistake
• Inequalities – Men and Women:
Increased pregnancies = decline in health
– Social Class Division: Whoever controls the grains controls the village
Diamond, Jared. “The Worst Mistake In The History Of The Human Race.” Discover, May 1987, pp. 64-66
Bibliography