There is, and has always been, a direct relationship between technology and politics. From the Paleolithic Era through the Urban Revolution and the birth of civilization, as technology grew and advanced so too did politics and the influence of politics on that same technology.
The origin of technology is not found in necessity, nor is it found in science. The origin of technology is rooted in our biology. It stems from our brains, our hands with opposable thumbs, and from our bipedalism. It is part of our human nature. Humans have always used technology. And through technology, humans change themselves.
The Paleolithic Era, also as known as the Old Stone Age, lasted for millions of years until approximately 10,000 BCE. Early people were food collectors – hunters and gatherers. They collected only what they needed; there was no food surplus. They worked less than twenty hours per week at their tasks. They were a nomadic people, moving often to areas that would allow them to collect the food needed to sustain them.
In the Paleolithic Era, technology played an important role. Compared to today’s technology Paleolithic technology is quite inferior, but to the people of the Paleolithic Era their technology was of paramount significance. Their tools made of stone, their sharpened sticks, their command of fire, and their development and use of speech were all technologies that made their way of life possible. These technologies helped to give them control over the things in their environment. Without these things, life as they knew it could not exist.
At this point in the Paleolithic Era, technology and politics coexisted in harmony; one did not dominate the other, nor did one influence the other. Their technology was simple. The...
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... Leaders emerged who told people what to do with their technology – you do this, you do that, you plant here, you plant this there. During the Urban Revolution and the birth of civilization, technology exploded and was being used for all sorts of activities. Strong leadership and government not only emerged, but conquered society. Kings, pharaohs, and top leaders were dictating what technology could and could not be used to carry out tasks. They created bureaucracies to aid in the running of government and to oversee the use of the various technologies. They were supporting the further development of technologies by investing time, effort and money into grooming classes of individuals to learn, study, improve current technology, and invent new technologies. As technology increased and became more advanced, so too did the politics used to control that same technology.
Paleolithic is often referred to as the Old Stone Age. "Paleo" means old and "lithic" means stone. The Neolithic time period is often referred to as the New Stone Age. "Neo" means new and "lithic" also means stone. The Paleolithic culture or way of life began about 2.5 to 2 million years ago. The Paleolithic Period ended at different times in different parts of the world, generally around 12,000 years ago in Europe and the Middle East. When the Paleolithic period ended, the Neolithic period took over and began 12,000 years ago somewhere in the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is characterized by the beginning of farming, the domestication of animals, the development of crafts such as pottery and weaving, and the making of polished stone tools. Life changed dramatically between Paleolithic and Neolithic times.
Edgar, Robert R., et al. “Chapter Fifteen.” Civilizations Past and Present. 12th ed. Ed. Janet Lanphier, et al. Vol. 1. New York: Pearson, 2008. Print.
"Upper Paleolithic Tool Technologies." Upper Paleolithic Tool Technologies. The Regents of The University of California, 22 July 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. .
Watkins, Jeffery. Regents Prep: Global History: Change & Turning Points:, "Neolithic Revolution." Last modified 2003. Accessed March 23, 2012. http://regentsprep.org/Regents/global/themes/change/neo.cfm
“The social determination of technology is the social circumstances of technological development, deployment and use” (Winner, 1986, p.21). When discussing politics, Winner refers to authorities in society and how people behave under that power (Winner, 1986, p.22). Winner states two ways in which artefacts have politics; first, when the invention, design or arrangement of a technology becomes a way of resolving an issue in a particular society, and when there are ‘inherently political technologies’, that is, artificial systems requiring specific types of political relationships (Winner, 1986, p. 22). Winner formed his theory on political artefacts as a means of understanding which technologies and contexts are significant and why, and that it “is an enterprise that must involve both the study of specific technical systems and their history as well as a thorough grasp of the concepts and controversies of political theory” (Winner,1986, p.39). These theories were formed through the influence of the ideas of others including Lewis Mumford, William Morris, Dennis Hayes and Karl Marx, who all discussed the influence of particular technologies upon society (Winner, 1986, pp.19-20).
They created new technologies to improve farming. The problem with hunting was that it does not always work, sometimes they won't be able to catch anything, and they will deplete most of their energy. The anthropologist in Europe, Asia, and Africa call this period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic the Mesolithic. The Upper Paleolithic period was known for its art. The Upper Paleolithic differed from the Neolithic revolution because they focused more on hunting, fishing, and gathering. Their rough stone tools were mainly used for hunting animals instead of farming. The people of the Neolithic revolution were sedentary whereas the Upper Paleolithic people were known to travel across icy arctic regions and open waters to reach places never inhabited before. They were nomads who were always on the move. An increase in agriculture and domestication leads to higher yields, which allows more people to be feed. Farmers population compared to hunters and gatherers is
Despite not having an established society or economy, man in the Paleolithic Age had increasing technology. Their weapons and tools were made of wood and stone, and they had manifested the ability to control fire. The Paleolithic Age also berthed language and thus established the first historical backgrounds of modern man. Paleolithic art gives the background for the culture of the time. Depicting a society classed only by sex: Men hunted, made weaponry and tools, and fought other nomadic bands; Women gathered, made clothing, and bore children.
Paleolithic people did not build sophisticated houses or have free time to make complex tools because of their nomadic lifestyle. They moved around a lot looking for food and could only eat what they hunted or gathered. This did not give them much free time to focus on developing complex tools and weapons. The few tools that were created were made from chipped stone, wood, or animal bone, but were not very sophisticated compared to the tools invented in the Neolithic Era. Another disadvantage to living in the Paleolithic time is that they lived in temporary shelters, such as tents or caves. This was very dangerous because they did not have any protection from wild animals or from harsh weather conditions. Also, hunting for wild animals was a challenge and did not always provide the people with a steady food supply. Overall, life during the Paleolithic Age was very difficult because they moved around a lot, depended on hunting for food and did not live in permanent homes. They also used simple tools and followed wild animals, which was very
Hunter-gatherers started in the Lower Paleolithic Era (Old Stone Age) about 2.5, there were hunter-gatherers in the Mesolithic Era, Neolithic Era, and until now. So that means hunter-gatherers started a long time ago. The first hunter-gatherers were found in Africa, they hunted and gathered foods for a living. Women had to gather fruits, seasonal vegetables, wild seeds, nuts, tubers, roots, and seafood. In the Neolithic Era, people started to have animals as pets so they gather eggs in that particular time period.
Some fundamental things that cavemen discovered were fire, hunting weapons, tools, and a verbal language that was much more complex than their animal ancestors. The first discovery, fire, provided them with warmth and protection, light, and heat to cook things. The second, hunting weapons, were made mostly of flint and dulled easily. The third advance was tools. They had tools that helped them in hunting and farming. Because they now had tools for farming, they could remain more stationary than their ancestors. Their language, consisting of only syllables, allowed them to communicate with less hindrance than their predecessors.
One of the most key examples of understanding human culture through archaeology is the topic of climate and the environment. As seen through history, there is an intricate relationship between the environment and life on earth. Through extensive research, archaeologists have the ability to take note of minor cultural changes that can be attributed to the environment during a particular time period. These changes include, shifts in methods of food collection, changes in the artwor...
The Paleolithic era is known as the time when early humans developed tools made out of stone, hence the name “ Stone Age”. This time period dates back to prehistory and is regarded as the earliest stage in human development. These people were primarily known as hunters and gatherers, which meant they survived on either what they could kill or eating berries and nuts. Today, the modern human has since evolved to a more dominant species, as we are now more intelligent, have written language, and no longer have to rely on killing animals to survive. Although many things have changed over the centuries, I believe that we still have some aspects that are similar to our ancestors. Some similarities that I believe we have in common with the prehistoric people are in their tools and architecture, their culture, and their use of spoken language.
Technology now literally controls the world and what goes on. The economy is dependent on the use of technology, but there are minor creation that don’t really have a use at all and can be done without it. So again my opinion is that technology is need in life, but at times it isn’t that use. Things that can be done by technology can sometimes be done by without it.
Paleolithic age presents the era when key human adaptations evolved in response to a variety of environmental changes experienced at the time. This period of human evolution coincided with change within the surrounding of man. Such included cooling, drying and unpredictable climatic patterns over the time. This increased amount of variability in environmental conditions raised the level of uncertainty and instability in their respective terms of survival, necessitated the man to adopt new habits to increase adaptability to the new and changing surroundings. The evolved structures and behaviors led to specialization to enable coping with changing and unpredictable conditions.
Science and Technology has been around from the beginning of time. It evolved from the everyday efforts of people trying to improve their way of life. Throughout history, humankind has developed and utilized tools, machines, and techniques without understanding how or why they worked or comprehending their physical or chemical composition. Before we go any further a definition has to be given for both Science and Technology because they are both different in their own right even though the two are almost indistinguishable. According to the Oxford Dictionary Technology can be defined as the knowledge or use of the mechanical arts and applied sciences, while Science can be defined as the branch of knowledge involving systematized observation and experiment. Science can be further divided into three separate categories; Pure, Applied and Natural Sciences. In addition technology is often defined as applied science, it is simply the application of scientific knowledge to achieve a specific human purpose, however, historical evidence suggests technology is a product of science.