Based on what we discussed in class and the readings, I found it interesting people like lines. Historians like lineage and linear paths. We talked about monkey to man and trying to find the pieces in between or man the hunter to the farmer to the worker, and now we are talking about bands to tribes to chiefdoms to states in this linear fashion. It appears that we more think that the life of humans follows all these lines to lead up to where we are now and its hard to think of it as progression. Yes we have all these technologies and new ways of thinking but putting it in a line makes it appear to be progressive. I am not so sure that is true. People always talk about the past and the horrible mistakes people made or the diseases, but we still have that now too and I think it is really important to recognize that while we have all this extra stuff and technologies in the parts of the world we like to think about, how are we any better than those who don't? Are we better in the sense that we may be able to kill more people when in a fight? Better because we learn about our leaders through other people and on screens rather than in person most of the time? Better that we fill our bodies with harsh chemicals of processed food? All of this "growth" and technology is created to fill our time but also make life easier. I find it interesting how the main concepts we learned about appear in these linear progressions when we can't say if we are progressing or not yet and one could argue that human life is way to messy to be linear.
Based on what we discussed in class and the readings, I found it interesting people like lines. Historians like lineage and linear paths. We talked about monkey to man and trying to find the pieces in between or man the hunter to the farmer to the worker, and now we are talking about bands to tribes to chiefdoms to states in this linear fashion. It appears that we more think that the life of humans follows all these lines to lead up to where we are now and its hard to think of it as progression. Yes we have all these technologies and new ways of thinking but putting it in a line makes it appear to be progressive. I am not so sure that is true. People always talk about the past and the horrible mistakes people made or the diseases, but we still have that now too and I think it is really important to recognize that while we have all this extra stuff and technologies in the parts of the world we like to think about, how are we any better than those who don't? Are we better in the sense that we may be able to kill more people when in a fight? Better because we learn about our leaders through other people and on screens rather than in person most of the time? Better that we fill our bodies with harsh chemicals of processed food? All of this "growth" and technology is created to fill our time but also make life easier. I find it interesting how the main concepts we learned about appear in these linear progressions when we can't say if we are progressing or not yet and one could argue that human life is way to messy to be linear.