Technologies of the Past TECHNOSPHERES. Hunting Gathering Societies.
-
Upload
wendy-craig -
Category
Documents
-
view
224 -
download
0
Transcript of Technologies of the Past TECHNOSPHERES. Hunting Gathering Societies.
Technologies of the Past
TECHNOSPHERES
Hunting Gathering Societies
Hunting Gathering Societies
Energy sources: human muscle power, fire
Total energy use: 2,000-5000 kcal / person / day (mostly from diet)
World population: less than 1 million people
Life expectancy: ~ 30 years
Social grouping: communal ~50 individuals, nomadic
Food sources: fruits, seeds, berries, wild animals (subsistence)
Material culture: stone (Paleolithic), bone, leather, fur
Environmental problems: related to basic survival, extreme vulnerability to predators, natural disasters, environmental changes
Agricultural Societies
The Gleaners - 1857, Jean-François Millet
Agricultural Societies
Energy sources: animal power, water power, wind, fireTotal energy use: 12,000-20,000 kcal / person / dayWorld population: growing to 500 million by 1500 ADLife expectancy: ~ 35 yearsSocial grouping: villages, towns, cities -- sedentaryFood sources: domesticated crops and animalsMaterial culture: (Neolithic) bronze, iron, wood, wool,
leather, accumulation of goodsCultural products: writing, mathematics, astronomy,
philosophy, religionsSocial problems: centralization of power, war, slaveryEnvironmental problems: disease, pestilence, overgrazing,
desertification, overshoot and collapse
Industrial Societies
LATE
Industrial Societies EARLY LATE
Energy sources: charcoal, coal oil, nuclearEnergy use (kcal/p/d): 60,000 230,000 (U.S.)World population: 1 billion - 1850 4 billion - 1975
2 billion – 1945 8 billion - 2017
Life expectancy: ~ 45 years in 1900 ~ 60 in 1990 ~ 75 in U.S.
Material culture: iron and steel aluminum, plasticsdisposables
mass mass production consumption
Social grouping: increasingly urban with vastly more international travel, breakdown of tribal and family groups.
Food sources: Increasingly processed, mass produced, and marketed. Humanity separated from the land; genetically engineered crops.
Cultural products: Techno-science, info-tainment, individualism.
Social problems: Haves and have-nots, total industrial war, racial & ethnic hatreds.
Environ. problems: Urban air and water pollution, deforestation, increasingly toxic wastes, regional and global pollution, threats to ozone and oceans.
World rate of population growth: 3 per second, 10,000 per class period, 250,000 per day, 1.8 million per week, 100 million per year, 1 billion per decade.
LATE INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES
ERA ENERGY MATERIALS ARTIFACTS METAPHOR-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Paleolithic Muscle Stone/Bone Stone tools Survival40,000-10,000 BC-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Eotechnicor Neolithic Water Metals Clipper Ship Agriculture10,000 BC Wind Wood Water Wheel Artisans-1750 AD Animals Cloth/ Leather Violin-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paleotechnic Steam Coal Railroads Industry 1750-1930 Steel Factories Pollution-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Neotechnic Electricity Aluminum Automobiles High-tech1930-2000 Oil Plastics Airplanes Toxics-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ecotechnic Renewable Recyclable Less is more Sustainabilty21st C? Solar/ Wind Biodegradable
Adapted from Lewis Mumford, Technics and Civilization(1934).
Eo-Technic Era
Industrial SocietiesEARLY
Paleo-Technic Era
Neo-Technic Era
Going beyond Mumford:
Eco-Technic* Era?
*The term “Eco-technic” implies that humans will always engage in technological innovation, yet we must always live within an ecosystem.
• Eco-technic?
• Bio-technic?
• Nano-technic?
• Cyber-technic?
• Geo-technic?
Geotechnic ?