Diffusion of Technology in Society Essay

In the 60s there was a lot of life changing inventions like the first commercial satellite being sent into space, the first robot was made to help companies. But Papua New Guinea is still hunting with stone weapons. These people are way behind were a lot of countries were in developing the country. If we go back a few thousand years ago, Papua New Guinea was still behind other civilizations. They didn’t have things that other civilizations had. This is inequality which means that the world is unequal. And what makes is more unequal is that geography controls it. Geography controls what crops people can grow, what animals can be domesticated. With animals they can give them time to have specialists to experiment with stuff. And also with those

Some theories suggest that the Neolithic revolution brought about the formation of the state and civilization (Childe, 1950). A highly discussed theory, called the Urban Revolution theory, examines the transition from village to state following the implementation of agriculture (Childe, 1950). This theory suggests that agriculture allowed the production of excess food, also referred to as surplus, and because of this surplus farming communities were able to allow a few individuals to part time specialize in skills and crafts unrelated to food production (Childe, 1950). As agricultural technology progressed, farming communities were able to produce greater crop yields which allowed some individuals to be completely rid of any food procurement responsibilities (Childe, 1950). This allowed certain people to fully specialize in a profession and take on roles such as merchants, public figures, or as religious figures (Childe, 1950).

In addition to agriculture success, new technological advancements came from crop exchangement. New farming equipment , such as the plow, improved the New World’s economy and health. This technology advancement is important because it allowed a large area of land to be cultivated at a time, speeding up the farming process. This enabled towns to be developed around farms from crops being grown at a faster rate and land that could now be cultivated.

However, The Medieval Machine describes advancements that enhanced society economically, socially, and intellectually. Most notably, the medieval agricultural industry exploded, causing a tremendous increase in the population. Additionally, the heavy plow, triennial rotation, and three-field system greatly increased the amount of crops that could be cultivated. With a more diverse and plentiful amount of crops, the medieval community consumed a healthier diet, leading to a higher birthrate and a lower death rate. According to The Medieval Machine, “The three-field system had many advantages. As only 30 percent of the land lay fallow in any year, as against 50 percent with the two-field system, there was a higher proportion of land under cultivation” (Gimpel, 40). Agricultural developments in Gimpel’s book show how enhancing technology can be beneficial to the well-being of

The innovative advances of the eighteenth century gradually took into consideration the headway of individuals' lives, financially, yet social treachery remained. Three-year rotations were presented that allowed a year of wheat or rye to be trailed by a year of oats or beans and afterward by a year of neglected harvest. New examples of organization permitted a few agriculturists to grow progressively refined examples of revolution to suit various types of soils. Supporters of the new rotations incorporated a developing gathering of test researchers, some administration authorities, and landowners, trusted that new techniques were barely conceivable inside of the customary arrangement of open fields and regular rights. The new routines for the

This book follows the events of several civilizations from the past and present, and how they either failed or succeeded to survive. The book starts with the author talking about the Huls and Gardar Farm, and how even though they were thousands of miles apart, they had many similar strengths which made them the superior farm in the area. The author then reveals that the Huls farm was a growing farm in the modern U.S. and the Gardar Farm was a Norse farm in greenland that was abandoned over 500 years ago. After revealing the differences between the two farms, Diamond then states that any society, even one seeming

The existing problem was the exhaustion of the soil, reduced in the amount of nitrogen and then destruction of crops. There was an open field system, where the lands were divided into several large fields and given to the peasants of a village to cultivate. They used to cultivate same grain crops which led to

Mr. Diamond believes the adoption of agriculture was the worst mistake in human history. The technologies used in this article are not only the

Not only did other civilizations influence this region 's dominant power in the world, another major factor was the cycle of economic stability. When landmasses have a great financial standing, they experience a rate of growth of agriculture, innovation of technology, and increased capital would be present. All these elements could decipher if a society will rise or fall. A determining circumstance if a region will be successful is where it will settle, and if agriculture is prevalent in that area. For instance, all over Asia started to introduce many different farm technologies such as the dikes, conservation, and irrigation systems which led to a large population. As all these influences started to unwind, so did the specialization of labor, which helped to create technological innovations in the ways of production, transportation, and trade. The use of these technologies created social complexity within the territories itself; which showed the gap between the rich and poor. The emergence of new religions disburse through these areas, making new laws and foundations for these people. The growth of these religions deeply impacted the political institutions. All these different innovations and help to build these area of Africa and Eurasia into an advanced global society, a world power.

Ogburn's theory of social change is based on technology specifically invention, discovery and diffiusion (Henslin., 2013., p. 454). Invention is the process of "combining existing elements to form new ones," which we tend to think of as computers and such, but there are also social inventions like books, and ideas like democracy (Henslin., 2013., p. 455). Ogburn described discovery as a second process of change and a new way of seeing reality such as the way we can ascribe the so-called discovery of North America by Christopher Columbus and the Vikings, but the natives already lived there (Henslin., 2013., p. 455). Finally, there is diffusion, which is the spread of invention or discovery frm one area to another so that it can affect people's

The diffusion of certain resources really made a difference in certain areas. For instance, the horses and cattle that europeans brought to america that helped with the progression of the society. Also the animals that migrated to different areas due to changes in the environment helped societies progress to a different level. Even with the diffusion of resources some societies just weren’t in suitable geographic area that would allow for them to take advantage of those raw

Agriculture spread throughout the globe and altered and influenced the human populations it encountered. The first way agriculture spread was by diffusion, which indicates the spread of plants, animals, and agricultural techniques. Many neighboring societies took part in diffusion by swapping their ideas and products. A second way included, migration of agricultural population and the spreading of their growing populations. Both of these processes spread the agriculture throughout the globe and affected the human populations it encountered.

There is a strong relationship among the agriculture, industry, and population in the eighteenth century. Before 1700, agriculture was dominant because it was how most of the population made their living. As a consequence to the unpredictability of the Little Ice Age, the open field and three field systems were developed to protect against famine. Although it limited productivity, it aided to a rather stable, and growing, community. After 1700, the supply of food was more balanced so the population grew. The increase of consumers in Western Europe caused for the increase of control of serfs by their landlords in Eastern Europe. Also the rise of the middle class increased agricultural productivity because a status by wealth motivated them to

One of the first farmers to use the scientific approach to farming was Jethro Tull, and with it, he promoted ploughing and hoeing to break up the soil with his invention the seed drill in 1721 which was only one of many drills that invented in the eighteenth century. These technological developments allowed “farmers to sow seeds in well-spaced rows at certain depths.” Nevertheless, the most revolutionary discovery for farmers had to be that of the system of crop rotation. This development of scientific farming, brought about radical effect and changes on population, which brought about healthier livestock and increased crop production which then meant more food for a growing population. the knock-on effect had been fewer people going hungry with a general standard of nutrition, which then led to an increased improvement in their life expectancy. Nether the less, the onset of the enclosure system was not all positive as many small farmers had been forced off their land, and then these farmers began to leave Britain for British colonies such as North America, while, others crowded the already jam-packed cities for job possibilities.

Within first-world nations, the change has been happening slowly over many decades. The developed institutions within these nations have been able to modify their own methods in order to be in congruence with the new world of networks. However, undeveloped nations (and especially rural parts of these nations) have not been making the slow transformation towards the soon-to-be technologically dependent network society. Therefore, conversion towards the network society is easily seen. The questions that remain to be answered are, can these people-previously unexposed to high technology-adjust to the dramatic changes in economic and social organization. And furthermore, is it feasible and beneficial to take away the focus from physical infrastructure development (roads, buildings, telephone wires) and implement technological infrastructure?