The invention you need is a plow.
This is the invention that laid the foundation of our civilization,
Imagine a catastrophe. An epidemic, a war, a killer robot or something. Human civilization has come to an end. You are one of the lucky few survivors. Things like phones are useless now. There is no internet, no electricity, no fuel. What invention do you need to sustain life and start a new civilization?
The invention you need is a plow. This is the invention that laid the foundation of our civilization and made the modern world possible. Including your conveniences and worries. Good and abundant food, internet search, clean and safe water, video games as well as air and water pollution, fraud schemes, morning to night labor or unemployment ... With its strengths and weaknesses, modern civilization could not have survived without Hull.
After the last ice age, the world was recovering from the cold. The weather was getting hot and dry. The nomadic tribes, who lived in the mountains and highlands, had a problem of hunting and food. Animals were dying near them. The animals were stopping migrating to the river valleys. And humans were going with them. This movement was going on in many places. Eleven thousand years ago in Western Eurasia, ten thousand years ago in the subcontinent and China, eight thousand years ago in Mesoamerica and the Andes. It happened everywhere.
The land of the fertile river valleys was not much. There was not much food available here. But another way was to encourage native plants. This meant breaking down the soil surface so that the soil's nutrients could reach the surface and the moisture could reach deeper, away from the sun's glare. Initially, this was done with nuclear sticks in hand and from here it turned into a plow. The initial plow was a simple scratch plow or ard. It was first pulled by physical force. Bell's help was later sought. It worked great.
Agriculture brought abundance of food. Two thousand years ago in the Roman Empire, nine thousand years ago in the Song Dynasty of China. These farmers could get five to six times more food than their predecessors. This meant that one-fifth of the population could grow food for all. What did the rest of the people do? Occupations such as baker, lumberjack, architect, miner, metalworker, construction of roads, cities and civilization came.
And there was a big contradiction here.
Plenty meant competition. When everyone had to take care of their own food and there were no extra items, everyone was equal. The strong could not snatch anything from the weak. But if ordinary people can produce more, then it can be snatched away. Agriculture has produced rulers and subjugated them. Master and slave Inequality in the distribution of resources. The administration came. Early agrarian societies were surprisingly inequitable. The Roman Empire was at the biological level of inequality. That is, if the rich were a little richer, most people would die of starvation.
Hill not only gave birth to civilization but also different types of hill gave birth to different types of civilization.
The first simple Ard Hill was used for thousands of years. They spread to the Mediterranean. They were ideal on dry and rocky ground. But in the East, a very different type of plow was invented in China. It was Moldboard Hill. It made long and thick cuts on the soil and turned the soil upside down. Doing so on dry land was harmful as it would remove soil moisture but mold board plow was very useful in moist soil. It also improved drainage and killed deep-rooted herbs. These herbs became fertilizer instead of fighting the crop.
It increased the fertility of moist soil areas. It reached northern Europe and its hard land began to produce more food than southern Europe. The prosperity that came from this hill led to the emergence of cities in northern Europe a thousand years ago.
One farmer and his ox were enough to plow the dry land. Farmers could live with their livestock and land, but it took a team to run the moldboard in the wet soil. Many times eight oxen or horses. Because of this, it has become a community profession in these areas. Everyone had to work hard and share animals with others. For which it was necessary to resolve mutual disputes. It gave birth to a collective way of life and then a law enforcement manor system.
Hill also changed family life. It was a heavy device. In this case, men had an advantage over women. Plowing became a man's job. The hunters became farmers. On the other hand, bringing rice or wheat in the form of ready-made food was also a laborious task compared to ready-made food of fruits and fruits. This work came to women. At the moment, we see a significant difference in the structure of women and men. Arthritis of the feet and knees is caused by grinding grain in women dating back 9,000 years. Men's backbone is known to be difficult to plow.
Hill changed everything. This has led some to question whether the invention was a good idea. This question is not because it does not work for what it was made for. This invention does its job perfectly. There would be no civilization without it. But the social effects? Oppression and cruelty? Farmers' health was worse than that of nomadic tribes. Rice and cereals were deficient in vitamins, iron and protein. We see that when societies changed to agrarian societies, the average height of men and women decreased by six inches. Parasitic pests, diseases, epidemics, lack of food diversity were the result. One historian called it "the greatest mistake of human history."
But then why did agriculture spread so fast? The abundance of food supported the large population. And then not only the architects, craftsmen and monks, but also the soldiers. The fighters soon drove the nomadic tribes out of good and desirable lands. Farmers snatch gypsy tribal areas. Organized settlers did not compete with the ancient way of life. There has always been a civilization with superior technology. By eliminating the other, integrating into oneself or influencing the lifestyle of others.
Even today, the food of the children of the nomadic tribes is healthy. When the Kalahari tribesman was asked why his tribe did not plow like the others, he replied, "Why? Why this hard work? The fruits of Mongongo are scattered everywhere. ”
And that tells us another contradiction. Those with resource-rich places soon fall behind in prosperity because hard work becomes a compulsion in the scarcity of resources.
So now this question is for you. You are one of the few survivors of the end of civilization. You have a choice. Will you invent the Hill and start all over again? Or will you be content with picking your wild fruits?
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