Author Topic: Was agriculture the greatest blunder in human history?  (Read 1221 times)

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rangerrebew

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Was agriculture the greatest blunder in human history?
« on: October 19, 2017, 08:39:01 am »
Was agriculture the greatest blunder in human history?
October 18, 2017 by Darren Curnoe, The Conversation
 
 

Twelve thousand years ago everybody lived as hunters and gatherers. But by 5,000 years ago most people lived as farmers.

This brief period marked the biggest shift ever in human history with unparalleled changes in diet, culture and technology, as well as social, economic and political organisation, and even the patterns of disease people suffered.


Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-10-agriculture-greatest-blunder-human-history.html#jCp

Offline Sanguine

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Re: Was agriculture the greatest blunder in human history?
« Reply #1 on: October 19, 2017, 08:24:08 pm »
Fascinating.

Offline roamer_1

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Re: Was agriculture the greatest blunder in human history?
« Reply #2 on: October 19, 2017, 10:57:43 pm »
I think it will eventually be discovered that farming was there, almost all the way along.

The mystery of farming 'being invented' all over the place is just another indication of sciences' near total myopia where diffusionism is concerned.

Farming requires water sources. Primitive farming, even more so, and flowing water would be preferred in primitive conditions, as the easy means of getting the water to the crop would necessitate gravitational systems.

Hence, farming is always, or nearly always a product of bottom land, near creeks and rivers. The unfortunate circumstance is that the natural meandering of rivers within their bottoms has a tendency to wash the evidence of thousands of years away every time the bed changes course.

Farming requires hunting and gathering, and hunter/gatherers require farms and townships. And they all require trade and trade routes.

It has ever been thus.

Offline musiclady

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Re: Was agriculture the greatest blunder in human history?
« Reply #3 on: October 19, 2017, 11:00:50 pm »
I'm pretty sure that the FIRST man......... Adam .............. was cursed to farm.

Am I not correct?

That makes the first two statements speculative, and in my view, false.
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Offline dfwgator

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Re: Was agriculture the greatest blunder in human history?
« Reply #4 on: October 19, 2017, 11:08:44 pm »
Did anyone here ever watch "Connections"?

James Burke's theory was that civilization started with the invention of the plough.

Offline roamer_1

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Re: Was agriculture the greatest blunder in human history?
« Reply #5 on: October 19, 2017, 11:10:46 pm »
Did anyone here ever watch "Connections"?

James Burke's theory was that civilization started with the invention of the plough.

No... primitive farming requires no plow. The hoe, and I might agree.

Offline dfwgator

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Re: Was agriculture the greatest blunder in human history?
« Reply #6 on: October 19, 2017, 11:23:23 pm »
No... primitive farming requires no plow. The hoe, and I might agree.

But what the plow did was to actually create a surplus of food,  which then had to be stored,  inventoried and traded.    This led to the creation of math, currency and written language.

Offline Sanguine

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Re: Was agriculture the greatest blunder in human history?
« Reply #7 on: October 19, 2017, 11:27:36 pm »
I'm pretty sure that the FIRST man......... Adam .............. was cursed to farm.

Am I not correct?

That makes the first two statements speculative, and in my view, false.

But Abraham was a migratory herder.  There were always both.

Offline musiclady

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Re: Was agriculture the greatest blunder in human history?
« Reply #8 on: October 19, 2017, 11:39:08 pm »
But Abraham was a migratory herder.  There were always both.

But not hunter/gatherer first and then farmer.   As you said, both from the beginning.
Character still matters.  It always matters.

I wear a mask as an exercise in liberty and love for others.  To see it as an infringement of liberty is to entirely miss the point.  Be kind.

"Sometimes I think the Church would be better off if we would call a moratorium on activity for about six weeks and just wait on God to see what He is waiting to do for us. That's what they did before Pentecost."   - A. W. Tozer

Use the time God is giving us to seek His will and feel His presence.

Offline roamer_1

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Re: Was agriculture the greatest blunder in human history?
« Reply #9 on: October 19, 2017, 11:41:02 pm »
But what the plow did was to actually create a surplus of food,  which then had to be stored,  inventoried and traded.    This led to the creation of math, currency and written language.

The American continent had no plow, nor horse nor ox to drive. Yet the Americas had better math, and better calendars than pretty near anyone. And there is much to example currency and written language. Intercontinental and even ocean-going trade is evident.

Again, the myopia of science.

Offline Sanguine

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Re: Was agriculture the greatest blunder in human history?
« Reply #10 on: October 19, 2017, 11:54:46 pm »
But not hunter/gatherer first and then farmer.   As you said, both from the beginning.

Cain and Abel were farmer and hunter.  And, we know from the archaeological record that hunter/gatherers preceded farmers.  And, Adam, would have had to hunter/gather for some time until he was prepared to farm.  Unless, God built a farm for him, and the Biblical record leaves all of the transition period out.  So, what we don't know, we don't know.

Offline InHeavenThereIsNoBeer

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Re: Was agriculture the greatest blunder in human history?
« Reply #11 on: October 20, 2017, 12:14:57 am »
... the Biblical record leaves all of the transition period out...

Off topic, and not Biblical, but I found this interesting:

I'm currently reading a book about the explosion/eruption of Krakatoa in the late 1800's.  Today, the author was describing historical accounts of previous eruptions and how we could corroborate any "witnesses'" claims using modern evidence such as tree rings and ice core samples.  And then he brought up a very cool (IMO) point.  Major disasters also produce gaps in the (local) historical records.  Turns out, in theory, when really bad stuff happens, historians are too busy protecting themselves and their families to write stuff down.
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Offline Sanguine

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Re: Was agriculture the greatest blunder in human history?
« Reply #12 on: October 20, 2017, 12:19:09 am »
Off topic, and not Biblical, but I found this interesting:

I'm currently reading a book about the explosion/eruption of Krakatoa in the late 1800's.  Today, the author was describing historical accounts of previous eruptions and how we could corroborate any "witnesses'" claims using modern evidence such as tree rings and ice core samples.  And then he brought up a very cool (IMO) point.  Major disasters also produce gaps in the (local) historical records.  Turns out, in theory, when really bad stuff happens, historians are too busy protecting themselves and their families to write stuff down.

Good point.  And, if the history is written down, it would be years after the fact.

Offline Fishrrman

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Re: Was agriculture the greatest blunder in human history?
« Reply #13 on: October 20, 2017, 01:27:13 am »
Title:
"Was agriculture the greatest blunder in human history?"

The premise of this entire article is... well, it's just utterly ridiculous.

Talk about "educated fools"...!

Offline RoosGirl

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Re: Was agriculture the greatest blunder in human history?
« Reply #14 on: October 20, 2017, 03:24:16 am »
I think the Slinky was the greatest blunder in human history.