I found “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race” by Jared Diamond to be quite thought evoking. This article explains the “what ifs” of humans keeping the hunter-gatherer lifestyle to this day, and why Diamond believes that to have been the better option. While he goes on to make convincing arguments towards keeping the hunter-gatherer lifestyle, I commend him for also taking a professional approach in mentioning reasons why people would prefer the agricultural lifestyle we have today due to reasons such as “having to do less work, having more time for leisure and art, etc.”. David has set up a solid basis for arguing, which I believe to be quite beneficial in being able to see as many point of views as possible. Before reading this article, I never put in a considerable amount of thought into which process of obtaining food is best. Mostly, I have been told how fortunate I am to be able …show more content…
The human population has made a tremendous amount of advancements in technology, knowledge, and the arts, all of which happen to be quite life changing in possibly some positive way. It could be the case that some of these advancements were bound to develop over time no matter what lifestyle people took on, and there is the question if they would have been developed within the same time frame. There are many things to consider when it comes to the “what ifs”, but one example that comes to my mind when thinking of how settling down could have been more beneficial than continuing a nomadic lifestyle is Gregor Mendel’s pea plant discovery. Taking on agriculture has allowed Mendel to observe and study the differences between pea plans, which has given us a basic foundation of how genetics work, and from that we have been able to go even further to make other medical and scientific
In the beginning of mankind's evolutionary history, being nomadic was a common practice of living because following migratory herds and gathering for other edible plants was a necessity for survival. It wasn’t until approximately 8,000 B.C. when people started to learn how to grow crops in a single spot without soil depletion and thus, agriculture was born. (New World Encyclopedia 2015) This major advancement in humankind allowed humans to form civilizations and transformed the way humans live that is the sprawling society that exists today. With ever expanding cities and the population growing at an exponential rate, humans need an abundance of agricultural land to support the world's rising demands. The effect of human's stationary lifestyle
“Under “Eat food”, the writer proposes some practical ways to separate, and defend, real food from the cascade of food like products that now surround and confound us, especially in the supermarket. Under “Not too much” the focus shifts from the foods themselves to the question of how to eat them, the manners, mores, and habits that go into creating a healthy, and pleasing, culture of eating. Lastly under “Mostly plants” he dwells more specifically, and affirmatively, on the best types of foods (not nutrients) to eat” (Pollan,
In almost every culture, one of the most cherished pass times is food. We eat to sustain or health, to celebrate, to morn, and sometimes just to do it. Yet, how often do we question were that food comes from? Most everyone purchases their meals from the grocery store or at a restaurant but have you ever wondered where that juicy steak grazed? How about how those crisp vegetables? Where were those grown? The Omnivore 's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan, analyzes the eating habits and food chains of modern America in an attempt to bring readers closer to the origin of their foods. Not only where it comes from, but where it all begins, as well as what it takes to keep all of those plants and animals in
I chose the topic “food” because is a very essential factor of the human life. The United States surrounds itself with a variety of fast food chains that causes obesity and death. In order to prevent the negative health risks, there must be amends made. Finley suggested that growing your own food benefits you, your health, your health, and even your children.
“Food is essential for life but what we eat is subject to a wide range of
There are many things wrong with our food system but one of the principal problems is us and our decisions. Wendell Berry who is a farmer and environmental activist wrote in the article The Pleasures of Eating about his theory of eating responsibly which included his opinion on food and the influence others have on what type of food we consume. In his article he addresses the problem with the industries’ influence on the quality of what we eat and the role the consumer has in this process. He states that we cannot be free if our decisions are influenced by others and all we do is agree to what they tell us we should.
All throughout history, humans have come up with innovations that have brought both positive and negative changes to the way people live. This all started around 10,000 BCE, when people developed agriculture. The first nomads started off by moving from place to place, hunting and gathering food… but as people developed agriculture, they saved a lot more time. After agriculture developed, the humans learned many things such as farming and taming wild animals for their own use. This time in history was called the Neolithic Revolution… which lasted about 6,000 years, until 4,000 BCE. The big change in the way people got their food and how they lived, resulted to positive and negative changes of human innovations of the Neolithic Revolution. So,
Jared Diamond, in his article, “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human race”, explains that the worst mistake that humans made was the decision to change from a hunter gatherer society into an agriculture society. Jared Diamond gives evidence of how switching from an agricultural society was a bad mistake. Many believe that adopting an agricultural society and leaving the hunter gatherer society was the way to a more qualitative and sustainable lifestyle. As Diamond says, it is true that because this society was adopted and evolved because we have longer lifespans and live better now than how people lived back in the old days. But Diamond`s claim that the hunter gatherer society gave humans more benefits individually than what the agricultural society had to offer is agreeable.
One of the most significant mile-stones in the human race is agriculture. Ten-thousand years ago, the practice of farming, cultivating land and soil to produce crops, and domesticating and rearing animals to produce food, wool and other products, opened a door for the beginning of civilization. In the article, “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race”, written by Jared Diamond, Diamond contradicts the fact that human history has been a long tale of progress. He argues that agriculture is the reason that the human race is cursed with social and sexual inequality, disease, and despotism. Diamond uses many examples to prove his statement.
As Jared Diamond asked and answered in his article titled: The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race, he found that the main mistake of our kind was the start of the agricultural revolution. The progressivist view tries to explain the distant past by saying that the primitive people’s lives significantly made a turn for the better when they switched to farming, from gathering. Archaeologists can determine this by remains of plants and animal life from the prehistoric garbage dumps. Today people seem to think we are “ better off,” than those in the past, but Diamond’s article goes to contest this idea. Diamond says that the central belief is also that people
In the an article called ‘The Pleasure of Eating’ by Wendell Berry talks about how consumers should know where the food they eat comes from and learning to adapt in producing their own food. His main idea is really focusing on the
The movie, “In Defense of Food” is written and created by Michael Pollan. In this movie Pollin addresses the question of the correct way to eat. Additionally, he explains how the food industry gains from the confusion over what is nutritionally correct, an idea created by scientists called nutritionism. Pollan discusses how control over what families ate shifted from cultural factors, such as mothers and traditions, to marketing and the food industry. He concludes that
What we eat and how we eat are imPortant both nutritionally and culturally. This selection suggests that how we get what we eat-through gathering and hunting versus agriculture, for example-has draThis seemspretty obvious.We all matic consequences. imagine what a struggle it must have been before the We developmentof agricu-lture. think of our ancestors spending their days searching for roots and berries to eat,or out at the crack of dawn, hunting wi.ld animals. isn't In fact, this was not quite the case.Nevertheless, it really better simply to go to the refrigerator, open the door, and reach for a container of milk to pour into a bowl of flaked grain for your regular
Eating has profoundly impact and influence on individual life. We can tell where most people are going to end up in life simply based on the choice they made on food. the question of what to eat, when virtually every food known to man is at your fingertips. Should you go gluten-free? Vegetarian or vegan? How about low-carb, Paleo, dairy-free, or sugar-free?. Michael Pollen discusses in his article " The Omnivore’s Dilemma" a true understanding of what we eat and what we should eat. Pollan points out that alternative method of producing food that is being overshadowed by the big, industrial system we have in place to provide consumers with sustenance. Pollan brings people a closer look at the true nature of industrial food, he find that most
it passes over(Brown, 116).” Food is essential in every day life, and it is very difficult