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The Multiplier Effect and Civilization
Mar. 23rd, 2006 01:08 pmIn this morning's newspaper (Richmond Times Dispatch, for which there is a website but, unfortunately, this article is not on it, therefore no clicky), Dr. Walter Witschey writes about the triggers that move a society from primitive to complex. What intrigues me about the concept is its application to fiction writing; it is not easy to determine what naturally belongs in one's fictional primitive or pseudoprimitive village, and what the protag might be expected to find as he turns a corner in one's pseudomedieval city.
According to Dr. Witschey (mostly unattributed*, but I think I will email him and inquire as to sources, because this is interesting stuff, and he's local, and academics always like to talk about their areas of expertise/interest), some of the elements that most commonly led to complex societies were innovations and interaction between food production, technological advancement, social systems, symbolic systems (religion and art), and trade and communication. He specifically cites new technology in irrigation in the city of Caral, Peru, as leading to new farming methods and surpluses in food stocks. And we all (well, those who pay attention to the whys of the human universe) know how important surplus food stocks are to improvements in one's lot in life, and to society in general. If you don't have to spend all your time struggling to feed yourself and your family, you might have time to develop art, or literature, or any of the other things that make life so much better.
In Mesopotamia, Witschey says, this multiplier effect is also seen in the interaction of water management (there's irrigation again), crop surpluses, domesticated animals, and social systems, which produced class and caste, religion and state, and early warfare. (That last, not surprising at all.)
In Egypt, irrigation and religion are woven together and build upon each other to produce monumental architecture and dynastic rule.
"Improvement and innovation in one corner of society multiplies the efficiency of another system. In 5,000 years, humankind moved from small classless villages, wrapped in kinship and shamanism, to the urban metropolises of Babylon, Karnak, Knossos, Harappa, Caral. Richmond, Toyko, New York and Hong Kong are their direct descendants."
Intriguing, yes?
_________
*Witschey mentions as sources British archaeologist Colin Renfrew and David Toye of Northeast State Community College, but does not tell us which of these gentlemen's papers (assuming they exist) are his sources for this article.
According to Dr. Witschey (mostly unattributed*, but I think I will email him and inquire as to sources, because this is interesting stuff, and he's local, and academics always like to talk about their areas of expertise/interest), some of the elements that most commonly led to complex societies were innovations and interaction between food production, technological advancement, social systems, symbolic systems (religion and art), and trade and communication. He specifically cites new technology in irrigation in the city of Caral, Peru, as leading to new farming methods and surpluses in food stocks. And we all (well, those who pay attention to the whys of the human universe) know how important surplus food stocks are to improvements in one's lot in life, and to society in general. If you don't have to spend all your time struggling to feed yourself and your family, you might have time to develop art, or literature, or any of the other things that make life so much better.
In Mesopotamia, Witschey says, this multiplier effect is also seen in the interaction of water management (there's irrigation again), crop surpluses, domesticated animals, and social systems, which produced class and caste, religion and state, and early warfare. (That last, not surprising at all.)
In Egypt, irrigation and religion are woven together and build upon each other to produce monumental architecture and dynastic rule.
"Improvement and innovation in one corner of society multiplies the efficiency of another system. In 5,000 years, humankind moved from small classless villages, wrapped in kinship and shamanism, to the urban metropolises of Babylon, Karnak, Knossos, Harappa, Caral. Richmond, Toyko, New York and Hong Kong are their direct descendants."
Intriguing, yes?
_________
*Witschey mentions as sources British archaeologist Colin Renfrew and David Toye of Northeast State Community College, but does not tell us which of these gentlemen's papers (assuming they exist) are his sources for this article.
