Reading the first few pages of our class textbook, Ways of the World, I found it very interesting how societies have changed over thousands of years and not necessarily for the best. During the Paleolithic Era, people during this time lived in small societies and truly lived freely. They didn't have leaders nor chiefs and instead lived with the idea of everyone being equal. Equality was huge for these societies, so huge that they made sure that everyone lived humbly by "insulting the meat" (pg 27) in other words, as a society when a man would bring home a kill they would speak of the kill as worthless. By expressing themselves in this way, this would keep people from seeing themselves better or superior over someone else. When I read this, it really made me think how different our lives would be if we, as a society, adapted and lived by this idea. Would every individual see themselves in a more positive way? Would people be more successful? Would there be less depressed people? Would we, as a society, be more happy? I really believe this era was really on to something and perhaps too advanced for their time or perhaps we are the ones digressing as a society. Today, we show our worth or our superiority by the car we have, the home we own or simply by the brand of our clothing.
As I continued reading, I also found it interesting that the Jo/'hoansi people lived or aimed at living by an economic system that aimed at leveling wealth and not by accumulating it. to them, it was more important and respectful counting their success by the number of friends they had and the obligations they kept to themselves. Goods, to them, meant nothing and now a days that is what most people worry about. Having the latest technology or the newest car is what people worry about now.
Not everyone during this time lived the same way though. Another group, the Chumash of Southern California introduced new advances that brought changes to how humans lived their life. The Chumash introduced vessels that changed the way of traveling and the way goods were exchanged. This group of people lived near land and water which gave them the advantage to create new technologies that could help them to advance as a society and community. Due to these new advances, the Chumash communities established inequality by bringing in wealth from creating vessels. these are the first signs of the beginning of social economic statuses. Who knew that by creating one new technology would bring so many new changes to how one lives their life.
Taking into consideration all of the above, this is why I find history so interesting. Looking to the past, one can see the changes all societies have gone through and will continue to go through as technology continues to advance in such a rapid way. What kind of technology will we have in 10 to 20 years and what changes will that bring to us, to communities, to our society? All I hope is that it is a change that future generations will benefit from and bring positive change to how we live.
