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Summary Global history: the human web
Summary for international studies, Global history: the human web
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Chapter 1: The human apprenticeshipIntroduction
Communication has always been a key element in the creation of human history. Communications
and connections between people often results in relationships, which usually influence people’s
future behavior. Such relationships could be considered the source of trade, the invention of certain
technologies, the evolution of ideas and much more. However, such communication between people
is not always positive and also has negative connotations such as the exchange of deadly diseases.
The Source of Change
It is important to note that this process of exchange could be seen as one of the reasons for the
historical creation of small communities, which later on discovered similar communities and started
interacting with them. The interaction between such groups was mostly sporadic and limited to the
exchange of goods and tools used to aid the members of both communities with their daily lives. On
the other hand, the discovery of agriculture and the gradual change in the density of the existing
communities, created the basis for the creation of even bigger groups of people. These groups of
people could now gather food from the land they were living on and with that the need to resort to
hunting-gathering techniques was reduced significantly. Later on, communities became even tighter
and denser with the improvement of the means for exchange of goods and information. Such denser
collections of people first emerged in the territory of modern day Iraq with the creation of the first
urban metropolitan communities. With their creation, these communities started spreading, the
process of which resulted in these communities reaching their boundaries and creating a global
community, in which the circulation of ideas on an international level was now possible.
Looking at history from “The Web” perspective
Before discussing history based on web perspective, it is important to point out several significant
features of this net-based representation of history. Networks of societies are mostly based on
collaboration and rivalry. Collaboration is expressed in the fact that people who have specialized in a
certain area can gather with others with the same set of skills for the sake of maximal production.
Such a way of operation, however, tends to be the root of inequality in society Cooperation between
the members of one social group often results in competitiveness with the members of others.
Rivalry is one of the reasons for improvement and increasing the efficiency of the current societal
structure. Collaboration in this context was only possible because of communication, which was the
basis of the entire group structure. One of the issues regarding big groups, which managed to
overpower others is that they had the capacity of growing so much that communication could be
undermined, and with it social cohesion as well. The first reason for such growth were the
advantages that living in such a group offered, the economic benefits, and last but not least the
epidemiological advantages because people were more likely to become resistant to certain illnesses
when they lived in big communities. The price for such benefits often included increased chances of
poverty as caused by specialization of labor, insecurity, and exposure to epidemics, which made the
residents more resistant. The second reason for the expansion of such communities is the personal
interests of their leaders with regard to expansion. By having the societies expanded the leaders
could follow their personal desire for power and prestige. Thirdly, technology also played an
important role in the expansion of communities. The exchange of information was further facilitated
,by the invention of writing, printing, railroads, and big sailing ships. By having all of these tools for
transportation communities could now actively expand their ideas.
Since societal networks included collaboration and rivalry the more members the had the tighter and
more powerful they became. Furthermore, the spread of ideas within densely compacted societies
was far easier, which resulted in the quick adaptation to new inventions.
The expansion of these societal networks further facilitated the transmission of inventions and ideas,
which made it much easier for people to discover new things.
The beginning
It is important to understand, when trying to depict the lives of the first humans that everything that
could be discovered abut them should be regarded as provisional and unconfirmed.
One of the first discoveries is that early humans lived in African savannas, grasslands with many
drought-resistant trees that could have offered safe sleeping places. One of the key features of the
early humans is that they were very versatile when it comes to nutrition, as omnivores they were
able to eat a very large range of foodstuffs. Another important trait is the fact that our ancestors
were able to use tools such as stones and sticks for protection and utility. Another important feature
was the discovery of fir, which was crucial for human adaptability. It is evident that a flexible diet and
the use of tools were the most essential characteristic of early humans.
The Homo Erectus’ ability to adapt
Homo erectus groups were able to travel and discover vast areas of land. They were able to venture
beyond the boundaries of their usual habitat, which means that Homo erectus was able to adjust to
various climates and natural conditions by molding their surroundings through tools, clothing, and
shelter. Our direct ancestor, Homo sapiens, however, surpassed Homo erectus with his enlarged
braincase and certain changes in his skeleton composition. By 10,000 years ago the ever growing
exploration of the world by humans resulted in them spreading around the whole globe except for
certain islands and ice-covered areas. The importance of communication comes back when one looks
at the fact that human adaptability and exploration were only a result from it. Communication can
be regarded as the foundation of a social way of life, which without doubt must have facilitated the
sharing of ideas, and this lead to the creation of different tools used by the community in the process
of adaptation. The importance of language is so strongly related to the early human will to change
that one can easily see, even nowadays, the existence of a discrepancy between words and reality
and more importantly the desire to adapt reality to spoken language. Intelligible speech was of key
importance in the creation of communities based on cooperation as it allowed the coordinated
movement of a large number of individuals. The interaction between these individuals created a
network of both exchange of ideas at an improved level of accuracy and range. Communication aided
early humans with the exchange of ideas, but communication is often the source of
,misunderstandings and frictions. Therefore, a key landmark in the solving of these newly evolved
issues is the creation of song and dance. Singing and dancing had a very distinct function in these
communities as they had the capacity to dissolve disagreement and diminish the negative effects of
rivalry, which comes as a result of cooperation.
The rapid expansion of human control over the globe in the period between 40,000 and 10,000 years
ago, probably led to territorial rivalry between different groups over food and shelter. In that period
of massive expansion, food and shelter could be considered the main resources for further
exploration and sustenance.
Communication proved to be a superior weapon as it allowed the grouping of individuals that could
now take down large game, with the use of common strategy and ingenious weaponry such as bows,
arrows and javelins. By inventing these weapons humans could attack beasts without the need to
expose themselves to danger by approaching them. This rapid development of human experience
regarding combat possibly led to the extinction of a number of animals - horses and camels in
America in particular.
The Need to Adapt
Human expansion around the world stimulated the need of new tools and inventions so that our
ancestors could better adapt to the ever-changing environment. Among these tools fire appears to
be the most useful with its capacity to thoroughly change the landscape of a certain area while
breaking down organic material into the chemical nutrients required for the faster growing of new
plants. By intentionally incinerating large areas of grassland in the African savannas humans managed
to improve forage for the game they were after and change vegetation for long periods of time.
While Australia was most affected by fires due to its dryness, tropical rainforests were nearly devoid
of ground level resources; therefore these two areas were not among the most popular for human
exploration. Another extension in the human arsenal of tools and instruments was the varied and
more complex use and mix of constituents. The extension of the usage of certain tools through the
addition of more components further expanded the human toolkit. An important example for that is
the invention of bows and arrows about 30,000 and 15,000 years ago. Bows and arrows are a perfect
combination of stone, wood, feathers and fibers, which allowed humans to fire at their targets as
opposed to the previously exercised melee style of hunting. While hunting was an integral part of the
human diet, its versatility was further supplemented by the incorporation of plants and berries.
Gathering was another popular way of finding additional nutrition. As gathering further broadened
human diet it also became the reason for the invention of priced stone weights and digging tools,
which aided in the process of root collection.
The Emergence of Spiritual Guidance
As humans’ language skills improved spiritual experts came into existence. The function of the
spiritual world was to explain everything that happened by means of language. The concept of a
spiritual world could be seen as a result of humans’ improved communications skills as they could
, now share their inner problems and try to interpret them by discussing them with higher transient
beings. Furthermore, the creation of the spiritual world is another way of linking the yet unexplored
with human knowledge at the time. As the spiritual world played a major role in everyday life there
was the need of experts in the area. Such experts could now communicate with higher beings, relieve
anxiety, and give advice as to what needed to be done according to the higher spirits they
communicated with by learning how to assist good and appease bad spirits.
Spiritual Guidance
Even though toolmakers and communities able to communicate could be seen as existing in most
communities at the time, groups still remained relatively small. A relatively frequent societal
occurrence at the time was that of splitting with the group in search of food. Sometimes a single or
several families would split from their group for long periods of time but they would still remain
accepted members of their group. Another feature of this concept is the fact that at times humans
would meet with all of the bands that have split in order to dance, marry, and communicate. Such
gatherings appear to be crucial for the exchange of information between different groups since the
ones that split often have contact with others, outsiders to the original community. Furthermore, it is
worth acknowledging the avoidance of harmful inbreeding through such festival encounters.
By expanding their knowledge of different landscapes and environments, humans started applying
their accumulated knowledge in order to extract as much positive resources from their surroundings
as possible in order to satisfy their wants and enlarge their ecological function.
A typical example of humans adapting to unfriendly environment is their settlement in areas close to
receding glaciers. The consequences of such settlement were significant as they resulted in people
being aware of some species’ migratory instincts, which enabled surplus hunting of such animals
during the respective seasons. Furthermore, humans started investing in food storage in the face of,
fish weirs, smokehouses, and general storage houses. With the amassing of goods people also
improved their housing conditions as they now had leisure time.
Salmon fisheries are believed to have started about 8,000 years ago but techniques in that direction
have been practiced for a long time before that date. The idea behind accumulation of food is crucial
at this stage as it created the conditions for the initiation of trade and food guarantee, to a certain
extend. In spite of that, one should not forget that such solid sources of resources could be
considered as potential reasons for conflict and rivalry.
Early Human Adaptability Achievements
About 800 C.E. in the most unwelcome environment of the Arctic Ocean, the Inuit managed to
develop successful methods for whaling. They used small eight-men boats and detachable-head
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