The Stages of Human History
Excerpt from “Why Knot?” Buy the book at Amazon
Human history is typically described in three stages: hunting/gathering, farming, and industrial. Consider an alternative grouping: hunting/gathering, farming/industrial, and techno-global.
Each of these stages has a different value system learned through the struggle for survival. The industrial stage is an extension of the farming stage. And we now find ourselves at the beginning of a new stage.
Stage one — hunting/gathering, pre-history
• Humankind is at war with beasts and the elements.
• Knowledge, skill, and experience are necessary for survival in a world over which people have no control.
• Physical strength and personal survival skills matter.
Stage two — farming/industrial, from pre-history to the end of the 20th century
• People domesticate and control beasts of burden.
• Then, with the advance of technology, they substitute machines for animals.
• Success in farming depends on weeding, killing off runts, eliminating the weak and handicapped.
• Owners of land, beasts, and other humans use values learned from farming to support industrialization and nationalization.
• Managerial skill (ability to control others) is valued on the farm, in the factory, and in government.
Stage three — techno-global, now
• Based on global communication and economy, global interdependence grows.
• Knowledge, skill, and experience are valued.
• Technology makes possible new ways of working together and living together.
• Technology enables group action and coordination without central control
• The weak and handicapped deserve equal rights.
• Individual responsibilities extend beyond the family and local district.
• Technology extends human knowledge and capabilities.
• We are all citizens of the entire planet.
From this perspective, farming and industrialization were different aspects of the same control-based value system, which lasted more than 10,000 years. And we are now at the beginning of a new age, characterized by cooperat
