Back to the Beginning: The Agricultural “Revolution”

In diverse places of the world, people didn't start farming for any one reason or set of reasons.

The invention of agriculture symbolizes the contradictory effect of well-intentioned technical advancement on human well-being and was a crucial turning point in human history.

The Agricultural Revolution

Agriculture, which first appeared some 12,000 years ago, caused such a shift in society and lifestyle that its advancement is known as the "Neolithic Revolution." Humans have lived traditionally as hunters and gatherers from the beginning of time, but permanent settlements and a steady source of food have replaced them. Cities and civilizations sprang from agriculture, and since it was now possible to raise food and animals to fulfill demand, the world's population exploded—from around five million people 10,000 years ago to more than seven billion now.

In diverse places of the world, people didn't start farming for any one reason or set of reasons. For instance, it is believed that seasonal circumstances that benefited annual plants like wild grains were brought about by climatic shifts at the end of the last ice age in the Near East. Increased pressure on natural food supplies in other places, such East Asia, may have compelled individuals to come up with their own remedies. Yet farming planted the seeds for the modern era regardless of the causes of its autonomous beginnings.

Domestication of plants

Wheat, barley, and peas are among the crops whose wild ancestors may be found throughout the Near East. Cereals were first farmed in Syria 9,000 years ago, and figs even earlier; evidence from ancient seedless fruits found in the Jordan Valley suggests that fig trees were first planted 11,300 years ago. The advent of early Neolithic communities with residences outfitted with grinding stones for processing grain marks the move from a nomadic to established mode of life, notwithstanding the slow change from wild gathering.

Agriculture was expected to increase time and convenience, lessen future apprehension, and lower disease and mortality. It should take less time, effort, and uncertainty to harvest crops in a controlled environment than it does to hunt and gather food. It would appear that having more certainty regarding the source of one's food would lessen worry about the future; allowing us to unwind. Access to approved and trustworthy food sources should lower disease and mortality.

Agriculture should improve quality of life. But, this image is not quite tidy and clean. In actuality, history paints a different tale than what the era's technology had promised.