The Arrival of Modernity
Three waves of
human history
1st Wave - Agrarian
- How it worked - Farming
- Might = Muscle
- Control of the land means control and power
- Fertility Gods
- Feudalism - Social structure based on personal alliances
and land ownership
- Benefits
- Stable and predictable society strongly ordered through
control of food sources
- Consistent rise of population expanding productivity
- Challenges
- Slavery as a tool for harvesting muscle
- Social stasis means little hope for upward mobility
2nd Wave - Industrial
- How it worked - Industry
- Might = Machine
- Machine replaces muscle
- Mass production (bigger is better) replaces custom
made
- Benefits
- Increased standard of living
- More available goods at a cheaper cost
- Challenges
- Loss of individuality due to repitition of items
through mass production
- Rise of communist vision of collective utopias
- Industry and the visual arts - Camera and the transformation
of painting
- Industry and the musical arts - Synthesizer/Magnetic
tape and the transformation of music
- All sound may be used in music
- Berio - a pioneer of electronic music
3rd Wave - Informational
- How it works - Computer
- Might = Information
- Information as product
- Challenges
- Loss or indifferance to privacy
- Big Brother is watching everything you do
- Technology replaces Thinking
- Digital Dementia - Decline of cognitive function
due to excessive use of digital devices
Humanities
Resource of Mark Hunter