Neolithic Noobs

Noob: "A newb or newbie; refers to the idea that someone is new to a game, concept, or idea."

Everyone understands that the Neolithic Revolution was a very important period in human history in which many critical technological or social changes occurred. Because of the developments of government, agriculture, etc., many point to the revolution as a beneficial turning point in the human lifestyle. Instead of talking about how meaningful this period was, I would like to talk about the negative impacts of the Neolithic Revolution. I am not, however, arguing that this change did more harm than good, but I seek to prove that it did some harm at that present time. I am also not suggesting that the people during the time of the revolution were idiots or "noobs": I just liked the alliteration. (I apologize if anyone extremely passionate about the Neolithic Age was offended by my title.)

One of the problems that arose from the Neolithic Revolution was the emergence of diseases by animals. Once communities learned how to domesticate animals, they lived very close to them, prompting the spread of new diseases and an increase in death. Some diseases included influenza, smallpox, and measles that spread very quickly because families lived so close to one another. Around this time, the rat also grew attached to society and has grown extremely ever since. Diseases from the Neolithic time still exist in the present and affect millions of people in third-world countries.

As land grew more important for agriculture, societies had great aspirations and sometimes turned to war for conquest. Because of the development of agriculture in the Neolithic Revolution, people had an excuse to defeat, seize, and enslave the land and populations of weaker communities. Along with the technological development of metallurgy, societies were even more encouraged to go to war with their shiny, new weapons. Though war can be good depending on what perspective you're looking at, I'll go out on a limb and say that killing people and taking land is bad.

Health is another issue that arose from agriculture. Because human lifestyles had become so integrated with the land and most of the food came from agriculture, human bodies suffered in that they did not have a well-rounded diet. Since the majority of their diets were vegetables with little variety, people's bodies and teeth suffered. Furthermore, since farming methods in the past were so arduous, people developed multiple problems in their spine from stooping so low which was terrible for their health.

One last impact of the Neolithic Revolution was the effect on social hierarchy. As society began to steer toward a male-dominant form of government, a patriarchy, one could argue that the beginning belief in male superiority could be traced all the way back to the revolution. Because of patriarchal ideas at the time, it is very possible that those ideas led to prejudice being developed as centuries went by.

Nowhere do I state that the Neolithic Revolution was bad; in fact, I think it was a very good and necessary event. My only hope was to give you some ideas of the negative impacts of the Neolithic Revolution and make you think twice before you can firmly state that it was a good thing.