How Are Humans Affected By Physical Geography
The human race has advanced massively over the years. From the time that our ancestors first decided to leave all they had ever known in their home in Africa and venture into the great unknown. Regardless of whether you gauge progress economically, technologically, or culturally, by all of these measures mankind has made incredible advances. However, man’s progress was not entirely due to human inventions and innovations. Physical geography influenced many of their choices and we are still affected by physical geography in the modern day and age.The development, dispersion, and alteration of cultures was also affected by physical geography. The emergence of agriculture due to favorable physical geography conditions was physical geography’s greatest gift to humankind. Through agriculture, the snowflake that that is advancement was pushed over the edge of a the mountain and grew exponentially in mass and velocity until it eventually reached the world
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as we know it in the 21st century.
The first humans in Africa were doing well, and one particular group had fate smiling upon them: a river laden with seafood ran by not far from the cave in which they lived in.
Everything was carrying on swimmingly, but suddenly, the waters of the river began to recede farther and farther from the group’s cave. Eventually, the river became nothing but a dry riverbed. With their main source of food depleted, the group was forced to migrate to find an alternate source of food. This scenario and others like it were one of the first times in which humans were affected by physical geography, and they were by no means the last time. Throughout history, mankind has been influenced by physical geography, be it positively, such as the flooding of the Nile River in Egypt that provided water. However, physical geography can also have negative effects, like the scenario above, droughts, and other natural disasters. Physical geography is like a wild card; one can never know if it will help him, hinder him, or affect him at
all.
Cultures have also been dramatically affected by physical geography. Physical geography forces certain groups of people to act, speak, or even think and view the world differently compared to other groups of people in different physical situations, For example, the Inuit people of the arctic areas have over 180 different words to refer to snow. On the other side of the spectrum, how many words do the Sioux people of North America have for snow? Not a single one. Physical boundaries caused by physical geography can slow or even prevent a culture’s dispersion into other areas. Cultures form a vital part of one’s identity, and it is partially thanks to physical geography that the world’s cultures are so prominent, varied, and distinct from each other.
What mankind should be most thankful to physical geography for however, is the conditions that allowed agriculture to prosper. With agriculture, not everybody in a group of people were required to spend a majority of their time gathering food. With idle members not farming, they could focus on other activities, like metalworking, basketry, weaving, tapestry, and a plethora of other pursuits. Some innovations and innovations from these new specialists could improve the method of farming. For example, metalworkers could discover the strength of steel and farmers could utilize the novel material for more durable tools. Basket weavers could develop baskets with more capacity, allowing farmers to transport more crops at a time. Consequently, the time and effort required to farm crops would grow smaller and smaller, freeing up more bodies from farming duty, and thus allowing more people to specialize in other things. The cycle would repeat over and over again in a snowball effect, until we reach today’s time. where there are software engineers, sales reps, taxi drivers, and literally millions of other professions alongside farmers. As simple as it may seem, all of our IPhones, PCs, automobiles, and other luxuries and inventions originated from one seemingly insignificant event. Physical geography allowed a grain of wheat to grow, and from that grain of wheat humanity was sprung into the never ending road of progress. Physical geography has shaped the world as we know it today. Whether you look at cultures, technology, or societies, humans have progressed almost miraculously far. Throughout our entire history as the species Homo sapiens sapiens, physical geography has walked alongside us, influencing and guiding our choices. The most important humans choice that physical geography influenced was the decision to begin farming crops. Without agriculture, we would have none of the amenities that we are so accustomed to today. But additionally, if physical geography hadn’t allowed crops to prosper, we would not have agriculture, and instead of being glued to a TV or phone screen, we’d be glued to a scythe or a hoe, accomplishing nothing but farming. And who wants to live like that?
as we know it in the 21st century.
The first humans in Africa were doing well, and one particular group had fate smiling upon them: a river laden with seafood ran by not far from the cave in which they lived in.
Everything was carrying on swimmingly, but suddenly, the waters of the river began to recede farther and farther from the group’s cave. Eventually, the river became nothing but a dry riverbed. With their main source of food depleted, the group was forced to migrate to find an alternate source of food. This scenario and others like it were one of the first times in which humans were affected by physical geography, and they were by no means the last time. Throughout history, mankind has been influenced by physical geography, be it positively, such as the flooding of the Nile River in Egypt that provided water. However, physical geography can also have negative effects, like the scenario above, droughts, and other natural disasters. Physical geography is like a wild card; one can never know if it will help him, hinder him, or affect him at
all.
Cultures have also been dramatically affected by physical geography. Physical geography forces certain groups of people to act, speak, or even think and view the world differently compared to other groups of people in different physical situations, For example, the Inuit people of the arctic areas have over 180 different words to refer to snow. On the other side of the spectrum, how many words do the Sioux people of North America have for snow? Not a single one. Physical boundaries caused by physical geography can slow or even prevent a culture’s dispersion into other areas. Cultures form a vital part of one’s identity, and it is partially thanks to physical geography that the world’s cultures are so prominent, varied, and distinct from each other.
What mankind should be most thankful to physical geography for however, is the conditions that allowed agriculture to prosper. With agriculture, not everybody in a group of people were required to spend a majority of their time gathering food. With idle members not farming, they could focus on other activities, like metalworking, basketry, weaving, tapestry, and a plethora of other pursuits. Some innovations and innovations from these new specialists could improve the method of farming. For example, metalworkers could discover the strength of steel and farmers could utilize the novel material for more durable tools. Basket weavers could develop baskets with more capacity, allowing farmers to transport more crops at a time. Consequently, the time and effort required to farm crops would grow smaller and smaller, freeing up more bodies from farming duty, and thus allowing more people to specialize in other things. The cycle would repeat over and over again in a snowball effect, until we reach today’s time. where there are software engineers, sales reps, taxi drivers, and literally millions of other professions alongside farmers. As simple as it may seem, all of our IPhones, PCs, automobiles, and other luxuries and inventions originated from one seemingly insignificant event. Physical geography allowed a grain of wheat to grow, and from that grain of wheat humanity was sprung into the never ending road of progress. Physical geography has shaped the world as we know it today. Whether you look at cultures, technology, or societies, humans have progressed almost miraculously far. Throughout our entire history as the species Homo sapiens sapiens, physical geography has walked alongside us, influencing and guiding our choices. The most important humans choice that physical geography influenced was the decision to begin farming crops. Without agriculture, we would have none of the amenities that we are so accustomed to today. But additionally, if physical geography hadn’t allowed crops to prosper, we would not have agriculture, and instead of being glued to a TV or phone screen, we’d be glued to a scythe or a hoe, accomplishing nothing but farming. And who wants to live like that?