The Pros And Cons Of The Agricultural Revolution

It is estimated that since it was discovered in 1920, penicillin has saved 80 million to 200 million lives. Survival is something that the human race has always excelled at. We differed from other organisms and instead of adapting to our environment we bent it to our will. Agriculture was simply the next logical step in our climb to the top of the food chain. Although some may argue that the Agricultural Revolution was the worst mistake in human history, it in fact ushered forth an era of monumental advancements that have greatly benefitted the human race as a whole.

One unique feature of humanity is the complexity of our tools and what we are able to accomplish using them. Advances in technology has led to the development of revolutionary and innovative apparatuses. These have allowed us to do many things such as increase food production, shape our environment, and improve our quality of life. As Jared Diamond states, in the book Guns, Germs, and Steel “...to increase food production by pulling plows and thereby making it possible for people to till land that had previously been uneconomical for farming”(88). The plow and other farming equipment like it
generate more crops in a more efficient manner compared to what we previously had. Once uninhabitable regions of the globe are now viable for colonization thanks to these cutting edge headways. Quality of living improved dramatically due to inventions such as air conditioning, indoor plumbing, refrigeration, lighting, computers, the internet, etc. All of these make life much more convenient and allow us to focus on other things.

Who enjoys disease? You? Of course not. For as long as we have existed we have been toe-to-toe with bacteria, viruses, and other infectious invaders in a fight of survival. Over thousands of years we have developed medical procedures and pharmaceuticals. This grants us the capability to save millions of lives, extend life expectancy, and improve overall health. “They’d see that we live longer (though maybe not healthier) lives. We pop pills when we’re sick, take immunization shots when we’re babies…” (Burnett 6). With modern therapeutic procedures we have been able to prevent many deaths from accidents, disease, and wounds. The discovery of antibiotics has saved a large sum of lives and will continue to do so as we move forward. With the introduction and development of all these things comes an inevitable increase in life expectancy. Obviously, the less likely you are to die, the longer you’ll live. Some people have deficiencies that we are able to manage with vitamins and supplements. All of this leads to a surge in the condition of our overall health.

Humankind has an innate fear of the unknown.
It’s only natural; the unknown is unpredictable and can be potentially dangerous. However, we are lucky enough to be equipped with the brilliant radiance of knowledge. We recorded our history on an assortment of books, tablets, scrolls, etc. We pass on expertise of the past from generation to generation. This enables the era after us to not make the same mistakes, eliminate ignorance, and push the species’ intelligence further. “To science we owe dramatic changes in our smug self-image. Astronomy taught us that our earth isn't the center of the universe but merely one of billions of heavenly bodies” (Diamond). Ignorance is a sickness and the only cure is awareness. We are constantly advancing towards new goals and prospects and knowledge aids us in this
endeavor.

Like anything in our universe, agriculture isn’t perfect. The downsides have been discussed and acknowledged by scholars. Some people believe that agriculture was the single worst mistake in human history. Many will argue that it caused things such as gender inequality, pollution, and violence. This is simply flawed logic. Something so far in the past shouldn’t be held responsible for modern complications. Ancient farmers had no intent of creating a world like the one we live in today. Agriculture simply laid the foundation of our future, our ancestor’s poor choices and greed built the tangled web of dilemmas that we face today.

In the end, the pros have outweighed the cons. We went from barely surviving to thriving from a simple technique that we have perfected. Due to advancements across the board ranging from medicinal to technological to just simply knowledge.