The Functions and Progressions of what we call Society
Trenton Hiley
We live in a world that is the nesting ground of multiple societies; we
have slowly progressed from a hunting and gathering society to an industrial
society. Even though this is true there are still places around the world where
these societies still exist.
There are 7 types of societies, hunting and
gathering societies, Pastoral
societies, Horticultural societies, Agrarian societies, Industrial societies, Postindustrial
societies. In hunting and gathering societies people make use of simple tools
to hunt animals and gather vegetation for food. Horticultural and pastoral
societies are the use of hand tools to raise crops and the domestication of
animals, you will see some societies use both throughout South America, Africa,
and Asia. This revolution of technology changed life on earth when people
started using large-scale cultivation using plows harnessed to animals or more
powerful energy sources, which we call agriculture. This came about in agrarian
societies about 5,000 years ago. Industrialism is the production of goods using
advanced sources of energy to drive large machinery which is used in industrial
societies such as Japan and the United States. With the industrial technology
people were able to do things faster than ever before. You can say because of
the Industrial age we have sociology till this day. Lastly we have
postindustrial societies are basically societies that rely on the production of
information using computer technology which also includes both the United
States and Japan.
When we speak on a hunting
and gathering society we can look at Australia’s Aboriginal culture which is
the oldest surviving culture in the world. They never developed and type of new
age because their stone technology; which dates back over 60,000 years did not
progress in the same way as the rest of the world. This culture lacked a formal
language but recorder their culture as rock art, which displayed the animals
and plants of their time. The Aboriginals used the percussion method of
chipping away at the edge of a rock to make a sharp edge for cutting the tools
made today is similar to the earliest tools. People in our society with IPhone's
and what not take this technology for granted when there are societies that
know absolutely nothing about modern day technology.
The United States is really
big when it comes to machines and technology. We lead the world in the
production of medical technologies and are the industry’s largest consumer,
which makes us an industrial society. The U.S market value exceeded $110
billion in 2012, representing about 38% of the total medical technologies. We
value technology and machinery a lot in the United States and are willing to
spend billions on it.
With all these different
societies there are many sociologists that have their own opinion on it. Karl
Marx says the economic production shapes the entire society, Max Weber’s
philosophy see that people’s ideas and values shape society, and Emile Durkheim
sees society as being bigger than us and that it’s bigger than the individuals
who compose it, it was here before us and will be here long after we’re gone.
To conclude, the world
holds multiple societies and cultures with people who follow different types of
social norms. With these societies being so different there are sociologists ho
have different aspect on society as well. This concludes my blog on society.
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