As we all know technology has led the world to many changes. There are four types of technology in particular which led to four social revolutions. These four technologies are:
* Animal Domestication and Plant Cultivation
* The invention of the “Plow”
* The invention of the “Steam Engine”
* The invention of the “Microchip”
These technologies not only caused changes in society but they also caused several consequences within society. The first technology is Animal Domestication and Plant Cultivation and some of the consequences which led to the first social revolution are as follows. Animal Domestication and Plant Cultivation allowed the supply of food to become more dependable triggering groups to grow larger. As groups became larger a Division of Labor was created because it was no longer necessary for people to work to provide food. Therefore, the business of trade was initiated, due to everyone having a surplus of objects. Afterwards, social inequality began to take place because everyone began to trade and groups began accumulating even more objects. I can imagine that this must have created some form of jealousy within the groups causing feuds and war with one another. As some people accumulated more and more objects, the wealthier and more powerful they became. All the power and wealth which was obtained was then passed down, allowing their descendant’s to inherit all the wealth, which in turn gave then power.
The second social revolution was caused by the invention of the plow. Some of the consequences of this technology were that more and more people engaged in other activities instead of farming due to the larger food surplus. As populations continued to grow people developed cities and during this time the invention of the wheel, writing and numbers came about. During this period we can see how society slowly begins to evolve and those who managed to gain control over the constant growth of resources also became powerful and with that power they surrounded themselves with armed men, while levying taxes of others.
The third revolution was caused by the invention of the steam engine. When the steam engine was created it produced an even greater surplus compared to the previous two technologies. Some industrialist became so wealthy but those in lower class were thrown off the island causing them to be homeless. It became very hard to survive for those who were homeless and kicked off the island. They had to confront and make some pretty tough decisions and many of them had to turn to stealing to survive because those who did work were not able to make sufficient money to sustain life and plenty of people were starving. These workers struggled daily to survive and after a period of time they succeeded by winning a fight to allow them better working conditions. Once this battle was won it opened many doors for the workers, it provided them with a better way of living, better health care, an increase in libraries and education and home ownership as well as automobile ownership became common. Slavery no longer took place during this third revolution of industrialization and people of all classes had equal rights.
The fourth revolution was caused by the invention of the microchip. This new type of technology caused a huge social change in society. Society transformed so much that a new society had emerged. This new society was called postindustrial or information society. This technology was like no other technology in the previous social revolutions, it had nothing to do with domestication, cultivation or even manufacturing. The invention of this technology, the microchip, was all about information. People no longer had to produce objects or materials but they used information to provide services to those willing to pay.
According to William Ogburn the three processes of social change are invention, discovery, and diffusion. Invention is the combination of existing elements to form new ones. Inventions are not only but materialistic but they are also social inventions. Both materialistic and social inventions can create consequences within society. For example, the computer is an existing element but with the computer people are able to create or invent a way to download music or participate in distant education. The computer has a great effect on society and although it may provide plenty of information, it has cut off basic face to face communication. People no longer need to physical attend a school because they can go online and no one really needs to ask for directions because they have a GPS.
A second process of social change is discovery. Discovery is a new way of seeing some aspect of the world. In other words it is something that is already present, but people are seeing it for the first time. For instance, DNA has pretty much always exist but people are now discovering how DNA can be used to identify criminals.
A third process of social change is diffusion. Diffusion is the spread of an invention or discovery. This process can also have a great effect on society because an invention or discovery can spread from area to another causing change not only in one area but in several, if not all areas. For example, condoms are used to ensure smaller families but if we look back to previous social revolutions men and woman had large families. In previous time people had many kids because it was easier to provide for the child and that child was also a helping hand around the house or working on the farm with other members of the family. As technology increased, society became more modern and when the discovery of the contraceptive (condoms) came about the news spread and traditional societies were transformed.