Was the rise of civilization a positive effect or a negative?

Answer 1

As with any element of human development, this is a difficult question to answer. The short answer is, "six of one; half a dozen of the other." There are positive and negative elements of the rise of civilization.

As people grouped together into communities, there were disagreements and there were improvements, and there were improvements that gave rise to problems.

Take for instance the improvement of increased life spans. As civilization has matured, the average life span has increased. Improvements in diet, sanitation, healthcare, and general environmental safety have contributed to this. Look at the improvements of each of these elements, however, and you will find underlying problems, and issues that have risen out of them.

Improved diet, for instance, was directly related to improvements in agricultural science. Farmers became specialized. Instead of the traditional hunter/gather communities, those suited to growing foods, learned better ways of doing it. They developed crops that yield more and better foods. They developed ways to cross breed. They developed fertilizers and pesticides. They developed tools and practices.

Higher yield plants are sometimes less able to thrive without constant attention, costing time and effort that can be wasted in the face of natural occurrences. Cross breeding has at times created issues such as reduced natural immunities to plant diseases and infestations. The development of fertilizers and pesticides are directly related to pollution in down stream and coastal communities that have killed off entire populations of other food sources (look at the Gulf of Mexico and the dead zones there). Consider the events of the twenties and thirties in the US during the Dust Bowl Era, a direct result of over planting of certain crops and the destruction of entire states' top soil layer. Tools that have developed from JOHN DEERe's steel plow to the massive combines and harvesters used in the American Heartlands were built in factories that pollute the atmosphere, land, and water.

This is only one brief glimpse into one small side of the development of civilization. Consider for a moment the impact improved healthcare has had, or manufacturing, or communication, or war. Yes, war is an element of human behavior and a development of civilization--at least a result of it--that has had hugely negative, and believe it or not some positive results.