Treecat Social Dynamics

ThinksMarkedly wrote:Indeed. And having a ready surplus of foodstuffs so your population never grows hungry, plus is less manpower-intensive, means more individuals are free to pursue other tasks. This is where other professions start.

I really meant it when I said there are only two eras for humanity. For the first 100,000 years of humans before us, our population was more or less stable. It wasn't until agriculture 12000 years ago that things changed.

CrashCourse World History on Agriculture (it's the first episode)

Kurzgesagt on the Human Era which he defines as starting with agriculture.

I'd make an argument that the industrial revolution and its effects on farming were the start of a new era. Improvements to farming, transportation, and storage, and then later fertilizer, It caused a massive increase in the population and an even more radical shift in the percent of population devoted to raising food.

Agriculture led to the population going up maybe 10-20 fold over 6000 years, while the industrial revolution led to population going up over 8-fold in ~250 years. That's a major inflection on the graph.

Jonathan_S wrote:

ThinksMarkedly wrote:Indeed. And having a ready surplus of foodstuffs so your population never grows hungry, plus is less manpower-intensive, means more individuals are free to pursue other tasks. This is where other professions start.

I really meant it when I said there are only two eras for humanity. For the first 100,000 years of humans before us, our population was more or less stable. It wasn't until agriculture 12000 years ago that things changed.

CrashCourse World History on Agriculture (it's the first episode)

Kurzgesagt on the Human Era which he defines as starting with agriculture.

I'd make an argument that the industrial revolution and its effects on farming were the start of a new era. Improvements to farming, transportation, and storage, and then later fertilizer, It caused a massive increase in the population and an even more radical shift in the percent of population devoted to raising food.

Agriculture led to the population going up maybe 10-20 fold over 6000 years, while the industrial revolution led to population going up over 8-fold in ~250 years. That's a major inflection on the graph.

I nominate : The steel plow
https://www.lib.niu.edu/2001/iht810102.html

Much of the success can be attributed to the development of the plow and all the agricultural implements that have followed. Remember, that to till an acre of land with a spade required 96 hours (5,760 minutes); to plow an acre with a yoke of oxen and a crude wooden plow took twenty-four hours (1,440 minutes); with a steel plow such as John Deere developed took five to eight hours (300 to 480 minutes); but in 1998, a 425-horsepower John Deere 9400 four-wheel-drive pulling a fifteen-bottom plow tilled an acre every 3.2 minutes. Never in history has an acre of land been moldboard plowed with less physical effort by the plowman. Never has the soil been better tilled, nor has it produced more. Today the work is performed 1,800 times faster than the person who spaded the acre, and 122 times faster than with the plow of the mid-1800s. Everyone who enjoys the abundant supply of inexpensive food should be grateful for John Deere and his plow.

Recalling A Beautiful Friendship, the Treecats firgured out that the 2 legs were growing things they were harvesting to eat in specifice places and that changed some of that the 'cats were doing. I think Purple Thorn was one of the 1st things they started experimenting with.

This being Treecats and really good at observations, they probably figured out that the 2 legs were doing this farming stuff in conjunction with the seasons and were getting reports of at least measures taken to deal with larger pests. I don't recall over how much time it took -if it was mentioned- from some Scout reporting on 2 legs clearing land and growing things to when some 'cat tried it for themselves. Treecats are quick learners. Between direct -if stealthy- observation and experimentation, they can figure out the basics. There will also be that the two legs are growing thing that are not from (at least their areas of )Sphinx but anything that the Treecats are harvesting for food in the plant side of the menu might be workable copying what the two legs are doing. It will invove trial and error but potential benifit can be seen.

As the knowledge base grows, the information- both what has worked and not worked- can be shared quickly.

Brigade XO wrote:Recalling A Beautiful Friendship, the Treecats firgured out that the 2 legs were growing things they were harvesting to eat in specifice places and that changed some of that the 'cats were doing. I think Purple Thorn was one of the 1st things they started experimenting with.

This being Treecats and really good at observations, they probably figured out that the 2 legs were doing this farming stuff in conjunction with the seasons and were getting reports of at least measures taken to deal with larger pests. I don't recall over how much time it took -if it was mentioned- from some Scout reporting on 2 legs clearing land and growing things to when some 'cat tried it for themselves. Treecats are quick learners. Between direct -if stealthy- observation and experimentation, they can figure out the basics. There will also be that the two legs are growing thing that are not from (at least their areas of )Sphinx but anything that the Treecats are harvesting for food in the plant side of the menu might be workable copying what the two legs are doing. It will invove trial and error but potential benifit can be seen.

As the knowledge base grows, the information- both what has worked and not worked- can be shared quickly.

When Stephanie caught them heisting celery, wasn't it in a greenhouse? I wonder how many bad crops and foul tasting celery harvests before they got the hang of it.

Someone also might need to look into a hybrid plant. A purple thorn that tastes like celery or vice versa. Grayson can experiment with growing either in space.

Jonathan_S wrote:

ThinksMarkedly wrote:Indeed. And having a ready surplus of foodstuffs so your population never grows hungry, plus is less manpower-intensive, means more individuals are free to pursue other tasks. This is where other professions start.

I really meant it when I said there are only two eras for humanity. For the first 100,000 years of humans before us, our population was more or less stable. It wasn't until agriculture 12000 years ago that things changed.

CrashCourse World History on Agriculture (it's the first episode)

Kurzgesagt on the Human Era which he defines as starting with agriculture.

I'd make an argument that the industrial revolution and its effects on farming were the start of a new era. Improvements to farming, transportation, and storage, and then later fertilizer, It caused a massive increase in the population and an even more radical shift in the percent of population devoted to raising food.

Agriculture led to the population going up maybe 10-20 fold over 6000 years, while the industrial revolution led to population going up over 8-fold in ~250 years. That's a major inflection on the graph.

Fire, electricity, toilet paper and plumbing are the true demarcations on the era line. People used to clean their arse with all kinds of things. Imagine using rocks! Not to mention those filthy public baths in England. Imagine taking a bath in the hand-me-down bathwater of hundreds of the most disgusting people. Day after day after day. The ring around those poolsized tubs ain't dirt.