While shelter protects people from the elements while they rest, clothing protects people from the elements (and from other people in various forms) while they are out and about. Clothing is a secondary need for a few reasons: Over time, societal standards evolved with local environments; Peoples in temperate or warm environments tend to value clothing much less than peoples in colder climates; Also, people in temperate environments wore minimal clothing more as a standard of modesty instead of protection from the sun, wind or cold; Another possible reason to place clothing secondary as a societal need is its role in mating: clothing slows reproductive rates in order for large populations to exist without quickly overwhelming the primary resources. In general, societies without clothing will quickly fragment into unstable jealousy-driven nudist groups.
This might seem like one of those deal-breaking living-organism requirements, but in terms of societal needs, sunlight is only important because of the symptoms suffered by people who get too much, or too little of it. Mostly related to vitamin-D deficiencies, the lack of sunlight can cause slower metabolic rates, immune system weaknesses, and bone weakness. On the other hand, over-exposure to sunlight causes heat stroke, cancer, etc., but overexposure only lends to the reasons why shelter is a primary need. Sunlight is a secondary need because the human body is designed to utilize a photosynthetic reaction in order to create some of the nutrients it needs, but the lack of sunlight for many hours at a time certainly won't result in lower survivability or quality of interaction with other people.
Akin to sunlight, the need for humans to exert extensive physical effort is required for us to remain healthy, energetic, and attractive. While attractiveness is not a part of any societal necessity, the function exercise plays in keeping a society together and active is all inclusive. The Greeks had gymnasiums, the Romans focused on rapid expansion, the Chinese have Tai Chi, and Americans have treadmills. Generally, most societies simply rotate their food consumption with the work required to acquire it, which in turn provides the needed exercise. As food production becomes more efficient, however, dedicated exercise activities become a requirement in order to keep people from becoming lethargic, antisocial, and generally ineffective at any physical task.
- Solid Trash Pickup / Recycling
Waste in the form of unused or discarded materials is more of a modern societal problem simply because of the increased use of oil-based products. These materials typically take decades if not centuries to decompose instead of the few years simpler molecules require. Historically, trash included old fabrics, rusted or worn out metal goods, broken pottery or glass, rotting food, and ash from firewood or the like - just to mention a few examples. Most of these items, as mentioned, are absorbed back into the environment almost as quickly as they were extracted. Modern goods, made of inks, dyes, plastics, and other intensely complex polymers or difficult-to-separate mixtures require removal and either proper disposal or recycling. Without proper trash and recycling methods in place, society would quickly deteriorate into a destructive, pseudo-nomadic horde of litterers.
No comments:
Post a Comment