COMMENTS+ON+WORST+MISTAKE

__COMMENTS ON "THE WORST MISTAKE IN THE HISTORY OF THE HUMAN RACE"__
===What did you learn from reading this article? Is there good reason to take this author's opinions seriously? Why or why not? What is the central idea in the article? What evidence does he point to in support of his provocative ideas? What did you find interesting in the article? MAXIMUM OF 20 COMMENTS. NO DUPLICATIONS. Single sentence comments are OK.===

1. Modern farmers **do not** have as much free time as modern hunter-gatherers. (aco)

2. Farming resulted in vitamin and mineral **deficiencies**, which introduced new diseases and conditions, many **of which** still **occur** today. (aco)

3. Hunters-gatherers were nomadic **and lived in small isolated groups**, so it was harder **for them** to get **epidemic** diseases than **it was** f**or people who lived in villages and towns, where larger numbers of people lived closel****y packed together.** (zba)

4.The population **increased dramatically ** after the agricultural revolution because   **farming allowed** many people to live in one place and  **for the first time have access to an abundance of food.** (mhu)    

5. Sexual inequality **may have arisen** with agriculture because men had to do the work **which** required more strength and therefore brought in more food than women. This **may have given** men more **control over** their families economic decisions. (aco)

6. Even though agriculture can support a higher populat**ion that hunting and gathering, anthropologists** speculate that hunters and gatherers **may have** had a **more nutritious** diet **than early farmers.** (cne)

7. **Interestingly** enough, agriculture **has become** such **an important aspect** of the **modern** world that it cannot **now** be **abandoned** without **endangering** the human population. However, **Jared Diamond** does **provide valuable** perspective on **the rise of early agriculture.** Hunter**-**gatherers **are** often viewed as primitive, but it is clear that they adapted to **their** enviroment well, learn**ed** about their surroundings, and **were** free to **simply** survive and not spend their time worrying about **the future.** **Instead they seem to have used much of their** time for leisure, sleep**ing**, and exploring, **all** of which **were** healthy **activities which may have contributed to** their well-being. **As Diamond notes, why should they have adopted agriculture** "when there are so many mongongo nuts in the world?" (Diamond "The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race"). (hpo)

8. During the early days of agriculture, most people**s'** diets were centered around just one crop. **Lack of** a variety of foods depletes the body of vitamins and nutrients. (eboo)

9. The development of agriculture led to increases in population which also increased the **possibility** of famine and disease. (spa)

10.Hunter-gatherers foraged for food and for wild plants. The escape for this misery was facilated only 10,000 years ago. (dbe)

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