Energy & Technology
What major change marked the transition from foraging to farming societies?
The domestication of plants and animals (Agricultural Revolution).
What type of social structure replaced egalitarian forager bands?
Hierarchical societies with kings, priests, and peasants.
What moral shift occurred from foragers to farmers?
From equality and sharing to hierarchy and obedience.
Why did patriarchy strengthen in farming societies?
Property and inheritance required paternity certainty, leading to male dominance.
What are the three main energy eras in Morris’s model?
Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil-Fuel Users.
According to Morris, what does “energy capture” mean?
The amount of energy people extract from their environment to sustain life and society.
Why did states and empires emerge during the farming era?
To coordinate food production, protect land, and control surplus resources.
Why was obedience valued more than freedom in agrarian societies?
Because social order and cooperation were essential for farming success.
What family structure became central to agrarian life?
The patriarchal, extended family tied to land ownership.
What is Morris’s overall argument about values?
Human values evolve as adaptive responses to how societies capture and use energy.
Why did farming allow for larger populations than foraging?
Farming produced more reliable and abundant food surpluses, supporting more people per unit of land.
What role did religion play in maintaining social order?
It justified hierarchy and inequality as natural or divinely ordained.
How did attitudes toward violence change?
Interpersonal violence decreased as states enforced laws and order.
How were women’s roles defined in the farming era?
Women were often confined to domestic and reproductive roles, supporting male property lines.
What does Morris call “Agraria”?
An ideal-type model of the moral and social order of agrarian societies.
What did Morris call the “three-pointed star” of farming societies?
The connection between population growth, hierarchy, and energy capture that defined agrarian life.
According to Morris, how did property ownership shape social life?
It created inheritance systems, family lineages, and class distinctions.
What does Morris mean when he says “energy capture constrains morality”?
The way societies get energy limits what moral systems are practical and stable.
How did marriage differ from forager societies?
Legal or religious marriages became formalized to secure inheritance and lineage.
How does Morris’s theory explain the rise of modern egalitarian values?
Fossil-fuel energy systems reward equality and freedom instead of hierarchy.
Why was hierarchy useful in farming societies, according to Morris?
It organized labor, managed resources, and maintained order in large, settled populations.
What factor often determined political and social status in farming societies?
Control over land and agricultural surplus.
Give one example of a moral or cultural value that persisted from the farming era into modern times.
Respect for property, patriarchal family roles, or religious authority.
Why did Morris see these family systems as adaptive?
They ensured stability, inheritance continuity, and efficient reproduction in agrarian economies.
What critique do some scholars make of Morris’s approach?
That it overemphasizes material and economic causes and underplays culture, religion, and human agency.