Period 6 (Addya Agarwal, Noah Galatin, Melissa Hong, Matthew Lau) What makes up the Modern World? by Melissa Hong

Religion & Culture

819297_2 — 2024-08-16 21:36:29 UTC

Religion and culture are two of the oldest ideas in the world that are passed down from generation to generation.

Religion is a system of belief and faith, often including the worship of an entity or multiple entities, who are referred to as gods or deities. Most religions are split into either monotheism (the belief in one god) or polytheism (the belief in several gods). Some of the most predominant religions today are Christianity (monotheistic), Islam (monotheistic), Hinduism (polytheistic), Buddhism (neither monotheistic or polytheistic; focus on achieving enlightenment and don't believe in a certain god), and Judaism, but there are many others spread all across the world. Atheism is also common, with many not believing in a religion. Religions connect followers with each other and give them something to believe in. There are many special traditions and holidays associated with each one - for example, Christmas for Christianity and Hanukkah for Judaism.

Culture is important to the world today as well - while it is difficult to define culture, it is often expressed as shared thoughts, beliefs, norms, etc, within a group. One's culture is most often developed and changed by their society. It is sometimes associated with religion, but it embodies many concepts even without it. Examples of culture in the modern world are music, art, and fashion. Culture affects how a person acts, what they eat, what music they listen to, who they hang out with, how they dress, and much more. Culture is a part of everyone's lives, whether they recognize it or not. Social norms and whether people abide by them are also a part of one's culture. A modern-day example would be in pop culture - Taylor Swift, Gracie Abrams, and Sabrina Carpenter are all rising artists who have taken over the music industry, making them an important part of pop culture.

Food

819448_3 — 2024-08-16 21:36:31 UTC

Unsurprisingly, nobody in our modern world can exist without food. Plainly, food is something that provides nutrients to the human body that allows it to function in the ways that we've trained it to do over the years. As a society, we have many uses for food, coming in various styles and cuisines; a result of the creativity of our evolving species and the intuitive use of resources found in the places that we ended up residing in. Food not only represents our ability to adapt and create, but also the different ways that humans have evolved and changed within their own communities. If one plot of land was grain-abundant, the culture that ended up developing there would have many grain-based dishes, using resources wisely.

Transportation

820707_2 — 2024-08-16 21:36:35 UTC

With how important transportation has become in society, we have seen different versions of this; cars, trains, planes, and more. Looking back at 300 years and more prior to this day, our transportation has improved and exceeded significantly. We did not use horses, and oxen pulled wagons to get to our destinations, or even walk countless miles to get to our homes. Dating back to homo sapiens, they did not possess the type of transportation we have today; whereas they had to walk many miles to hunt for their food and resources. It ultimately reflects on how much the world has progressed and expanded through our resources, in terms of transportation. Today, we can drive by car to a place like our homes which may be 4, 5 miles away from our location, yet it only takes 10-15 minutes for our arrival. Comparing that to homo sapiens and 18th century society, I believe transportation has come a long way. We frequently use cars and planes to get to places which overall, saves us a great quantity of time. As the world continues to grow and progress, similar to our education, so will the industry of transportation.

Agriculture

818967_2 — 2024-08-16 21:36:41 UTC

The industry of agriculture arrives from the basic human necessity for food, along with the social and economic structure of our modern world. When humans have existed, there has always been a need for food. The agricultural sector is set up to suffice this need. While throughout history, and perhaps today in other places in the world, individual households would grow their own food, not relying on an industry of agriculture (see Great Leap Forward?), many places in our modern world are set up economically and socially such that farmers, a relatively small portion of the populace, cultivate land to feed nations and states, whose people are dispersed in a variety of other sectors.

Government

819297_2 — 2024-08-16 21:36:45 UTC

Government is at the core of most countries, especially the United States. Our government is a democracy with three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial, with the president acting as the head of state and the head of government. The purpose of government is to protect citizens and keep society orderly and safe. Governments are there to maintain law and order and enforce justice and peace. Some other forms of government are monarchy, oligarchy, authoritarianism, and totalitarianism.

Infrastructure

818967_2 — 2024-08-16 21:36:53 UTC

Because of globalization and the human need for communication and community, infrastructure has become an important part of our world. In our modern world nations and their people have moved to be interconnected and interdependent. This could not happen without infrastructure which supports communication and transportation, in turn assisting, for example, the exportation of rice from Nepal to California. Infrastructure also helps us achieve our human needs of communication and community, by providing the appropriate technologies.

Social Class

819297_2 — 2024-08-16 21:37:00 UTC

Although many believe that social class is an archaic thing of the past, it is still predominant in today's world. There are still those considered low, middle, and high class, based on factors such as their socioeconomic status, income, and how society views them, to name a few. There are the most people at the bottom and the fewest at the top of the pyramid to represent how there are far more lower-class citizens than higher-class ones. Those at the bottom of the social pyramid are often viewed as "lesser" and often have lower income-jobs and struggle to afford necessities. Middle-class citizens often use almost exactly what they earn, and have a moderate lifestyle with few luxuries in it. As for the high class, they tend to be rich - either through nepotism, luck, or their work - and have an excess of resources that they use to make their lives more comfortable. In a capitalist economy like America, everyone earns different amounts based on their job and work, causing the socioeconomic gap between different social classes to grow. This is why many find it difficult to leave poverty behind or rise above their station, yet aspiring social climbers remain.

Language

819297_2 — 2024-08-16 21:37:16 UTC

Language is one of the most important aspects of life today. Since the beginning of time, species have found ways to communicate, but language is the most developed it has been among humans. With over 7,000 languages in the world, people are able to communicate with each other like never before in the past. Language ties people together and allows them to express their thoughts, opinions, and more. It has even become ingrained in cultures - American culture predominantly features American English and French culture, French, for example. Additionally, it is interconnected with the topics of technology and culture as there are so many language-learning apps spreading across the world, from Duolingo to HelloTalk. However, language can also serve as a barrier. Those who do not speak the same language often struggle to communicate and understand each other.

Housing

819448_3 — 2024-08-16 21:37:43 UTC

Almost everyone lives in a house. As our modern world would have it, many could not live without one. It is a commonly known fact that houses were inspired by earlier iterations of the same structural idea, but in current civilization, housing is often unique to the needs of the being(s) living within them, making it one of the most useful adaptations that humans have made as a society.

Poverty

818967_2 — 2024-08-16 21:37:47 UTC

Poverty, an economic status, comes as a result of the very social structure of our modern world and the economic system(s) used by this world. People land in poverty because of an inability to accumulate the necessary wealth to afford certain basic needs, like housing or food. The way people are viewed in our modern world by our societies may prevent people from gaining the means to this wealth, like a job. Discrimination may make an interview process impossible to pass, while redlining may prevent people from gaining wealth through housing. Poverty can also be imparted to the economic systems of our modern world. Specific types of Capitalism allow certain groups to dominate others, creating separate classes in societies. The laboring class may have so little wealth compared to upper classes that it may drift into poverty.

Natural Landscapes

819448_3 — 2024-08-16 21:38:56 UTC

From climbing sites to computer wallpapers, landscapes have played an enormous role in the modernization of our world. Not only have we as a society changed, but so have these landmarks, eroding and shifting according to the movement of Earth itself. These lands have served humans as a species for as long as history can tell, inspiring many other aspects of human life.

Technology

819448_3 — 2024-08-16 21:39:28 UTC

As something that human society relies on for everyday life function, it may seem as if the world could not operate without the advanced technology and devices that it currently uses to power civilization. However, it is evident that this is not the case. Inherently, technology is something that humans have always possessed, as it is defined as the application of scientific knowledge for the sake of convenience and practicality. Thinking back to the homo sapiens, the only way that humans could have evolved is by using what they knew to solve issues, otherwise known as the use of adaptation. To bring it back to relevance, "tech," especially in the modern-day, is something that we as a society cannot live without, making it one of the key elements of our dependence.

Education

818967_2 — 2024-08-16 21:39:48 UTC

Education arises from an aspect integral to life's existence itself: The imparting of knowledge from generation to generation. The ability to improve this knowledge has distinguished humans from all other species. Many places in our modern world have the institution of education to most efficiently capitalize on this transition of knowledge, and subsequent improvement. Learners, this way, can better their world. Similarly, education has been created to prepare the young to live and participate in their world. All societies in our modern world depend on a consistent work force. School assists younger generation in filling the various sectors of economy and culture that our societies depend on.

What makes up the World? (Addya, Noah, Melissa, Matthew)

819448_3 — 2024-08-18 22:06:12 UTC

Our world functions upon the use of order and hierarchical structure, whether that be a dictatorship or a democratic government. The aspects of our modern society are also built upon unobvious importance, starting from ideas moving to institutions and ending at tangible elements. Thus, we have chosen to base our poster on the view of a skyscraper, taking advantage of the structural perspective. The bottom level represents ideas, the foundation of society. Moving upwards, the second level are institutions, and the top are tangible things in our modern world. All of the different sets work together to create our modern world as we know it today.