Domestication of plants and animals is considered the "most momentous change in Holocene human history" according to Diamond (2002, p. 700). Although domestication provided us with a plethora of food sources, the process comes with consequences. Some of these drawbacks include allowing people to settle in one place (sedentary living) and greatly increase the human population, which continues today-this can be seen as a consequence as it creates intense competition for resources (Diamond, 2002). Other drawbacks include food surpluses which Diamond states is connected to political centralization and the creation of armies (2002). Infectious disease, spread through the large dense human populations that formed as a result of agricultural practices (Diamond, 2002). Possibly most pertinent to this class is Diamond's mention that domestication of animals has caused evolution of human genes (for example, the evolution of lactose-intolerant people) (Diamond, 2002).
References
Diamond, J. (2002). Evolution, consequences and future of plant and animal domestication. Nature, 418(6898), 700–707. doi:10.1038/nature01019
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