Reflection 1

After reading the articles The Use of Fire, The Invention of the Wheel, and The History of Writing, I have gained a fair amount of insight. Sometimes I get so caught up in the now and I forget that the earth has been around for so long. If the skeptic can agree that the earliest use of controlled fire occurred at least 230,000 years ago and there's sparse evidence that there were controlled fires 1.4 million years ago I'm flabbergasted at old the earth may really be. Also I was unaware that predators would go after wounded animals after wildfires. This concept is similar to someone who doesn't have any money seeing someone drop money goes to pick it up and not tell the person who originally dropped it. I guess in the animal kingdom one animal lost life is another animal's gain. It also makes sense that humans would also go after the now disabled animals to possibly eat them and discover the warmth of fire. The Invention of the Wheel reminds me that everything is a process. It’s easy to think that the wheel was invented and everyone benefited from it and then the car was made, especially in our technologically advanced society. But I would think it safe to say that the invention of the wheel evolved out of a real need to make life simpler; not like today where people feel the need to have the most up to date gadget that in all actuality does the same thing their other entire gadgets do. The History of Writing is pretty epic. It’s interesting to see especially how the Phoenician, Early Greek, and Roman alphabets evolved into something recognizable by me. I also think it’s interesting how humans, thousands of years later, are still communicating through grunts and gestures (i.e. "huh" and pointing at things).
After the first time I read the articles, I was puzzled. "Why am I reading this?" I wondered. But after having a while and meditate on it, I have the answer. These articles are on the basis of civilization. Fire, wheels, and writing show some of our basic human needs; the need for food, the need for movement or transportation, and the need for communication with one another. As an education intern it’s important to understand the basis for society, the basis for the modern education system.