--- title: "Civilization: agricultural, industrial, information society" subject: "Technology, Environment and Society" chapter: 3 key: "semester_7/technology_environment_and_society:enlighten-civilization-societies" source: https://www.bctengineer.com/q/semester_7/technology_environment_and_society/enlighten-civilization-societies site: BCT Engineering --- # Civilization: agricultural, industrial, information society Technology, Environment and Society · Chapter 3: Brief History of Human Civilization - Asked in: 2071 Shrawan, 6.5 marks - Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort) on 2026-10-14 - Page: https://www.bctengineer.com/q/semester_7/technology_environment_and_society/enlighten-civilization-societies - Whole chapter: https://www.bctengineer.com/md/semester_7/technology_environment_and_society/chapter-3 ## Question How do you enlighten the civilization? Compare agriculture society with industrial society and how industrial societies enter into information society? ## Short answer Civilization is enlightened through education, reason, and freedom. Agricultural society depended on land and manual labour; industrial society on machines and capital. Industrial societies transitioned to information society as automation shifted labour to services, and knowledge and ICT became the main economic resource. ## Answer **Civilisation** is an advanced stage of human society with settled life, cities, government, writing, division of labour, science and culture. It is "enlightened" when people replace ignorance, superstition and blind authority with **knowledge, reason, science, education and humane values**. This happened in Europe during the Renaissance and the **Age of Enlightenment** (17th–18th century: Newton, Locke, Voltaire, Rousseau). #### How civilisation can be enlightened - Spread of **education and literacy** to all. - Use of **reason and scientific method** instead of superstition. - **Freedom of thought, speech and press**; respect for human rights and democracy. - Use of **technology** for welfare, with ethics ("science with humanity"). - Equality of gender, caste and class; rule of law. - Protection of the environment and culture. #### Agricultural society vs industrial society | Point | Agricultural society | Industrial society | |---|---|---| | Main activity | Farming, livestock | Factory production | | Main resource | Land | Capital, machines | | Energy | Human, animal | Coal, steam, electricity | | Settlement | Villages | Cities | | Family | Joint, large | Nuclear, small | | Work | Seasonal, by family | Fixed hours, wage labour | | Social class | Landlord and peasant | Capitalist and worker | | Change | Slow | Fast | #### How industrial societies entered into information society 1. Automation reduced factory jobs, and labour shifted to services. 2. Transistor, IC and microprocessor made cheap computers. 3. Computers and telecommunication (satellite, optical fibre, internet, mobile) spread information instantly. 4. Knowledge, software and data became the main source of wealth. 5. Higher education produced knowledge workers; R&D grew. 6. Globalisation moved manufacturing abroad while rich countries kept information work. Information society thus has knowledge as its key resource, networked organisations and ICT in every sector. ## Check yourself The answer's key points as multiple-choice questions, with the correct option and why. 1. A civilisation is 'enlightened' when: A. Knowledge, reason, science and education replace ignorance, superstition and blind authority B. Technology is used without ethics C. Authority is accepted without question D. Cities replace all villages Answer: A. Enlightenment means reason and humane values over superstition. (Key point: Enlightening civilisation) 2. What is the main resource in agricultural and industrial societies respectively? A. Capital, then land B. Land, then capital and machines C. Information, then land D. Energy, then information Answer: B. Agricultural societies depend on land; industrial ones on capital and machines. (Key point: Agriculture vs industry: resource) 3. Which pair describes industrial society? A. Cities and nuclear families B. Villages and joint families C. Seasonal work by family D. Landlord and peasant classes Answer: A. Industrial society has cities, small families, wage labour and capitalist-worker classes. (Key point: Family and settlement) 4. Which is a step in how industrial society became an information society? A. Factories replaced all computers B. Land became the main source of wealth C. Computers and telecommunications spread information instantly and knowledge became the main source of wealth D. Globalisation stopped Answer: C. ICT spread and knowledge became the key resource. (Key point: Entry to information society) ## Related in Technology, Environment and Society - [Characteristics of agriculture, industrial and information age](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_7%2Ftechnology_environment_and_society%3Aagriculture-industrial-info-age) — Technology, Environment and Society, chapter 1 - [Agricultural society entering information society](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_7%2Ftechnology_environment_and_society%3Aagricultural-to-info-society) — Technology, Environment and Society, chapter 3 - [Compare industrial age and information age](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_7%2Ftechnology_environment_and_society%3Acompare-industrial-info-age) — Technology, Environment and Society, chapter 1, asked 2× - [Industrial society entering information society](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_7%2Ftechnology_environment_and_society%3Aindustrial-to-info-society) — Technology, Environment and Society, chapter 3, asked 2× - [Renaissance as foundation of industrial society](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_7%2Ftechnology_environment_and_society%3Arenaissance-foundation-industrial) — Technology, Environment and Society, chapter 3 - [Industrial vs information age; information as wealth](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_7%2Ftechnology_environment_and_society%3Aindustrial-vs-info-age-wealth) — Technology, Environment and Society, chapter 1, asked 2× ## Related in other subjects - [Co-operative societies and their types](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_7%2Forganization_and_management%3Acooperative-societies) — Organization and Management, chapter 4 - [Short note: Soils for agriculture](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_6%2Firrigation_and_drainage_engineering%3Asoils-agricultural-purposes-note) — Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, chapter 2