Many of these examples appear to mix cause & effect: Stones tools had not been crafted due to the discovery of a new source of energy. Yet, they reinforced the power of humans.
Domestication of animals had not been based on the discovery of a new source of energy. Yet they reinforced human mobility. The steam engine was not developed due to an earlier discovery of a new source of energy. Instead, it was a new source of energy that was conducive for industrialization.
Whether we define the use of fire, the domestication of animals, or the steam engine, as a technology or a source of energy has no implications for our understanding of the role of the “wheels of change” – technological progress, population growth, and human adaptation – in orchestrating the transition from stagnation to growth. Technological progress made people more productive and generated faster population growth and human adaptation, and population growth & adaptation, in turn, fostered greater technological progress. Some of these technological advancements have indeed been reinforced by energy production but the emphasis on energy is secondary for the understanding of the take-off from stagnation to growth. It is the change in the technological environment that generated the demand for human capital and brought about the fertility decline that freed the growth process from the counter balancing effects of population.
Many of these examples appear to mix cause & effect: Stones tools had not been crafted due to the discovery of a new source of energy. Yet, they reinforced the power of humans.
Domestication of animals had not been based on the discovery of a new source of energy. Yet they reinforced human mobility. The steam engine was not developed due to an earlier discovery of a new source of energy. Instead, it was a new source of energy that was conducive for industrialization.
Whether we define the use of fire, the domestication of animals, or the steam engine, as a technology or a source of energy has no implications for our understanding of the role of the “wheels of change” – technological progress, population growth, and human adaptation – in orchestrating the transition from stagnation to growth. Technological progress made people more productive and generated faster population growth and human adaptation, and population growth & adaptation, in turn, fostered greater technological progress. Some of these technological advancements have indeed been reinforced by energy production but the emphasis on energy is secondary for the understanding of the take-off from stagnation to growth. It is the change in the technological environment that generated the demand for human capital and brought about the fertility decline that freed the growth process from the counter balancing effects of population.