The contemporary world refers to the present time, the current era in which we live. It encompasses the social, cultural, economic and political realities of the modern age. The contemporary world is characterized by rapid technological advances, globalization, interconnectedness and evolving social dynamics. However, this is all we can say to answer the question “what is the contemporary world?” This essay will evaluate whether the modern world we currently live in might actually be due to the way we acted and lived in the past. This will involve evaluating whether the spread and improvement of today's agriculture emerged from hunter-gatherers, while also considering whether we are the cause of change in the contemporary world and whether having a feudal system of ranks and power has made a difference to the world of today. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Although the contemporary world is rooted in the past, it is not determined exclusively by it. The present is shaped by historical events, cultural traditions and legacies of the past, which have laid the foundation for the current state of affairs. Historical developments, such as political revolutions, scientific discoveries, social movements and cultural changes, have all influenced and shaped the contemporary world. Changes in Agriculture and Feudalism in the Modern World Agriculture has developed significantly since it began to emerge around 10,000 years ago around the world. the world with practices such as rice cultivation. This was one of the main ways to grow foods such as grains as it was a simple and cheap process. This was because it was possible to produce large quantities of them at one time and save labor for the people who produced them. However, by constantly growing rice on the same plot of land, this is likely to cause damage to the soil as it leads to degradation. Thanks to this knowledge, currently farmers sometimes use fertilizers or pesticides on their crops such as rice, but they continue to damage the land after harvest. “As the spread of agriculture began to increase, farmers showed a remarkable ability to adapt their practices to local environmental conditions.” Many of the adaptations were due to the fact that farmers had to change the original layout of their land so that they could have more space to grow a variety of crops such as corn and wheat. This has been done primarily through the act of deforestation. Due to the removal of trees by hunter-gatherers to make way for more land, this has continued to the present day mainly due to the increase in population and range of diets whereby “approximately 18.7 millions of acres of forest, where the leftover land is then used primarily for livestock farming and palm oil production.” Feudalism was a classification system used and present primarily in 12th-14th century Europe, where people in society were placed into different ranks based on the power they had over others which was based primarily on economics and individual wealth of a person. Weingast states that “land represented the means to obtain power, wealth, and security,” meaning that those who had the most money could obtain the best land which was then used primarily for military and combat purposes. However, during the mid-14th century, the Black Death spread throughout Europe, causing most of the lower classes to become infected. When they died, it wasn't there.