Question

Transformation of ideas, thoughts and practices of people in a long period of time is called__
A)Revolution
B)Evolution
C)Revolt
D)None of the above

Answer 1

Hint: Change is inevitable. People’s ideas, thoughts and practices change as change is the only thing constant. This change could be gradual or sudden. These changes in society could be unilinear, multilinear and even continuous.

Complete Step by Step answer:
Let us understand all the terms that have been given as options for the question.Revolution means change that has been brought suddenly. Radical change of the status quo is called revolution. For example the French Revolution or the Russian revolution which drastically changed the forms of government and polity in France and Russia respectively.Revolt , like revolution, means rebellion and sudden change in practices. However, revolt is smaller in scale than revolution.
Evolution, thought most commonly used in biological sense, is relevant in social science too. Social evolution connotes slow and gradual change in society and practices, and most often it carries with it the notion that the change in question is progressive.Various theorists have given their own theories of evolution in society. Australian archaeologist V. Gordon Childe, identified two great evolutionary transformations in human history. The first he called the Neolithic Revolution, which was associated with the domestication of plants and animals and led to larger and more settled societies. The second evolutionary transformation is called the Urban Revolution, which was marked by the emergence of the city, the development of sharp class divisions, and of the form of political organization known as the state.These changes took place over hundreds of years and not just one, but a series of factors have triggered them.

Therefore, the correct answer is option (B).

Note: It is important to know that though some changes in history have been called ‘revolution’ ,they were not at all sudden and were in fact gradual changes spanned out over hundred years. For example , Industrial revolution in England was not an overnight -radical change but was a transition to new manufacturing processes in Europe.