Big History


Big History,

I had never heard of  Big History before. It is a new concept to me.
 Big History is a multidisciplinary approach to history from the Big Bang to the present day which attempts to explore the human history in this wider context. But is this appropriate? What is the definition of history?  Is that the history of the Universe from the beginning of time? Or is it the story of the much shorter time of the human existence on Earth ? Certainly humans are a mere speck in the Universe, but modern science in the last several hundred years has convinced us that the earth and humans are not at the center of the Universe. We don’t need Big History to convince us of this.
Is history appropriately his-story (a feminist critic of standard historiography)? It should remain the attempt to explain how humans went from point A to point B. Why did feudalism arise? Why was it replaced by capitalism? Why were there revolutions in America, France, and Russia, and why did they turn out as they did? The origins of the cosmos and basic scientific and mathematical concepts should be a part of everyone’s basic knowledge base, and so should the concepts and methodology of history. It is not necessary to integrate all of these disparate methodologies into a “Big History.”
Maybe I am not in accord with the majority over our class blog on this topic. I have concern that I am the only one who has this opinion, but different opinions make for an interesting class.  

References /Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/07/magazine/so-bill-gates-has-this-idea-for-a-history-class.html

https://hssonline.org/resources/publications/newsletter/april-2016-newsletter/what-is-big-history/

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/10/big-history-bill-gates-uk-state-schools-education


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