David Christian
David Christian
detailed historians job maps neglect
Unfortunately, historians have become so absorbed in detailed research that they have tended to neglect the job of building larger-scale maps of the past.
maps creation modern
Maps of Time attempts to assemble a coherent and accessible account of origins, a modern creation myth.
ask history string turns
You go to the cosmologists and ask how they tell the history of the universe; you go to the geologists, how do they tell the story of the earth, and the biologists, and then you string them together. And it turns out that when you string them together, if you do it carefully, there's a story that is coherent, engaging, fantastically interesting.
history nations ought particular teaching
I had this feeling that, somehow, we ought to be teaching not just the history of particular nations or particular regions, but the history of humanity.
almost billion build clear creates dangers dominates earth four gives great humans life power societies species understand
Humans are remarkable: the first species in almost four billion years of life on earth that dominates the biosphere. This gives us the power, in principle, to build societies in which everyone flourishes. But it also creates great dangers because it is not clear that we really understand how to use our potentially devastating powers.
answer ask cannot courses existing full goes human kid mean school
Every kid goes to school full of questions about meaning. You know, 'What's my place in the universe? What does it mean to be a human being? What are human beings?' Existing courses cannot help you answer those questions. They can't even help you ask them.
history normally
What we normally define as history doesn't interest me. It's a constraint.
global high history lots love normal school taught
Our goal is to see Big History become a normal part of high school curricula. I'd love to see it being taught in lots of languages. A global course.
history unifying
I think what I was after was a unifying story that could bring everything together, that could give me a sense of the whole of history.
indigenous large origin provide stories
All religions, all indigenous traditions, all origin stories provide a large map of where you are.
appeared biologists details few focused historians history human knowledge links material modern physicists scientific studied tackled wrote
Modern scientific knowledge appeared piecemeal. Historians wrote about human history; physicists tackled the material world; and biologists studied the world of living organisms. But there were few links between these disciplines, as researchers focused on getting the details right.
energy horse learning sort
Learning to domesticate the horse was a sort of energy revolution.
Gravity is more powerful where there's more stuff.
beings believe collective complexity dangers face fragility history human learning mark nature threshold
I believe human beings mark a threshold in the development of the planet, of course, but it is only part of the picture. What Big History can do is show us the nature of our complexity and fragility and the dangers that face us, but it can also show us our power, with collective learning.