Big History: Origin Stories Paper Example

Briefly describe two traditional origin stories and compare them to the origin story you grew up with or is most familiar to you.

Societies tell stories from everywhere around the world, and each of the traditional origin stories is based on events and real people. These stories contain both emotional and powerful symbols. One of the origin stories is Judeo Christian, which comes from Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament. This story was written thousand years ago about how God created heavens and earth before creating man from dust (Buonarroti, 2011). The story describes how God created the universe in six days since it was shapeless, and darkness was everywhere. Each day is narrated, illustrating what God created on that particular day. At the end of the sixth day, God had created everything that human being needed to survive on the earth.

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Similarly, I grew up in a society where everybody believed that the biblical scripture explains the origin of the earth and the origin of human being. Another traditional origin story is the story of Santa Claus, whose name was surrounded by many legends. The real name of Santa Claus was St. Nicholas, and he represented a symbol. He was believed to have traveled from his home to give hungry children honey cake and fruits. Correspondingly, as a child, I thought that Santa was a real person, especially during Christmas until I grew years older.

What is the relationship between the emergence of complexity, energy flows, and the Goldilocks conditions? Give examples.

The occurrence of complexity, energy flow, and Goldilocks conditions contribute to the long history of the universe. They are the core concepts for the long history. Complexity refers to the emerging patterns of the universe; energy flows are the drivers to the emergence and goldilocks conditions refers to when and where (Nanyang Technological University, 2015). In the early ages, the universe was less complex or complexity did not exist at all. However, when the world started to evolve some portions became more complex. For example, when making a cake, different ingredients are required to combine them with precise arrangements to come up with a finished cake.

The energy flows to ensure that things are made simpler since when creating the universe more complex more power is required. A good example that illustrates complexity and energy flows is the big bang, which shows how everything was formed from nothing. Lastly, the Goldilocks conditions create a significant change when the conditions are right and the time is appropriate.

Discuss the different perspectives brought to Big History from the sciences, humanities and the social sciences. Give examples.

Different scholarly disciplines generate vast information on the long history. However, some of the perspectives brought to significant history overlap. Some are speculative and others personal thoughts. According to studies, long history targets human beings to empower them with the knowledge that will help them understand the world they live. Long history maps the present on the past, hence enabling everybody to comprehend how today's world was formed (Christian, 2017). For instance, how creatures and other living organisms surrounding us evolved. Just like science, the long history resists any extreme form of relativism and skepticism. It is all about naturalist and realist foundations.

The long history is perceived as a story, which narrates about the past as well. For example, all human communities have constructed origin stories about their surroundings. Some scientists specifically believe that long history is the first origin story for all humans. Moreover, long history is viewed as a foundation story for the Anthropocene Epoch. This perception builds on the intellectual accomplishments of modern science in the 21st century. For instance, scientific knowledge could be used to determine human energy use, rational numbers, and human interconnectedness.

In story form, place the significant events of the cosmic history of the first four thresholds in order as outlined by Big Historians.

David Christian, one of the prominent historians, structured cosmic history around eight fundamental thresholds. However, I will discuss the first four thresholds. The first threshold is the origins of big bang cosmology, which is the creation of the universe. This occurred 13.7 billion years ago, and during this moment, the ever-evolving story of creation was pieced together through scientific evidence. The second threshold is the first stars and galaxies, which illustrates the nature of complex objects such as stars (David Christian, 2018).

After the creation of the universe, the first was seen more than 12 billion years ago. Raw materials and energy were provided by these objects for later forms of complexity. The third threshold is making chemical elements, which allowed the chemically complex entities to be created inside the dying stars. These entities included the planet and human being. Lastly, the fourth threshold is the earth and the solar system, where our world and the solar system was created. More complex objects than stars were built here.

Explain what we know about how life began, evolved, and how Homo sapiens developed.

We all know different theories about how life began. Even scientists tell us different stories about the evolution of life. Therefore, it is impossible to be sure how life started on earth. However, the most historically addressed theory is the evolution of Homo sapiens. All the living human being and species are believed to belong to home sapiens, which evolved in Africa (Stringer, 2016). They grew 300, 000 years ago during a dramatic climate change.

Just like any other early humans, Homo sapiens were able to hunt and gather foods, and also evolved behaviors which enabled them to survive in unstable environments. Homo sapiens do not have a specific specimen like every other species. Modern humans have lighter skeletons compared to earlier humans. Additionally, modern humans have larger brains concerning sizes between males and females.

What does Big History teach us about how humans spread across the globe and the notion of race?

The significant history teaches us how modern humans have lived for the last 200, 000 years. Because the earth has been around for the last 4.7 billion years, this is not very long (Christian, 2017). During the period we have been on earth the population has been growing pretty slow. Nevertheless, after human being started to farm and settle down, the community began to spike. We can also learn that after the enormous leaps forwarded in medicine and technology was introduced the number of humans grew even faster.

As humans spread across the globe, food was made available and cheaper by the industrial revolution. The population doubled in the 18th century, and this is the time when people understood about diseases and illness. Fortunately, antibiotics and vaccines were discovered in the 20th century before many people died. Ultimately, we can learn how people became many, and they had to be divided into several parts of the globe. Consequently, this contributed to the togetherness of cultures and people of the same race.

How and why did agriculture develop and why is it important?

Agriculture developed around 12,000 years ago. This changed the way people lived and the society as a whole. The hunter-gatherer ancestors were the ones who first tried the hand at farming, where they grew a variety of crops such as barley, lentils, and peas (Thrall, 2010). They also herded wild animals like wild oxen and goats. It has been long believed that a single group of ancestral humans started farming. The development of agriculture varied from place to place.

However, the main reason why hunter-gatherers began to cultivate was that the human population had exploded and they needed more food to keep them going (Thrall, 2010). It was important to develop agriculture because it employs many people hence contributing to economic growth. When the agricultural sector is stable, it also secures food for the nation. Ultimately, agriculture is an excellent opportunity for employment, due to the labor force.

Explain the industrial revolution and its importance.

The industrial revolution was discovered in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was during that period when the rural societies in America and Europe became predominantly agrarian, urban and industrial. In Britain industrial revolution began in the late 1700s, however before then people manufactured in their own homes using basic machines and hand tools (Stearns, 2018). As a result of industrialization, people shifted to factories, powered special-purpose machinery, and mass production. This development played a significant role because it improved banking, communication, and system of transportation.

Furthermore, the industrial revolution was essential because the variety and volume of manufactured goods increased drastically. The living standards for people improved, especially the poor got employed, and their living conditions improved. Initially, life was difficult for people, since they resided in their small rural communities, where they participated in farming.

In story form, place the significant events of the history of the last six thresholds in order as outlined by Big Historians.

The last six threshold begins from the third one who is making chemical elements. In this threshold, chemically complex entities are created inside a dying star. The fourth threshold is the earth and the solar system, where our planet and the solar system was designed. More complex objects than stars were built here. Life follows as the fifth threshold, in which life is formed on the earth.

Additionally, this threshold assesses the history of our ancestors from six million years ago (David Christian, 2018). The 6th threshold is what makes humans different, in which Homo sapiens or our species were created about 250,000 years ago. The seventh threshold is about agriculture, which describes the agrarian era of human history. Lastly, the modern revolution is addressed in the 8th threshold, where a series of transformation that shows how today unified and complex world it was created.

Describe the ninth (future) threshold. How do you see your future as a result of this?

The ninth threshold might be the population and energy consumption, in which all sectors may collapse to increased growth. In my viewpoint, the emission of CO2 and the use of fossil fuel might increase than ever before. As a result, the biodiversity of most sectors is likely to decline much faster than the earth is changing.

The biosphere is most likely to get affected but I believe by that time biologists and scientist will have figured out a solution to overcome or prevent them. After all, I believe people have always been faced with many challenges, which they resolve using their unique capabilities. By that time new ideas, solutions, and technologies will have been developed. Therefore, chances of collapsing are meager. Ultimately, I believe that scientists are already working on the future to prevent the earth from collapsing.

References

Buonarroti, M. (2011). JUDEO-CHRISTIAN. Retrieved from www.biblegateway.com

David Christian, D. P. (2018). The Eight Fundamental Thresholds of Big History.

Nanyang Technological University. (2015). Complexity, Emergence, Humanity & the History of the Universe.

Thrall, P. H. (2010). Evolutionary change in agriculture: the past, present, and future. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3352499/

Christian, D. (2017). What is long history? Journal of Big History, 1(1), 4-19.

Stringer, C. (201...