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History 1

History 1. Spring 2014 Irvine Valley College Stephen Felder, Ph.D. Stephen Felder, Professor of History and Humanities. Ph.D. in History from UCI Teaching Humanities, History, and Classics at . . . UCI Scripps College UCR CSULB. The Cosmic Calendar

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History 1

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  1. History 1 Spring 2014 Irvine Valley College Stephen Felder, Ph.D.

  2. Stephen Felder,Professor of History and Humanities • Ph.D. in History from UCI • Teaching Humanities, History, and Classics at . . . • UCI • Scripps College • UCR • CSULB

  3. The Cosmic Calendar http://visav.phys.uvic.ca/~babul/AstroCourses/P303/BB-slide.htm

  4. The History of World History: • Sacred History vs. Secular History • “Prehistoric” vs. Historical • Cities? • Writing? • Nations? • Sacred Prehistory: Eden, The Flood, The Tower of Babel • Secular Prehistory: • Hunting-herding-agriculture-civilization • Tribes-totemic societies-complex societies. • Tribal headship-chieftaincies-states. • Superstition-magic-religion. • Camps-hamlets-villages-cities. • Conjectural History: Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, Freud

  5. The End of the “Short Chronology” • Shark Teeth found on mountaintops • Charles Lyell. Principles of Geology. 1830’s. • First half of 19th century, excavating tools, jewelry, etc. alongside the remains of now-extinct animals. • Lyell. Geological Evidence for the Antiquity of Man. (1868)

  6. Problems with documents: • They are just one kind of trace. • They need to be contextualized. • They do not offer straightforward readings.

  7. Excursus: Deep History of Human Sexuality • The Incompetence of Human Infants • -Lack fine motor control for using tools and acquiring food • -Our food gathering requires large brains • Long period of maternal investment • But also long period of paternal investment, given food-gathering. • Confidence in Paternity is important.

  8. From Jared Diamond, The Third Chimpanzee.

  9. Penis size as plumage? As threat? • Hidden Ovulation: Some theories • Enhance cooperation and reduce aggression among males. • Cement bond between couples. • Meat-sharing motivation (cf. chimpanzees). • Motivate a more enduring bond from the male. • Evolved so females can manipulate males by confusing paternity. • Human birth is painful and risky, so this adaptation is a way for women to deceive themselves.

  10. All humans living today share a common human ancestor dating back to 150,000 years ago and living in Africa. But we share common ancestors with chimpanzees from 5 to 7 million years ago.

  11. What Is Big History and How Do We Study It?

  12. “For, in fact, what is man in nature? A Nothing in comparison with the infinite, an All in comparison with the Nothing, a mean between nothing and everything. Since he is infinitely removed from contemplating the extremes, the end of things and their beginnings are hopelessly hidden from him in an impenetrable secret; he is equally incapable of seeing the Nothing from which he was made, and the infinite in which he is swallowed up.” – Blaise Pascal, Pensées72 (1660)

  13. Old Man came from the south, making the mountains, the prairies, and the forests as he passed along, making the birds and the animals also. He traveled northward making things as he went, putting red paint in the ground here and there – arranging the world as we see it He made the Milk River and crossed it; being tired, he went up on a little hill and lay down to rest. As he lay on his back, stretched out on the grass with his arms extended, he marked his figure with stones. You can see those rocks today – they show the shape of his body, legs, arms and hair…Old Man covered the plains with grass for the animals to feed on. He marked off a piece of ground and in it made all kinds of roots and berries to grow: camas, carrots, turnips, bitterroot, sarvisberries, bull-berries, cherries, plums, and rosebuds…

  14. The Question of Faith and Cosmology. • According to Haught, why are origin stories so important to us? • How would you characterize and evaluate the role of story in Haught’s essay? • What does Haught suggest are the options available in thinking about the relationship between religion and science?

  15. Scene from HBO’s True Detective

  16. Chronometric Revolution • Radiometric dating • Genetic dating

  17. What is Big History? Modern scientific origin story. Universal history.

  18. Ingredient + Goldilocks Conditions = New Form of Complexity • Complex Things: • Consist of multiple diverse components • Arranged within a precise structure • Have new or emergent properties • Appear only when the conditions are just right • Held together by flows of energy

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