3. HISTORY

Version 1.4 November 2016                                                       (Previous Version)

History is fascinating, but complicated.

Most of us have a limited knowledge of history, focussed on our ethnicity, religion or nationality.  There are often great disputes over what historically occurred, which events are more important, and what lessons can be drawn.  Some will see the same events but draw different conclusions.

·       Many focus on politics and economics, using the past to support or oppose governments now.

·       Some conservatives invent an idealised time in the past that they think was better than today. 

·       Some religious people see in history the work of God, hundreds or thousands of years ago, or evidence for the divine, or proof that their sacred texts are true revelations, or prophecies.

·       Racists and nationalists interpret the history of their ethnic or national group as evidence of their moral superiority and that ancient atrocities show the descendants of old enemies are vile.

We begin our history by explaining how humans spread to all the continents, and the local geography influenced how civilisation developed in Eurasia (the Middle East, India and China) and the Americas (North and South), but struggled in Africa and didn’t arise in Australia.  We cover technological developments and the spread of knowledge, especially across Eurasia, the rise and fall of the colonial period, the slow advance of human rights, the world today, and future trends.

It is said that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.  History provides lessons on what is likely to happen in some situations, but historical lessons are less certain even than those from science.

We look at history under the following headings, to see what is worth learning from each period:

Historical Methods:	How do we know what is true in history?	Is it reasonable to break down history into these seven subject areas, to understand how our global society got to be as it is? Click on feedback, or add a comment below, to tell us if you agree or disagree, or suggest improvements.
Archaeology:	How did humans inhabit the Earth?
Antiquity:	How did the ancient civilisations begin?
The Medieval:	How knowledge spread in the middle ages.
Colonialism:	How did the colonial world develop?
Post Colonialism:	How did human rights begin?
Futurism:	What are the current and future trends?

History, like science, doesn’t tell us what we should do: it doesn’t lead directly to core values.  However, from history we learn that freedom and democracy are to be valued, as effecting values, because they promote core values of truth, diversity, life, love, responsibility, equality and hope.

History also shows how the ancillary virtues, such as courage, duty and honour, can support evil purposes as well as good ones.  We can respect that an adversary shows courage, or is doing their duty by their country or culture, while at the same time saying that their ultimate goals are flawed.  History shows ancillary virtues are not core values, not good choices in themselves.  They are only to be valued when they are in support of worthy causes consistent with our core values.