For example, there have been at least five Massive "die offs" in the history of Earth. The greatest of these is arguably the Permian Mass Extinction which occurred about 250 million years ago. In this event, 96% of living species died.
Any subsequent events of this type would exist in a reality that contained the history of this extinction event. The Permian Mass Extinction becomes a smaller doll that fits into a larger doll, which may eventually end up in an even larger doll.
The use of the doll metaphor stands to minimize the grand scope of World History. It's almost comical when considering that World History is sometimes considered "Big History".
Cosmic Calendar
Although this version of the Cosmic Calendar is different than the version offered in our text, the example remains relevant. The history of the known universe is broken up into the course of a year in order to grasp the vastness and scope of the actions that have stood to form our physical reality now.
Some interesting things worth mentioning:
- The Milky Way galaxy was formed in March or April
- The first examples of life begin around September
Out of Africa
Human history primarily begins and is centralized around Africa. Beginning 150,000 years ago, the earliest signs of civilization were marked changes to society that were activities and habits that are indicative of modern man.
Some of these traits included:
- Living in forests and deserts as opposed to the types of habitats previously inhabited by man
- Hunting and fishing
- Body ornamentation
- Planned burials
The earliest evidence of mans progress in this way comes from the Blombos Cave in South Africa. Excavations in 2008 produced evidence of an ochre workshop that existed 100,000 years ago.
A Map of Time
Once humans began displaying organized skills, they also began to seek warmer climates, better resources, and different landscapes.
This prompted human migration. Below is a timeline of Human Migration:
250,000 - 200,000 Earliest Homo sapiens in Africa
100,000 - 60,000 Beginnings of migration out of Africa
70,000 Human entry into Eastern Asia
60,000 - 40,000 Human entry into Australia (first use of boats)
45,000 Human entry into Europe
30,000 Extinction of large mammals in Australia
30,000 - 15,000 Human entry into the Americas
30,000 - 17,000 Cave art in Europe
25,000 Extinction of Neanderthals
16,000 - 10,000 End of last Ice Age (global warming)
12,000 - 10,000 Earliest agricultural revolutions
11,000 Extinction of large mammals in North America
After 8,000 First chiefdoms in Mesopotamia
6,000 - 5,000 Beginning of domestication of corn in southern Mexico
3,500 - 1,000 Austronesian migration to Pacific islands and Madagascar
1,000 - 800 Human entry into New Zealand (last major region to receive human settlers)
The Way of the Spirit
One marked advancement int humanity is the religious or spiritual dimension, primarily established in the Paleolithic era. It is not possible to understand specifically how Paleolithic people approached the nonmaterial world, but one example can be found in the prevalence of Venus figurines and other symbols across Europe specifically.
It is thought that many gathering and hunting peoples likely developed a cyclical view of time which came directly from recurring patterns in nature. For example, the sunrise and sunset; changing seasons; the phases of the moon. This understanding of the cycle and the way of things showed a grasp of something bigger.
Three Big Eras
It is worth noting that human history can be categorized and watered down to three major eras.
Paleolithic Age
Agricultural Revolution
Industrial Revolution
Each of these time periods represent ages or eras that showed a marked differences in the approaches to technology, social habits and interactions within societies.
