The document discusses big history and how humans have changed over time. It notes that all humans originated from a single tribe in Africa that slowly migrated across the world over 35,000 years. Cultural beliefs and institutions help societies adjust to change, but questioning leads to new beliefs and innovations that drive further change. Environmental factors like natural disasters influenced human development in different parts of the world, with some areas experiencing more prosperity due to greater resources and ability to migrate and trade. Exploration and changing trade routes in the 15th century impacted global economics and cultural beliefs.

1. Big History By Tiffany Jacobs HIST 140 #50607

2. What Do We Believe? We each have our own truths and belief systems We are willing to fight & some, to die, to maintain our belief systems When a solution/belief suits us, we institutionalize it Cultures try to adjust to constant change by implementing rituals and institutions Institutions act as a safety barrier to change

3. How Do We Change? It is human nature to question & the questioning will cause change to an institution Questions can lead to new beliefs & solutions Solutions result in innovations, and innovations shape cultures & spawn change The day one questions is the first day the universe will change for them Knowledge has the power to change beliefs

4. How Did We Get Here? The world was small in the beginning Imagine a small tribe in Africa asked the question “What’s over there?” This tribe from Africa traveled from their home, all over the world, to South America. It took over 35,000 years to make the journey The world was populated as this tribe traveled the entire earth

5. Where/Who Did We Come From? We are all related and are separated by over 2,000 generations of ancestors Some cultures are more comfortable with this belief than others There is no logical reason for divisions among us based on race or ethnicity We all come from the same place and are made of the same DNA

6. Was it An Accident? The world is perpetually unstable Some instability comes from human actions and reactions Cultures are perpetually in flux due to innovations, beliefs, and change Nature is an unpredictable force with catastrophic events These forces impact the course of humans

7. Did God Do This To Us? Natural forces affect the world Volcanoes, floods, famines, droughts, crop failureand storms created an apocalyptic environment Human forces react to the natural changes Empires collapsed, epidemics spread, religion was shunned/embraced Unstable areas were destabilized and it altered the course of man

8. Why Are Some Better Than Others? Some cultures have historically fared better than others Some cultures have been annihilated “Innovation sustains success while complacency leads to stagnation and decline.” ~B. Gates The differences have nothing to do with race/ethnicity and everything to do with luck, chance, fate, or destiny… choose your belief

9. What’s the Difference? Significant environmental differences were the key factors in prosperity & growth vs. decline & depravity Continental differences affected the well-being of the populations: Variation and proliferation of plant and animal life Ability to migrate and diffuse through the land mass Larger population = greater innovation Unity had pros and cons for continents

10. What Was Going On? 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue The world’s economy was centered in Asia Asia was strongly unified on many points: Language, Territory, Rule, Exploration Europe had disunity on many points Language, Territory, Religion, Innovations Religion was a hot topic even then Jews were expelled from Spain Muslim desired to establish world-wide caliphate Christianity was having growing pains

11. Why Did We Get Here? Desire to innovate trade routes brought Spanish Exploration to the forefront Trade was changing beliefs about commodities, “currencies”, and product trends Countries that developed faster due to greater natural resources now had greater need for new & different products like coffee Christianity may have been ‘saved’ by Spanish development of the New World