The concept of complexity is one of the most fundamental of big history fundamentals. The concept of complexity has great potential for understanding the shared qualities of otherwise disparate systems, explaining large-scale change, and comparing different types of complex systems, including human societies. Given this potential, it seems extraordinary that the concept has not penetrated the academic zeitgeist more thoroughly. I argue that four key roadblocks are holding the concept of complexity, and by extension, big history, from broader acceptance in the academy: first, the term “complexity” in its technical usage is not intuitive to people outside the fields of big history and complexity science; second, there is a lack of consensus even among big history scholars on the definition of complexity; third, measuring large-scale change over thousands, millions, or billions of years may lead to imprecision and oversimplification; and fourth, complexity, while an objective indicator of change, is closely tied to contested, subjective, culturally-specific notions of human progress. This paper argues that the concept of complexity, despite these roadblocks, has significant utility in fields that consider large-scale change. Ultimately, this paper aims to provide more clarity and precision around the concept of complexity to strengthen one of the key foundations of big history.
{"title":"The Problem with the Concept of Complexity","authors":"Maximillian Barnett","doi":"10.22339/jbh.v7i3.7101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22339/jbh.v7i3.7101","url":null,"abstract":"The concept of complexity is one of the most fundamental of big history fundamentals. The concept of complexity has great potential for understanding the shared qualities of otherwise disparate systems, explaining large-scale change, and comparing different types of complex systems, including human societies. Given this potential, it seems extraordinary that the concept has not penetrated the academic zeitgeist more thoroughly. I argue that four key roadblocks are holding the concept of complexity, and by extension, big history, from broader acceptance in the academy: first, the term “complexity” in its technical usage is not intuitive to people outside the fields of big history and complexity science; second, there is a lack of consensus even among big history scholars on the definition of complexity; third, measuring large-scale change over thousands, millions, or billions of years may lead to imprecision and oversimplification; and fourth, complexity, while an objective indicator of change, is closely tied to contested, subjective, culturally-specific notions of human progress. This paper argues that the concept of complexity, despite these roadblocks, has significant utility in fields that consider large-scale change. Ultimately, this paper aims to provide more clarity and precision around the concept of complexity to strengthen one of the key foundations of big history.","PeriodicalId":326067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Big History","volume":"67 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139534823","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Epidemic Cholera and Reform in the 19th Century","authors":"Seohyung Kim","doi":"10.22339/jbh.v6i1.6104","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22339/jbh.v6i1.6104","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":326067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Big History","volume":"43 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133983481","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
People who read history books – be it fact or fiction – try to identify and relate their own personal time-frame to the story. This allows them to personally locate themselves in a narrative. A story has the power to help us find connections to the past and find meaning in our present lives. But it is not powerful enough to simply encourage us to collectively act for the distant future, for such action needs exceptional imagination, critical thinking, and a sense of responsibility. Humans understand the world as a story, but we do not often experience our own lives in that large cohesive a narrative. Rather, we create it when we look back on our experiences later. So, our own story is an afterthought.
{"title":"From Story-Telling to Story-Exchange: A Shared Map to Navigate into the Future","authors":"Yuri Matsuzaki","doi":"10.22339/jbh.v6i1.6106","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22339/jbh.v6i1.6106","url":null,"abstract":"People who read history books – be it fact or fiction – try to identify and relate their own personal time-frame to the story. This allows them to personally locate themselves in a narrative. A story has the power to help us find connections to the past and find meaning in our present lives. But it is not powerful enough to simply encourage us to collectively act for the distant future, for such action needs exceptional imagination, critical thinking, and a sense of responsibility. Humans understand the world as a story, but we do not often experience our own lives in that large cohesive a narrative. Rather, we create it when we look back on our experiences later. So, our own story is an afterthought.","PeriodicalId":326067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Big History","volume":"40 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121579566","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Christianity and Western scientific knowledge have dominated academic research and its disciplinary education. At the same time, Indigenous knowledge and religious traditions have been dismissed as a way-of-knowing by Western and dominant power-structures. Since Tribal systems often cannot be easily quantified, they have been frequently dismissed as ‘superstitious,’ ‘primitive,’ or ‘unreliable.’ But recent works by Tribal peoples around the world have resulted in a growing recovery of Indigenous knowledge for the benefit of Native and non-native people alike. This paper looks at Indigenous values and practices as alternative ways to sustain people in close relationship with Nature. In the context of the present-day ecological crisis and global warming, we must seek sustainable development, such as by learning about Indigenous values and practices. This paper shares some vital traditions of the Tribal peoples of North East India. It also argues that the rights of Indigenous peoples must include their recognition of the validity and value of their collected knowledge and ways of knowing. Of interest to this paradigm shift is how the inclusive ways of Tribal knowledge occasionally intersect with Big Histories’ inclusiveness, especially in its Asian formulation.
{"title":"Indigenous Values and Sustainability","authors":"Yangkahao Vashum","doi":"10.22339/jbh.v6i1.6111","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22339/jbh.v6i1.6111","url":null,"abstract":"Christianity and Western scientific knowledge have dominated academic research and its disciplinary education. At the same time, Indigenous knowledge and religious traditions have been dismissed as a way-of-knowing by Western and dominant power-structures. Since Tribal systems often cannot be easily quantified, they have been frequently dismissed as ‘superstitious,’ ‘primitive,’ or ‘unreliable.’ But recent works by Tribal peoples around the world have resulted in a growing recovery of Indigenous knowledge for the benefit of Native and non-native people alike. This paper looks at Indigenous values and practices as alternative ways to sustain people in close relationship with Nature. In the context of the present-day ecological crisis and global warming, we must seek sustainable development, such as by learning about Indigenous values and practices. This paper shares some vital traditions of the Tribal peoples of North East India. It also argues that the rights of Indigenous peoples must include their recognition of the validity and value of their collected knowledge and ways of knowing. Of interest to this paradigm shift is how the inclusive ways of Tribal knowledge occasionally intersect with Big Histories’ inclusiveness, especially in its Asian formulation.","PeriodicalId":326067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Big History","volume":"26 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130315182","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper reports on the first big-history course at a Japanese high school. Aletheia Shonan High School is a private, co-educational institute in Chigasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. In April 2016, I introduced Big History in my World History class at Aletheia, and that class marks its eighth year as of 2023.
{"title":"Introduction of Big History Education in Japanese High School","authors":"Kenji Kemji","doi":"10.22339/jbh.v6i1.6108","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22339/jbh.v6i1.6108","url":null,"abstract":"This paper reports on the first big-history course at a Japanese high school. Aletheia Shonan High School is a private, co-educational institute in Chigasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. In April 2016, I introduced Big History in my World History class at Aletheia, and that class marks its eighth year as of 2023.","PeriodicalId":326067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Big History","volume":"25 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132228278","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Indigenous Knowledge: Contours for a Science of the Folk Community","authors":"Joel Regala","doi":"10.22339/jbh.v6i1.6103","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22339/jbh.v6i1.6103","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":326067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Big History","volume":"37 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124928840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Wang Dongyue’s Weakening Compensation: An Asian Approach for Big History","authors":"H. Katayama","doi":"10.22339/jbh.v6i1.6105","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22339/jbh.v6i1.6105","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":326067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Big History","volume":"29 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122978789","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Greetings and Welcome","authors":"Barry H. Rodrigue","doi":"10.22339/jbh.v6i1.6112","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22339/jbh.v6i1.6112","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":326067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Big History","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123740557","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Folklore as Big History","authors":"Theyiesinuo Keditsu","doi":"10.22339/jbh.v6i1.6101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22339/jbh.v6i1.6101","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":326067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Big History","volume":"12 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126375282","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In December 1998, Dongyue Wang, a polymath with almost no engagement in the academic community, published his work, 物演通论 [A Unified Theory of Evolution], in which he shared his new cosmological system – a model of existence that unifies every being with a simple, universal law. It is profound and a fundamental challenge to existing thought about perceptions of reality in our universe. Astonishingly, this ingenious, fundamental theory sprouted in China, which has almost no soil of philosophy to nourish it. While the literature of Laozi, Confucius and the Hundred Schools of Thought are recognized as Chinese metaphysics, little philosophy can be found afterwards for over 2000 years – until Wang appeared with his ideas that propose an ultimate principle of all beings, including the very basis of being and how changes of the properties of beings are possible.
{"title":"The General Law of Being: Article 1: Being of Interrelation","authors":"Ye Chen","doi":"10.22339/jbh.v6i1.6107","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22339/jbh.v6i1.6107","url":null,"abstract":"In December 1998, Dongyue Wang, a polymath with almost no engagement in the academic community, published his work, 物演通论 [A Unified Theory of Evolution], in which he shared his new cosmological system – a model of existence that unifies every being with a simple, universal law. It is profound and a fundamental challenge to existing thought about perceptions of reality in our universe. Astonishingly, this ingenious, fundamental theory sprouted in China, which has almost no soil of philosophy to nourish it. While the literature of Laozi, Confucius and the Hundred Schools of Thought are recognized as Chinese metaphysics, little philosophy can be found afterwards for over 2000 years – until Wang appeared with his ideas that propose an ultimate principle of all beings, including the very basis of being and how changes of the properties of beings are possible.","PeriodicalId":326067,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Big History","volume":"58 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124840843","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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