Big history project

1.

2.

WHAT ARE THRESHOLDS OF INCREASINGLY
COMPLEXITY?
• BIG HISTORY LOOKS AT THE UNIVERSE AS A SERIES OF MOMENTS CALLED THRESHOLDS.
THESE MOMENTS ARE CHARACTERISED BY A SET OF INGREDIENTS AND A SET OF
‘GOLDILOCKS CONDITIONS’ THAT RESULT IN NEW FORMS OF COMPLEXITY. BIG HISTORY
TELLS THE STORY OF THE UNIVERSE BY USING THESE MOMENTS TO DESCRIBE UNIVERSAL
CHANGE. IN THE BIG HISTORY COURSE AT ISLAND SCHOOL, WE WILL BE INVESTIGATING
THESE NINE THRESHOLDS:

3.

THRESHOLD 1 - THE BIG BANG
• THE BIG BANG REMAINS A MYSTERY IN MANY WAYS. WE HAVE A LOT OF
EVIDENCE FOR WHAT HAPPENED JUST AFTER THE EVENT BUT CAN ONLY GUESS
WHAT EXISTED BEFORE IT, IF ANYTHING, AND WHAT CONDITIONS MADE IT
POSSIBLE. EVEN SO, WE KNOW THE BIG BANG IS AN IMPORTANT THRESHOLD
BECAUSE IT CREATED TIME, SPACE, AND THE 'BUILDING BLOCKS' FOR
EVERYTHING IN THE KNOWN
UNIVERSE.

4.

THRESHOLD 2 - STARS LIGHT UP
• BEFORE STARS EXISTED, THE UNIVERSE WAS RELATIVELY COOL AND UNIFORM. GRAVITY
BROUGHT TOGETHER INDIVIDUAL HYDROGEN AND HELIUM ATOMS TO FORM GAS CLOUDS.
EVENTUALLY THESE GOT SO DENSE, THEY IGNITED AS STARS. GROUPS OF STARS FORMED
GALAXIES. GALAXIES FORMED GALAXY CLUSTERS. GALAXY CLUSTERS FORMED
SUPERCLUSTERS. FROM THAT POINT ON, THE UNIVERSE HAD BILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF
LONG LASTING ENERGY SOURCES.

5.

THRESHOLD 3 - NEW CHEMICAL ELEMENTS
• IT'S HARD TO MAKE AN ELEMENT. THE EARLY UNIVERSE HAD PLENTY OF HYDROGEN AND
HELIUM, BUT THE STUFF OF OUR WORLD NEEDS MORE COMPLEX. THE MASSIVE PRESSURE
AND HEAT OF A STAR WILL GIVE YOU ELEMENTS LIKE CARBON, OXYGEN AND IRON. BUT
OTHERS LIKE GOLD, SILVER AND POTASSIUM REQUIRE THE HIGHER TEMPERATURES OF THE
FIERY DEATH OF STAR FORMING SUPERNOVAE.

6.

THRESHOLD 4 - EARTH AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM
• AS THE FIRST STARS DIED, NEW STARS FORMED FROM THE CLOUDS OF ATOMS LEFT BEHIND.
THE REMAINING DEBRIS ORBITED AROUND THESE NEWBORN STARS AND EVENTUALLY
BECOME PLANETS. WITH MUCH GREATER CHEMICAL COMPLEXITY THAN A STAR, ROCKY
PLANETS LIKE OUR EARTH ARE PLACES WHERE REMARKABLE THINGS COULD HAPPEN.

7.

THRESHOLD 5 - LIFE ON EARTH
• EARTH PROVIDED A PERFECT ENVIRONMENT FOR LIFE. CHEMICALLY RICH, WITH LIQUID
WATER AND JUST THE RIGHT DISTANCE FROM THE SUN MADE AN IDEAL SETTING FOR LIFE TO
EMERGE. THESE NEW ORGANISMS HAD THE CAPACITY TO HARNESS ENERGY AND MATERIALS
FROM THEIR ENVIRONMENTS TO ADAPT TO CHANGING CONDITIONS AND REPRODUCE
THEMSELVES.
FROM THEM, A DIVERSE ARRAY OF LIFE EVOLVED.

8.

THRESHOLD 6 - COLLECTIVE LEARNING
• MANY CREATURES CAN LEARN. SOME CAN SHARE WHAT THEY LEARN. ONLY HUMANS CAN
SHARE IDEAS SO EFFICIENTLY THAT WE LEARN COLLECTIVELY AS A SPECIES. WE ARE
UNIQUELY POWERFUL BECAUSE WE USE SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE TO STORE AND CIRCULATE
INFORMATION THAT WOULD OTHERWISE DISAPPEAR WHEN INDIVIDUALS DIE. THIS ENABLES
US TO MANIPULATE AND REACT TO OUR ENVIRONMENTS LIKE NO OTHER SPECIES ON THE
PLANET.

9.

THRESHOLD 7 - AGRICULTURE
• EARLY HUMANS SURVIVED BY FORAGING FOR FOOD, MOVING FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER
AS THE SEASONS CHANGED OR RESOURCES WERE USED UP. THEN, IN SEVERAL LOCATIONS AT
THE SAME TIME ABOUT 11,000 YEARS AGO, HUMANS LEARNED HOW TO FARM. PEOPLE
STAYED IN ONE PLACE TO TEND CROPS. POPULATIONS EXPLODED. CIVILISATIONS FORMED
AND BECAME DIVERSE. COLLECTIVE LEARNING ACCELERATED.

10.

THRESHOLD 8 - THE MODERN REVOLUTION
• OVER A MERE 200,000 YEARS, HUMANS HAVE DEVELOPED A COMPLEX AND VERSATILE
EXCHANGE NETWORK. TODAY WE ARE 7 BILLION PEOPLE INTERACTING AS ONE INTERCONNECTED GLOBAL COMMUNITY. THIS SOCIETY IS SO POWERFUL THAT IT IMPACTS THE FATE
OF THE ENTIRE BIOSPHERE. WE HAVE YET TO EXPERIENCE THE IMPLICATIONS OF CROSSING
THIS THRESHOLD