Can you teach the future and be optimistic? That is what I am going to focus on as I start the LBH project this year. In the past my students talk about global warming, an asteroid hitting the earth, or food shortages in a rising global population. All of these issues are important but I want to create a feeling of optimism as I stress to the kids that they can help solve the world's issue. Any suggestions for how to go about this monumental task?
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I think Big History makes a good case that in the future lies greater and greater unity. To me, the Big History theme looks like this:
subatomic particles unite into atoms
atoms unite into stars and larger atoms
larger atoms unite into planets and compounds
compounds unite into chemical cycles
chemical cycles unite into prokaryotic life
different prokaryotes unite into a eukaryote
single cells unite into multicellular organisms
organisms unite into communities, ecoystems
meanwhile, neurons unite into brains
brains unite into cultures
cultures unite into nations, economies
people unite materials into technologies
So if you continue that theme into the future, our different peoples, ecosystems, nations, economies, technologies unite into a single, integrated unity of higher complexity. Its E Pluribus Unum over and over again. -
Thank you Karen Wagersmith that is a great way to talk about unity while keeping the Big History themes.
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This is a great question. What I did in my LBH was ask the students to include a paragraph of biomedical or engineering connections of their topic to the future. Many of the students wrote optimistic responses about how innovations on their topic will be made in the future. Maybe if students can zoom in terms of scale and realize that small steps can take place to affect great change, they will feel a sense of greater optimism for the future.
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I try to steer away from "good" and "bad" in terms of outcomes in the Universe. References us as humans as the raters of "accomplishments" of the Universe:) Important to remember what we can or cannot know (reference to Kant and Popper- would be interesting to better understand these two wonderful thinkers)
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Maggie, what I like about your posts is that you steer away from the idea that we humans need to keep investing in "problem-solving" and turn to a way to see this as all a relation, not something to solve. As I have said before, "solutions" only embedded in technology seem to create further and greater "problems to solve". How do we see this as relational?
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Yes! I also agree with Chris. I often ask my students “How can we be agents of change?”
Also - I am on day 3 of starting our LBHP projects tomorrow. Totally taking your idea here to incorporate the future into the presentation. Great way to leave things off !
