[QUOTE=The Sonoran Lizard King]
I’m sticking with Anthropomorphic. I mean, the surfing cartoon penguins go first, right? 
[/QUOTE]
Well..yeah! Of course they do!
cue music for Aanamika to come in and berate me about killing off the penguins
[QUOTE=fessie]
Interesting replies! I’ll have to look for those books, Atomicktom and Zambini57; thank you for your recommendations.
Yesterday I learned about ancient Iraq - man, that’s some amazing stuff! What a rich history. Is that what sustains them, now? It makes Americans and our presumptions seems pretty small. I’m embarrassed to admit I didn’t realize that Iraq isn’t a “backwards” country in the least.
Your point about studying art history is a good one, KayElCee; that’s pretty much ALL that I remember of my history education as a child.
I definitely agree, Elendil’s Heir that specific lives are a fascinating point of study, I was a big fan of Harriet Tubman as a kid.
But for a while now I’ve wondered about the wisdom of studying history via the Greatest People Ever. Is it realistic? Is it encouraging to have an inspiring role model, or do people give up when they realize they’re never going to make history’s All-Star list? I see a lot of people toss it in when it comes to studying art; their willingness to learn basic skills seems to be predicated on their eventually being recognized as “great” (which ain’t gonna happen).
I’ve done that “pick a passenger and see how you fared” exercise at various Titanic exhibits… I always die in steerage. 
[/QUOTE]
I recommend the autobiography of Frederick Douglass. I think you’d like it and it’s not a very long book, either.
~~ Mark Twain
Bear this in mind.
Then, go hug a small, laughing, child.
I don’t have one handy. Can we all just pretend that my pet ferret is a small, laughing child?
Ferrets are responsible for most of history, you know. The Hundred Years’ War was ignited because Edward III couldn’t find his damn keys.
[QUOTE=fessie]
I’m taking the stupid Jeopardy test in a few weeks and I know I won’t pass –
[/QUOTE]
Imagine if you were taking the smart one…
[QUOTE=fessie]
But for a while now I’ve wondered about the wisdom of studying history via the Greatest People Ever. Is it realistic?
[/quote]
We have a very limited amount of time to cover a whole lot of information in our public schools. Even at the college level most students are only going to be taking one or two American history courses and one or two Civilization courses as part of their basic curriculum. You couldn’t even cram all of the history of the United States in two semesters let alone the history of the world. So that means instructors are going to have to pick and choose what they teach.
Before we decide how we’re going to pick and choose what to teach, we have to decide what the purpose of teaching history is. Do we teach history in order to give people an inspiring role model? While I would love it if my children were inspired to be brave and do what’s right by Harriet Tubman I’d be hard pressed to declare inspiration as the primary reason for teaching history. If that were the case, then the Mississippi text book board may have had a case when they tried to ban a history book intended for classrooms on the grounds that it might upset some students.
I’m going to have to go along with Greek historian Polybius. We teach history so people can understand why things are the way they are now, what things were done right in the past, what things were done wrong, and how can we do right in the present and in the future. If positive inspiration is a side effect then that’s just fantastic. It’s not the primary purpose though.
So how do we pick and choose what to report? Because of our limited time we have to stick with the great people, movements, and events that most broadly shaped our history. When discussing civil rights in the United States we come up with names like W.E.B. Dubois, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X, but not many people know who Yick Wo was because we’ve only got so much time to spend. It’s lamentable that we don’t spend time on some of those who did not make such a huge impact in history but I’m at a loss as to where we can find the time to do so.
I understand where you’re coming from fessie. I certainly enjoy learning about the regular people from the past.
Marc
[QUOTE=fessie]
I’m taking the stupid Jeopardy test in a few weeks and I know I won’t pass – it was just an odd fluke that I passed the online screening test, because my history and geography knowledge is really poor. You have to take another test in person.
But I thought, since I was lucky enough to be invited to a regional tryout, I should work to improve my scores. And I probably ought to know more about the world anyway.
So I got some geography books (for kids, thought I’d start small) from the library and I’ve been gathering information in index cards, trying to put together a mental picture of where places are and who lives there.
Now I’m so fucking depressed.
It looks to me like whenever the world “gets smaller” because of increased exploration and travel, people just fight. Somebody takes someone over. People grab after resources. They don’t care about anything, just themselves — there’s talk about principles, sure, but whether it’s “spreading Christianity” or “fighting terrorism”, it’s really about getting yours. Ours.
The slogans are meaningless, and cruelty is staggering. Slavery and genocide. One book had a little blurb from a former slave (somehow he was freed in his 20s) who’d been kidnapped from West Africa as an 11-yr-old, describing his experience. My heart is broken over that one.
I don’t think human beings really WANT to live all THAT closely together, but it’s happening anyway. I see the same hatred and intolerance in our local newspaper’s forum, where the rednecks complain about Mexicans. They have no idea of the power of their fear and hatred.
Interesting, too, that 5000 years ago the Sahara was a grassland. I don’t know if human activity contributed to that change - but if AGW turns the midwestern U.S. into a desert, it’s going to get real ugly real quick.
Scary shit, history.
[/QUOTE]
Boo fucking hoo. Honey, are you frakkin’ serious? Why not try being well read or informed first before waxing depressive/caustic? Do you think you are being incisive? How old are you?
[QUOTE=Operation Ripper]
Boo fucking hoo. Honey, are you frakkin’ serious? Why not try being well read or informed first before waxing depressive/caustic? Do you think you are being incisive? How old are you?
[/QUOTE]
Ripper, this ain’t the Pit.
Chill, dude.