Big history, population and collective learning

Groups related to this event

Centre for Health Informatics
Centre for Health Systems and Safety Research
Centre for Healthcare Resilience and Implementation Science

Event date

Tuesday, 17 November 2015

Abstract

The seminar will provide a glimpse into Big History, a history of 13.8 billion years from the Big Bang to modern day, and how it relates to population, living standards, and health. It will survey some of the essential concepts that break down disciplinary silos and unify subjects as disparate as cosmology, geology, biology, and studies of humanity. From there we’ll tackle the long term rise of complexity in the human species over 250,000 years: changes in population, changes in lifestyle and living circumstances from foraging to farming to modernity, and what broad trends mean for the welfare of humans in the future. Regarding the future, we shall survey the prospects for both the near and deep future. The next century in the Anthropocene and the potential for humanity going forward if we can overcome present dangers and challenges.

Speaker profile

Dr David Baker studied under David Christian at Macquarie University, and completed the first Big History PhD in the world. He has taught Big History at Macquarie and the University of Amsterdam, and designed his own advanced Big History course. His research specialties are complexity, Universal Darwinism, cultural evolution, and mathematical patterns in human history. He is writer of the Youtube series Crashcourse Big History, hosted by John and Hank Green. He is a curriculum writer for the Bill Gates Big History Project. David has published several scholarly articles on Big History, has co-edited two scholarly collections, and is currently working on publishing his research as a book.

Date: 17^th November 2015

Time: 11am – 12 pm

Venue: Level 1, Seminar Room, 75 Talavera Road, Macquarie University

Chairperson: Professor Jeffrey Braithwaite

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