TOLERANCE AND RESPECT 3 (WORLD HISTORY)

History is the story of Earth. History is the story of life on Earth. History is the story of human beings on Earth. There remains much disagreement among humans about how Earth, life on Earth, and human beings began. I personally have chosen to approach these topics from a scientific perspective. On the "History" page of this website, I emphasized how three attributes have conspired throughout history to set humans apart from the other life forms with which humans share Earth. These three attributes were:

1. An upright posture which enabled humans to walk on two feet thereby giving them free use of the hands (say, for hunting, farming, tool-making, and so forth)
2. The use of language, both spoken and written, coupled with mass communications and the mass sharing of knowledge
3. A large brain which enabled humans to think, reason, and process complex information

Previously, on the original "Tolerance and Respect 1" page of this website, I presented Dr. Carl Sagan's cosmic calendar. I stated that, to help humans understand the prevailing scientific perspective on Life and Existence and to help humans grasp the immensity of the Universe, Dr. Carl Sagan compressed all of known time and space into a one-year calendar. Using the calendar metaphor to represent time and space (or Existence), according to Dr. Carl Sagan, each day on the calendar would be the equivalent of 40 million years. Using a 365-day year, the full calendar would equate to a Universe that was 14,600,000,000 (billion) years old, that is, 40,000,000 (million) years per day times a 365-day calendar representing one year = 14,600,000,000 years old. When 14,600,000,000 years are divided by 12 months per year, then the average month would represent about 1,216,666,667 (billion) years.

This page is a continuation of the "Tolerance and Respect 1" page, in general, and its cosmic calendar, in particular. The purpose of this page is to provide you with a more detailed accounting of the past 10,000 years of human existence on Earth. The bloc of graphics below, accompanied by some Vangelis songs, will take you through the pageantry of human history for the past 10,000 years. Vangelis was one of Dr. Carl Sagan's favorite recording artists, and Vangelis has no connection to the author of this website.

THE PAST

On his cosmic calendar, Dr. Carl Sagan stated that each second was the equivalent of 500 years. According to the cosmic calendar, December 31st was when the human species made its appearance into Existence. When examining December 31st, at 500 years a second, a minute would equate to the passage of 30,000 years (that is, 500 years per second times 60 second per minute = 30,000 years per minute). An hour would equate to the passage of 1,800,000 (million) years (that is, 30,000 years per minute times 60 minutes per hour = 1,800,000 years per hour). A day would equate to the passage of 43,200,000 (million) years (that is, 30,000 years per minute times 60 minutes per hour * 24 hours per day = 43,200,000 years per day). December 31st, therefore, would equate to the passage of 43,200,000 (million) years. (Note: For ease of use, Dr. Carl Sagan rounded the 43,200,000 years per day to 40,000,000 years per day as mentioned in the above paragraph.)

The cosmic calendar indicates that the hominids or ape-like beings began appearing on Earth around 10:20:00 p.m. of December 31st or on the 80,401th second of the day. About 5,980 seconds later (that is, the 86,381st second minus the 80,401st second = 5,980 elapsed seconds), modern humans began to appear on Earth around 11:59:40 p.m. of December 31st or on the 86,381th second of a 86,400-second day (that is, 60 seconds per minute times 60 minutes per hour = 3600 seconds per hour times 24 hours per day = 86,400 seconds in a day).

The larger point about the cosmic calendar is this: The last minute of December 31st on the cosmic calendar is equivalent to roughly 30,000 years. Modern humans are believed to have emerged on Earth no less than 10,000 years ago (and perhaps up to 200,000 years ago). The cosmic calendar has been reproduced below to provide context and to set the stage for a more detailed accounting of the human story through the use of World Wide Web-friendly graphics.

THE PRESENT

There are many ways for life on Earth to come to an end. Perhaps one of the most immediate and pressing threats to life on Earth would have to be the nuclear weapons threat, or the possibility of an all-out exchange of nuclear bombs between warring nations. With all of their geopolitical posturing, blustering, and jockeying to project power while sitting atop stockpiles of thousands of nuclear bombs, the nuclear powers somehow have got to find a way to get a permanent grip and grasp the big picture. The nuclear powers cannot afford to allow their egos to cloud their judgements, thereby, losing control of their senses and their emotions. Human extinction is very serious business. Human survival is not a game of brinkmanship to be played by a bunch of nuclear-bomb-wielding egomaniacs. The whole of life on Earth stands in the balance. Humans already have committed enough murdering of one another over the course of the past 10,000 years. Enough murdering is enough already. Haven't humans gotten the memo that murder is wrong and that life is good? Starting today, all humans should strive to engage in the minimal killing of other organisms (say, for instance, plants or fishes), which only would be killing to obtain food for sustenance. Starting today, all humans should refrain from killing one another. Are humans truly the wise organism whom they profess themselves to be? Time will tell.

THE FUTURE?

Will the human species survive and thrive, or will the human species unwisely induce its own premature extinction (say, for instance, long, long before the Sun runs out of power and explodes)? Time will tell. One key to human survival has to be tolerance of one another and mutual respect for one another despite their differences.

1. Frank E. Smitha | World History Timeline
   
2. TimeMaps History Atlas | History of World 3500BC to 2005AD
   
3. everyhistory.org | Timeline of World History | Year by Year from Prehistory to Present Day
   
4. World History | HyperHistory
   
5. Tim Lambert | A Timeline of Empires from Ancient Times to Today
   
6. Bamber Gascoigne's HistoryWorld.net | World History
   
7. Dorling Kindersley | History | Fact Monster
   
8. ChronoZoom Quick Reference PDF
   
9. Making the Modern World
   

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