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:
Threshold 1 - The Big BangThe 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.
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Threshold 2 - Stars Light UpBefore 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.
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Threshold 3 - New Chemical ElementsIt'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.
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Threshold 4 - Earth and the Solar SystemAs 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.
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Threshold 5 - Life on EarthEarth 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.
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Threshold 6 - Collective LearningMany 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.
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Threshold 7 - AgricultureEarly 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.
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Threshold 8 - The Modern RevolutionOver a mere 200,000 years, humans have developed a complex and versatile exchange network. Today we are 7 billion people interacting as one inter-connected 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.
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Threshold 9 - The FutureWhat does the future hold? Use your knowledge of Big History and your understanding of the eight major thresholds we've studied to predict Threshold 9. What ingredients will be important? What Goldilocks Conditions will make circumstances "just right" for a new level of complexity?
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