Big History

In terms of the cosmic clock, human beings have been on Earth for mere seconds. The psalmist is interested in Big History, and it brings him to his knees in shock and awe.

Few people come unglued with excitement over the study of history. Too many teachers with voices such as Ben Stein’s have put students to sleep with dusty names and dates. Bygone information without a context. Facts to memorize. A clutter of info to cram, reproduce and then dump in the mental recycling bin after the exam.

For most students, history is the cod liver oil of coursework: “It tastes awful, but it’s good for you.”

But the study of history is really useful. The yellow pie was almost always the most elusive in Trivial Pursuit. You might need some conversational tidbits to pass the time at a party when cornered by the guy who’s as interesting as wallpaper. And then we also recall our history teacher: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” He got that from somewhere but can’t remember where.

Yeah, well as long as repeating the past doesn’t mean another lap through freshman history, it’s doable.