Return of big history: the long past is the antidote to short-termism - Printable Version +- Scivillage.com Casual Discussion Science Forum (https://www.scivillage.com) +-- Forum: Culture (https://www.scivillage.com/forum-49.html) +--- Forum: History (https://www.scivillage.com/forum-117.html) +--- Thread: Return of big history: the long past is the antidote to short-termism (/thread-530.html)

Return of big history: the long past is the antidote to short-termism - C C - Feb 9, 2015 http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/01/return-big-history-long-past-antidote-short-termism EXCERPT: “There never has been a time when . . . except in the most general sense, a study of history provides so little instruction for our present day,” Prime Minister Tony Blair declared in a speech to the US Congress in July 2003. Nowadays Blair is not exactly deemed a voice of authority, but the opinions he expressed are still widely shared. In an era when technology has revolutionised our daily existence – even the nature of life itself – understanding the past may seem irrelevant when planning the future. But history does matter. And many academics are anxious to explain why...