Reference no: EM133323733

Assignment:

1) Life on Earth has evolved great complexity. May it have developed such complexity on other planets? What are the scientific arguments for life evolving intelligence and technological civilization on other planets? What are the scientific arguments against this? What might prevent life on other planets from evolving great complexity? Make sure to demonstrate that you can knowledgeably discuss the Drake Equation and the Fermi Paradox.

2) If someone were to ask you to discuss all the ways that deities have appeared and not appeared in Big History, what would you tell them? What is a deity?

- First, in the explanation of the formation of the universe, is deliberate creation by a conscious DIVINE architect or designer of the universe a necessary part of the story? Do deities play a role in the scientific consensus of the emergence of the universe and our planet? If not, what does explain the emergence of the universe and our planet, and the growth of complexity in the universe in general?

- Second, what role does the belief in supernatural entities play in Big History? Why have so many societies believed that supernatural beings exist? Is this belief somehow hardwired or inherent in the human mind? If so, how? Why have so many agrarian (and post-agrarian?) societies developed ideas that kings were divine beings? Who would have invented these ideas? Why did these ideas become popular?

3) Why do scholars believe that women suffered lower status when humans started living sedentarily and practicing agriculture? Make sure to discuss demography in terms such as pregnancy rates and such. (The biggest contrast to draw is that between sedentary farming lifestyles versus nomadic foraging lifestyles.)

4) How can the field of study (or, if you prefer, the discipline) known as "Big History" help us as humans? How is it useful both in academia (as a way of looking at things, or a subject) and also in our intellectual lives in general (in and out of academia)?

When preparing for this, here is a good place to start: if you were to explain to someone what Big History was all about, what would you say? Then go from there and refine your ideas further.

5) Isaac Asimov's short story "The Last Question": What are its implications? What are its biggest points? What is the significance of its end?