250. Tackling ‘Big History’ feat. Ian Morris

When most historians set out to write a book, they choose a particular point in history to dive deep into. But Ian Morris prefers to write about history from the 10,000-foot view- or in some cases, the 10,000-year view. 

He calls it big history, and on this episode of unSILOed, Greg and Ian talk about some of the Big History topics Ian has tackled in his writing career such as: the evolution of human values over thousands of years, how war has shaped our various cultures, and how Britain’s recent choice to the leave the European Union is actually rooted in 10,000-year-old history in the country. 

Ian Morris is a historian and archaeologist and teaches in the Stanford Classics department.  

Episode Quotes:

Fairness is a fundamental human value

40:15: There are certain things that unite all human beings, just as part of our biology. You can talk about such thing as human nature, and part of human nature, which is actually not that different from many other animal natures, is this idea of fairness that we all want to be treated fairly. And this is something you find, whether you're in a hunting gatherer society, or an ancient farming society, or in your modern California: fairness is a fundamental human value.

52:24: Life for many people in the wealthier parts of the world is being transferred onto a digital platform. We're living in different ways from people in the past, and we're able to do that because we consume so much more energy than they have.

The mechanism that led to diffusion of values across the world

42:43: We are completely free to devise whatever moral system we want. But if you devise an inefficient system of cultural values and live next door to somebody whose system works much more efficiently, they're going to steal all your food and kill you. And this is the mechanism that led to the diffusion of values across the world in different periods.

Are people the same all over the world?

20:09: People are pretty much all the same in the sense of, say, large groups of people are pretty much all the same. You'll get about the same proportion of selfish, mean-spirited ones and same proportion of generous, kind ones, hardworking ones, and lazy ones wherever you look around the world, and the culture does inflect these biological forces, but it's the biology that's really in the driving seat.

Show Links:Recommended Resources:

• Francis Bacon
• Jared Diamond
• James Watt
• Jules Verne
• H.G Wells

Guest Profile:

• Faculty Profile at Stanford University
• Professional Profile at The British Academy
• Professional Profile on World Economic Forum
• Contributor’s Profile on Foreign Policy Research Institute

His Work:

• Ian Morris on Google Scholar
• Geography is Destiny: Britain and the World, a 10,000 year history
• Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels: How Human Values Evolve 
• War! What is it good for? Conflict and the Progress of Civilization from Primates to Robots 
• The Measure of Civilization: How Social Development Decides the Fate of Nations
• Why the West Rules- For Now: The patterns of history, and what they reveal about the future
• The Dynamics of Ancient Empires: State Power from Assyria to Byzantium (Oxford Studies in Early Empires)