> Yet another angle [...] oxygen [...] wasn’t always available
Yes! For example, flammability scales with oxygen concentration, so at peak, wildfires could be continent-scale. And oxygen as toxic bio waste, which our own cells still struggle to handle safely, ties a bunch of stories together.
> Big History as one effort to weave lessons into a coherent tapestry
Just looking at its solar system intro[1], sigh. Creating content that is correct, accessible, and insightful, is hard. Really hard. And since it's not incentivized, it rarely happens. Introductions to the solar system are often so misleading, engendering so many misconceptions you would need to fight with later if you actually cared, that viewing them is arguably net-negative learning.
Coherence regrettably requires correctness. Else instead of a tapestry of understanding, one has a tangled mess of misconceptions. Having tapestry, connections, helps prune misconceptions, by making it easier to see that something isn't fitting. And by making it easier to explore and thereby spot them. But tapestry also seems more vulnerable to misconceptions. Mangle a bit of tangle and you still have tangle, but not so with tapestry. And misconceptions are pervasive in science education. So it seems both broader scope and better quality are needed. A daunting challenge.
Yes! For example, flammability scales with oxygen concentration, so at peak, wildfires could be continent-scale. And oxygen as toxic bio waste, which our own cells still struggle to handle safely, ties a bunch of stories together.
> Big History as one effort to weave lessons into a coherent tapestry
Just looking at its solar system intro[1], sigh. Creating content that is correct, accessible, and insightful, is hard. Really hard. And since it's not incentivized, it rarely happens. Introductions to the solar system are often so misleading, engendering so many misconceptions you would need to fight with later if you actually cared, that viewing them is arguably net-negative learning.
Coherence regrettably requires correctness. Else instead of a tapestry of understanding, one has a tangled mess of misconceptions. Having tapestry, connections, helps prune misconceptions, by making it easier to see that something isn't fitting. And by making it easier to explore and thereby spot them. But tapestry also seems more vulnerable to misconceptions. Mangle a bit of tangle and you still have tangle, but not so with tapestry. And misconceptions are pervasive in science education. So it seems both broader scope and better quality are needed. A daunting challenge.
[1] https://www.bighistoryproject.com/chapters/2#our-solar-syste...