My education consisted of lots of math. Before math resulted in a Computer Science (CS) degree, history has been a primary interest.
My advisor in school saw that I had more than enough credits for the CS degree, but I also had more than enough for a History degree. My focus was on Chinese, Mid-East, Roman, Britain, North and South America, and of course the United States.
The study of anything is not a single level of thinking. You can not understand physics until you understand arithmetic. You can not understand Chinese history until you have the context of the whole world. For instance, Marco Polo didn’t discover China…he plotted a trade route to and from China.
When you study history, pick a time. Time is what you will understand best. Time periods depend on what you want to study. There are geologic periods, social periods, etc… Although there are hundreds of social periods, the most common have to do with building materials.
The Stone Age, Copper Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age are just a few. To put this in perspective, when Spanish Explorers were in the midst of the Middle Ages when they arrived in South America. South America included Stone, Copper, and Iron ages. All North American people were in the Stone and Copper Age at that time.
The basic concept of what people were doing at a time and place, requires you to understand what other people near them were doing at the same time and place. This will allow a much greater understanding of the sphere of influence history has.
In today’s world, there is a movement of people who have no interest in history. The live for today alone. How lonely they must be.
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