What Are The Lessons of History, And Do They Apply To Us?

In our high-tech age with the world interconnected by a ”web,” now enhanced by AI and considering all of our technological achievements and prowess - is the study of history still relevant? One wag in the second Bush administration said "we don't read history, we make history." Is this more true now than it was in the late 1990s? What are the practical advantages of moral virtue versus coercive power in the world we inhabit?

Will and Ariel Durant spent a long four decades studying civilizations.The Durrants, in their monumental 11 volume study, looked at 5000 years of human history and focused on factors such as environmental change, migration, inequality, and competition between groups which shaped historical outcomes. They found reoccurring themes in social, political and economic development. Are there general laws or continuities across societies and history?

We will look at their findings condensed by the Durants into approximately 120 pages and explore their relevance to our current world challenges. We will contemplate over three meetings together the above questions, and wonder, “are we, in the USA, an exception to history?”

To participate fully in this class, one must obtain the book:

“The Lessons of History” by Will and Ariel Durrant

(approx. $7.00 used on line)

Please have read the first five chapters prior to the first class. This class is a facilitated seminar not a lecture that relies on the informed participants.

Date: October 14,21,28

Time: 1 to 2:30pm

Location:  Charles Pink House - PT Library 

1 - Jack Salmon:

He holds a PhD in International Relations, was on the faculty at Gonzaga U., Virginia Tech, UWest FL, US Naval War College. He is Interested in Asian history, military and ecology. As a pessimist-pragmatist, he studied strategy and sailing fast.

2 - Paul Hinton:

He is a recovering attorney and retired airline pilot.

3 - Ron Strange:

He has spent the last few years thinking about hubris, climate change, the Titanic, entropy and human folly. As an optimist, he plants trees.