World History Journal

Notice that in the blog linked to the right, World History Journal, that there is a listing of all their posts according to "age." As we are in "Ancient" history right now, some of you may find the posts interesting.

World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland

The World Economic Forum is probably one of the most powerful designers of world destiny, and yet few Americans tend to engage with what his happening in this small resort in the Swiss Alps. For years, many of the major economic decisions of the world, including many of the free trade decisions that affect our lives have been made here (such as the decision to engage in the NAFTA). Our course begins with the smallest unit of human group organization in the hunting and gathering kin groups that transition to cities or nomadic tribes.

Looking more than 7,000 years into the present, is this single meeting (that the Times of London calls a "beanfest of pomp and platitude") a sign that society has "evolved" into something greater such as a world body of mutually respectful humanity, or is it a sign that society has essentially remained the same - with the increase in commerce we see a small cadre of economic elite attempting to dominate society through meetings in resort towns?

Regret?

Utnapishtim's regret makes me wonder if Noah had a ton of regret in the Biblical story or if he was just happy to be alive.

Gilgamesh's longing-FC

I find it very interesting that early in the story Gilgamesh wants to have a legacy. He is concerned about what will be remembered of him after he has passed. He is echoing, thousands of years ago, what seems to be a universal longing of mankind, and that is to leave an impression upon their world, to impact it and change it so that long after we are gone, we will be remembered. Consequently we see Gilgamesh concerned with what hs legacy is going to be. Throughout the ages poems, songs, and stories have been written on this topic but I find it very interesting that thousands of years ago this was also one of the foremost thoughts in the mind of a character in a story pounded out on tablets.

BEER -fc

I think Dr. Dormady was smart with starting us off with beer, definitely something to catch our attention. As college students we see how beer influences our lives every weekend, or every day for some people but I had never thought about when beer was invented only grateful that it had been. The Author I thought had a great approach to the history and how it affected early civilization with how it was a form of payment and celebration, I wish he would have told more if people actually got highly intoxicated from it or could control themselves and got some form of punishment. The Mesopotamians and Egyptians saw beer as a god-given drink but in one part someone says,” Take not upon thyself to drink a jug of beer. Thou speakest, and an unintelligible utterance issueth from thy mouth” I do not think this quote is completely true, yes some people drink too much and start acting stupid but I feel that beer helps people socialize and makes it easier to speak, do other people think this is true or that beer is the origin of stupidity?

Beer- FC

I thought the author of "The History of the World in 6 Glasses," had an interesting approach to world history. The connection to civilization and beer was never in my mind. I think he makes many compelling arguments and his logic is fairly sound. I do have some hesitations. The first would be that most of the substance of the first two chapters, however logical they are, are still in essence speculative. As he points out in the book, the writing he deals with in these chapters are cuneiform and hieroglyphics. Although beer played an important role in the cultures of the time period in which the sources are taken from, it is still in the realm of speculation to assume that it was one of the main factors of the start of civilization. That being said, any arguments on this time period would be speculation and the author does use many sounds arguments that do lead to his conclusion. Thoughts?

FC

He starts us off with beer?

If you take the time to go to the blog right away, perhaps you will take the opportunity to post your own comments with an original post on World History in Six Glasses.

Oh, and please, READ THE DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY for posting instructions in the syllabus.