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Social Studies skills: Difference between revisions
→Certainty v. Uncertainty
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* humans yearn for predictability | * humans yearn for predictability | ||
* see '''Thomas Hobbes' "Leviathan"''' for analysis of human fear of uncertainty | * see '''Thomas Hobbes' "Leviathan"''' for analysis of human fear of uncertainty | ||
Click EXPAND for | Click EXPAND for excerpts from ''Leviathan'' on uncertainty: | ||
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"> | <div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"> | ||
<pre> | <pre> | ||
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</div> | </div> | ||
=== Calendar & Astrology === | |||
* tracking time, seasons, and years brought stability and predictability | |||
** especially for seasonally dependent activities such as trade, farming, and warfare | |||
* Astrology, or the study of the position of the stars | |||
** = method of tracking time and seasons | |||
** led to advances in navigation and mathematics | |||
* see below for importance of the Winter Soltice | |||
=== Ritual === | === Ritual === | ||
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** superstitions mitigate uncertainty | ** superstitions mitigate uncertainty | ||
=== Divine | === Divine intervention & explanations for events === | ||
* | * the Winter Solstice (Dec 21/22) marks the sun's lowest trajectory in the northern hemisphere | ||
** why is this important? | ** why is this important? | ||
*** that the sun has descended and that it will commence its rise again to higher points in the sky | *** that the sun has descended and that it will commence its rise again to higher points in the sky | ||
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=== Legitimacy === | === Legitimacy === | ||
* favorable outcomes = divinely | * favorable outcomes = divinely determined = therefore divinely chosen = legitimacy of outcomes | ||
* unfavorable outcomes = loss of legitimacy | * unfavorable outcomes = loss of legitimacy | ||
* examples | * examples | ||
** break-down of Old Kingdom | ** break-down of Old Kingdom pharaonic rule in Egypt following reduced flooding of the Nile | ||
*** | *** pharaohs lost legitimacy and social, political, and religious rules were freely broken as result of widespread famine and social collapse | ||
** Xerxes punishes the | ** Xerxes punishes the Hellespont for disobeying him | ||
*** after a storm wrecked his boat-bridge across the | *** after a storm wrecked his boat-bridge across the Hellespont, Xerxes ordered soldiers to whip its surface in punishment for insubordination | ||
== risk v. reward == | == risk v. reward == | ||