Monday, August 18, 2008
How Has Your Worldview Been Influenced So Far?
Ladies and gentlemen, so far it has been a pleasure working with you! Can you believe it? We have already covered roughly 7000 yrs of history in just 6 days! Ok, so now we are going to slow things down considerably, starting with the classical era and specifically classical China tomorrow. So what have you taken from this class so far? Is the story behind the Neolithic Revolution(s) and the early civilizations in the Nile-Indus Corridor (Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Harappa), the Huang He Valley (Shang China), and the Americas (Olmecs, Chavin Cult [an early civilization in that emerged in the Andes that we didn't have the opportunity to discuss. just know that their emphasis on religion and their temple will leave their mark on more complex civilizations to follow later {i.e. the Incas}]) merely just ancient history? Are there lessons to be learned from our ancient forefathers? If so, what lessons? How is this class perhaps different than what you were expecting coming in? Are there any examples of things that maybe you have always taken for granted that we have analyzed closer that now provides deeper meaning to your life? Essentially, how is this class already re-shaping your worldview? Remember folks, history is not the study of the dead, history is the study of life. Your thoughts then...
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When i first sighned up for this class i didn't expect to be this interested in the material but i think this class is full of info that is very helpfull to understand our history.
For me, I came into this class thinking it would be just like any other history class, memorizing dates making timelimes and studying dead people. I have learned so much more in 6 days in this class than any other history class.just from the first day me world view has changed so much. i guess i thought that America had the most history nd importance, but know i can begin to understand the importance of the original countries that really influenced and started the human race towards the way we are headed.I have never had so much interest in learning history before, either. Thankyou Mr.Prill.
So far this point of view of World History has shocked me because I'd never think that farming could be a bad thing, and even if I did think that I just thought that diseases were a bad thing from farming. We should learn things from the past because what we have learned so far can teach alot. Like, 911 could have been prevented, if the Americans weren't so confident that they had America protected completely. The terrorists just had to find a way through. This portrays just what happened to the Harappans and Egyptians. Now that we've actually talked about it, I understand so much more than before. I feel that what we're learning isn't merely ancient history, but it's also the life that we're living now because what we're living today is the effect of what our forefathers did. Maybe if we look into the past and see all the irresponsibility then maybe we can learn to be more responsible. Before my worldview was just concentrated on us and that things just happened cause it was meant to be like that, and not once had I thought that religion developed because of geography. Now there are dots of history being connected. I am really looking foreward to this year, and maybe it's not going to be boring after all!
I too have learned a lot already from this class. I never have considered that maybe we were better off as just nomads, and that all our innovations were just the effect of problems and pressure. Also, I have always heard the phrase "history repeats itself", but I never understood to what extent. What we were talking about in class today about 9/11 and the Harrapans really just made me fully understand that quote and understand the importance of history.
Well, I may have had a little more experiance than you guys (prill is awesome fyi)...but his class has helped me see so much more in our world. It makes me cringe sometimes that I know what countries are doing to intentionally mislead the world (yes, the U.S. is one of the major contributers to the general bull in our world).
Just a few things this week.
In the olympics, a runner from the Democratic Republic of Congo was being introduced. The announcer said "this is "insert name here" from the Democratic Republic of Congo. They are a small democracy in central Africa."
First of all, Congo is quite large for an African nation. Also, they have to be one of the worst dictatorships in all the world.
Prill's class has shown me to look way beyond the surface, cause sometimes thats all we take the time to look at.
My viewpoint has also been influenced to show that we as Americans are always biased toward what we want. Georgia anyone? NO, Russia did not attack them brutally and are invading their cities. In fact it was Georgia who attacked Russia. Their fault. But as Americans, we are inclined to make it look like big bad Russia is on the move again.
Which leads me into my final point. Our education is government sponsored, which means we learn what our good old government wants us to learn. I was reading a 7th grade textbook today pointing out the differences in governments. Apparently, Communism is no longer an economic system, but a government system! And not only that, their methods are far inferior to our freely elected governments called democracy! Haha yea right. Tell that to the Germans who freely elected the best leader ever *cough* Hitler *cough*
My point is that I have learned to see way past the beurocratic bull crap. And that everything you learn is spun in a way that suits the teacher. Even Prill, sorry, but its unavoidable.
just a clarification on the georgia vs. russia situation... georgia did not technically attack russia either. there exists a "breakaway province" in georgia called south ossetia. when the soviet union fell in 1991, south ossetia technically became part of georgia, and they have been technically considered part of georgia ever since. the twist is that the people of south ossetia have considered themselves independent of georgia, and russia has always had their back as an autonomous region of georgia. georgia has always though, since the beginning, vowed to take back control of south ossetia one day. that day arrived on august 7th as the georgians rolled into south ossetia. this is what provoked the russian attack/retaliation on august 8th (yes, 08/08/08). at the moment russia claims that they are pulling out of georgia and respecting the cease-fire agreement. the reality on the ground though, is that there is little evidence that this is actually taking place. hopefully that clarifies the situation there for everyone (and hopefully you saw my explanation as non-biased and spin-free).
Your words not mine- everything is biased in some way
But you always did a good job of staying neutralish.
I have learned may things already in AP world.I have learned that if we don't reveiw our history the we will repeat ourselves. Also that since china was always under threat of attack that it helped the become strong.and i didnt expect that we would learn SO much already. This class has reshaped my world veiw because i did not know that the rest of the world had also so much history, and that it happend that way.
when i first came in this classroom, i couldnt understand a single thing that we discussed, and i always thought to drop out, but as we discuss more deeply, i begin to understand little by little. i leanred so many things, like urban cultures are influenced from times back then, and also farming harming the world and making conflicts. THANKS MR PRILL:D
After reading the Human Web I was not looking forward to the class at all because I thought it was going to be boring learning about all of the original civilizations but then after being in class for a week, I realized that they are very interesting. The first civilizations are the cornerstones for all the civilizations that we have today and the choices they made influence our lives on a daily bases. Before taking this class it never crossed my mind the negative influences of farming and all of the negative affects of farming. I thought this class was going to be like any other history class but it isn't and I am glad for that because it makes me interested in history. After being in this class for only a week, I already look at history in a whole new way and can only image how I will look at it at the end of the year.
When I first decided to take this class, I thought it would just help me with getting through with my AP classes, & it would be the usual boring history class that everyone hates. But, since the first day, Mr. Prill made our class completely different from what I had in mind. Already from the first day, he was talking about how agriculture had ruined our world. I thought he was crazy, but hey, he's REALLY awesome ;D
My worldview has really changed, especially from how it used to be before I got into this class. It has changed from "Oh, the world is making its progress to the better days, & we're going have more wars, but it's all going to make our counrty stronger & develop more." TO - "Wowwww, I wonder if people have ever thought about this, if farming was ever a bad thing to these people in the BCE time period. What benifits have we gained through farming & civilization? What are the disadvantages?". My thoughts have changed alot.
Thank You Mr. Prill! (:
ya i agree with Taylor, I actually enjoy sitting through class and am learning more then i would in eny other class. From the first day of school to now my view of the world has considerably changed. I start to see thing that would just fly out my head last year.
When i decided to take this class last year i thought it was going to be just another social studies class. Memorize this or learn this date. After being in the class for jsut six days my world view has changed a lot. It has become broader and i understand how things really affect our present day earth. So many things from the past affect our lives today and the way we function. You make the class to where the information really opens your eyes about things that seem to be the greatest ever ex: farming and show us all of the affects it really has wether they are good or bad. You make the history interesting and relatable.
I was so excited after the first day of class because of the way Mr. Prill always relates the topic or conflict from thousands of years ago to how it affects us TODAY. In every other history class I've been in, teachers give you the facts straight from the text, no more and no less, and just expect you to memorize them and spit them back out on the chapter test. BORING! I mean, already in just 6 days we've learned how the simple, everyday act of farming could have possibly been the downfall of civilization, and how geography GREATLY influenced human development in it's earliest stages. Who would have ever thought of how those events in early history drastically influence our lives today, thousands of years later?! I know I never did... until now! My view of the world have change so much already, from being so focused on the influences U.S., Europe, China, etc. to realizing that there are nomadic tribes, and even the smallest civilizations in the Middle East and Africa that also have/had a great influence in our world!
In my opinion, taking this class, I thought it would be all note taking and copying down vocabulary words like I did in AP Human Geography. But you make this class so exciting and I've learned so much in just 6 days! I've learned throughout my middle school years that history mainly was about the Americas and didn't really go in depth any of the material we are now. This is one of the classes that I definately will enjoy going to everyday.
Well i loved this class because it was not like any other social studies class( ap human ) as it did not make me snore in one minute. i am wide awake in class now and i can finally concentrate. Thanks MR.Prill for yelling so you can keep us awake and tell us usefull facts!
This class for me is very fast paced. And i love the fact that this class isn't boring at all, and the fact that we don't spend like 2 weeks on one main topic like a certain person, or something like that. Also for me the AP book is actually pretty interesting they have a better way of making you understand things unlike other history books. My worldview has changed in more ways than one, for example i never would have imagined that china thought of themselves so highly. And i too didnt realize that farming could have such a harmful effect on the world.
I see the world alot different now. I cant wait to sing the Chinese anthem in class today!
My view of the world has changed alot since i sighned up for this class. At first, i thought that advancing and growing with technology and changing are ways to improve was a good thing. Now I have learned that because of doing this has cause alot of bad things to happen. I thought that nomads were peacefull people who lived in the woods and now i know that they were also fighters. This class in less then 2 weeks has already changed the way i look at the world.
While this is history because it is what happened in our past, it is also so much more. It has set the stage for our life now and as we have looked back on it over the years we have learned so much. I was expecting this class to be all about dates and that we would just be learning about our past. But it has been much more; we have applied history to our life and gone much deeper. It not just about dates, its about what happened.
glad to know you're already getting a lot out of this class guys. alexandra, could you please identify your last name in your posts so that i can give you credit for them. i have a few alexandras this year. thanks!
This class is interesting and an amazing experience because it gives me insight about why things are the way they are and it is only the second week. I can't wait for the rest of the year.
This class is so much more different then what i thought it would be. I was afraid that it was going to be a big bore and that i wasn't going to understand any of it at all. It turns out that i do understand it...more then human geography and it's so much more interesting.
I came into this class thinking, "yay! fact time! I'm good at this!" It wasn't what I expected at all. The first day when we did the map drawing, I was amazed at what i had learned. It just keeps getting better and better, and it's definitely better than facts. I understand so much more about the world and what we've done to it after just a week.
thanks to this class i have a better understanding of the begining of civilizations as well as how we all have different points of view.
I pretty much agree with everyone else (:
I came into the class remembering what some of my friends said about it, how you read a lot and learn a LOT of material. Needless to say, that got me pretty nervous about it! But I really enjoy the way the class is laid out; how all of the lessons seem to be inter-related. I'm certainly looking forward to the rest of the year!
As Macy mentioned, after I read the Human Web, I was convinced that this class would be like any other: boring and difficult. I surpised myself after the few first days by actually learning imporant information and being interested in it! I actually ponder on World History facts outside of school, and have discussions with my parents. I do not regret signing up for this class at all!
My thoughts of this class when i first signed up for it, were extremely different. I was expecting this class to be boring and very dull. But it turns out , that this class is constantly keeping me entertained. I have learned so much in 7 days about the first civilizations and the starting of the world. My view on the world and the early and ancient civilizations has changed and grown. I've learned that small ideas, such as, political veiws, religious veiws, new innovations, etc can have a huge influence on the human race and the early ideas and veiws that the ancient civilizations did use are however still used today in one way or another. I really cant wait for the rest of the year and all the interesting facts that we are going to learn.
When I first signed up for this class, I thought it would be about remebering dates and people, buy turns out its not. Also this class has made me think about things that i never thought about and probablly wouldnt have even cared about till now.
alina venick
well i probably wouldn't have had the world view changed as much if mr. prill hadn't yelled everything at us making me listen, so thank you for that.
well i already knew that humans had screwed up. the wars and the future world distruction was pretty obvious with that. i didn't realise that it was agriculture that caused so much of this. before, i always thought of agriculture as something that allowed humans to spend more time on inventions and art. i didn't realise that the class system came with it.
of course it's in my opinion that human nature still causes most of the destruction. i'm sure that there were still wars between humans during the hunter and gatherer period, though perhaps on a smaller scale. humans still would have the need to dominate, plus once people start killing there is always the whole revenge thing that comes into play.
So far this class has been nothing like I have expected. I have learned so much in the past six days, that I never would have thought of. Like: how farming could have been the worst mistake ever and how geography itself has influenced our history in so many different ways. I really thought that this class would be like every other history class, but boy was I wrong!!!:)...by the way... Loving the Chinese Dynasty Song!!!HAHAHA!
I was no expecting AP World History to be how it is. Everyother social studies class I have taken you learn about the Mesopotamians or the Incas or what ever, but you learn their role in the world and society and you dont learn how they affected others or others affected them. In this class you see all the relationships that people have and how that affect eachother. I like this approach a lot better because its easier to understand that basis and why what happened actually happened.
whenever i came into this class i expected for us to learn dates and have to learn the chinese dynastys but this class is so much better than that... i never realized that farming is really a bad thing that happened to our world but i learned that this year so far...
odyssey, could you please state your name so i can give you credit for your posts?
In the past 6 days, this class has reshaped the way i view the world. With all the chaos going on around us I thought this country was in deep trouble. Now i view it differently, with all these problems comes new (hopefully good) solutions. I now look forward to 4th period.
David Recchia
I thought this class would basically be what I had learned in previous years, re-taught, slightly changed but still the same basic concept and more indepth. What I have learned so far has constantly been molding my views on the world. Many like to believe the world is black and white, good and evil, right and wrong, justice and injustice, etc. This class has not only redefined how I view the world but also showed me that the world is full of many different shades of gray and that what defines something as black or white, etc; really depends on how the advancement or discovery was applied to daily life. This class has also taught me how geography played a large roll in how we view the world today. I hope to learn a lot more and hopefully I will be able to expand my views much more and in much larger detail that ever before. I'm really looking forward to it. :)
Honeslty, when i signed up for this class i thought it was going to be memorizing dates of old wars and stuff. i now realize that is not part of the big picture. So far i have learned so many things that i would never have thought of. For example, who knew the nile was able to be traveled in two directions?!?! And that farming wasn't as good of an idea as we thought. And i must say, the Chinese Dynasty Song is pretty amazing!!!!!
When i went into class, i knew some good things about mr.prill due to my friends who had him so i expected great class. But the he taught me more stuff than my earlier years! Now i get to see how people of the past react to the environment and see them in the concept
Well, when I first signed up for this class I knew it was ganna be better then Human Geography, but I didn't think I could learn so much in the 2 weeks that I've been here.I never knew about the dynasties of China and now I have a lot better understanding of it and the time lines etc. This is one of my favorite classes this year, last year I dreaded stepping into the Human Geography class.
i figured we would just be memorizing dates.
this is much much MUCH better than any history class i have ever been in
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