Blog Entry #4

Question: New ideas in politics and philosophy tend to emerge in times of social, political, and/or economic stress. How can this be explained?

New ideas in politics and philosophy usually emerge in times of socail,political, or economic stress. This is because in times of turmoil, people are forced to think of ways to solve the fall of their empire for example, and therefore come up with new ideas. When people are happy with how they are, or how their government is, they won't have anything to change or anything to complain about. But when there are problems with the government of economy, people will complain and blame it on whoever is in charge. People want change in times of trouble, and this forces new ideas to emerge and change history. For example, when most of the Shi's were disciples of Confucianism, they were frustrated that Shi Huangdi favored the Legalists. So, when Liu Bang and his successors were in charge, they banned the works of Legalists and instilled Confucious teachings and imperial schools. When there is a problem in the country or economy, it is usually blamed on the president. In order to be introduced to new ideas or change how things are, we elect a new president. So, in times of turmoil, new ideas emerge because people need change and are not happy in the current state of their empire/country.

Blog Entry #3

Population growth was the most significant development of the classical period. True or false?



Population growth was one of the two most significant developments of the classical period. The population growth improved species of crops and more food per acre. Although population growth caused deforestation/ environmental concerns, it also created more complex societies. Collective learning increased and more people began living in large cities. The other significant development of the classical period was networks of exchange. Networks of exchange involved empires, trade routes, the development of writing, and religion. The different roads involved in networks of exchange were extremely important. The silk roads pomoted pastorialism, and the sea routes helped with shipbuilding and navigation. So, population growth was a main development of the classical period.

Second Blog Entry

After reading the intro to the classical period, what do you believe was the biggest change that occured during this time period?

I think that the biggest chnage that occured during the Classical period was how the different countries and civilizations developed. A main development that occured during the classical period was the the big regional civilizations that formed. Namely, in China, India, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. Their political units grew greatly from the C.E.s to the B.C.E.s. Syncretism, the sharing of other cultures' ideas, was something else that started happening a lot more during the classical time period.

First Blog Entry

Why do you think that white Europeans came to colonize a large share of the modern world, while those inhabiting the Americas, Africa, and Asia became subjects of colonization?

I think that white Europeans came to be the ones colonizing, because they were kind of in the center of trade and they felt superior to the other countries/continents. Since no other country was doing the colonizing, Europe took it as their task. I think that they also wanted the goods of the countries and continents that they colonized, especially of Asia, which had tons of trade. The time in which they started colonizing, I think, was a religious period where in many instances, people thought that what they were doing was the will of G-d.