Henrik SchönemannDec 20, 2024

One of the things I'm convinced of (especially as a #historian):
There is no grand scheme.
Only people doing stuff and living their life in systems and structures. The best thing you as an individual can do is: Be kind - see: https://fedihum.org/@lavaeolus/113672655734329547

There is no otherworldly spark of history, but there are people with agency (and there are moments of chance).

And as people with agency it is our responsibility to fight a #BystanderSociety - see: https://fedihum.org/@lavaeolus/113681276822650473

#histodons @histodons

Henrik Schönemann (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image · Content warning: be kind, life goals, obituaries of Bill Labov (RIP)

FeDiHum
Show threadThomasDec 20, 2024
@lavaeolus @histodons The problem here is that people believe in "grand schemes" and create self-fulfilling prophecies of what's to come. Anthropologically speaking, most humans, as social animals with narrative-driven allostasis, function with on shared believe systems. There is always Tolstoy's 3%, as, some argue, in all social animals, that create some variance. Also an "anthropological function".
Historians can observe the norm and hypothesize about the causes of innovation.
Show threadHenrik Schönemann
@tg9541 @histodons I agree - there is no grand scheme, but the trope "grand scheme" is very potent
Dec 20, 2024 at 7:26amWeb
Show threadThomasDec 20, 2024
@lavaeolus @histodons Yes, I agree. Developing a "grand scheme", believing in it, and making inference based on it, is part of what makes us human. For that we need language, more than for anything else. It also boosts tool usage far above what can be observed in any other social species: all technologies are grounded in their own minor scheme of things. I've the link below as an example of what I mean.
#history #technology #narative #anthropology #wehaveneverbemodern
https://austhrutime.com/food_preparation_poison.htm
Food Preparation - Poison

Food Preparation - Poison