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> Most recently, Graeber and Wengrow would likely the poster children of this approach to long history. Thanks. I'll look them up. > When I was a child (say,

> Most recently, Graeber and Wengrow would likely the poster children of this approach to long history. Thanks. I'll look them up. > When I was a child (say, 50+ years ago), we were taught that ... It's unfair, especially after you volunteered to inform me, to make you the spokesperson. However, to go on a tangent I am always a bit skeptical about my and others' memories of childhood education: First, it was long ago, and details and nuance tend to fade. Also, there's the question of not what was taught, but what was understood at that age. I may have understood a very simplified story, and lacking intellectual tools, one biased by pre-existing drives and beliefs. Think of the last time you tried to communicate something, especially with any detail or depth or nuance, to a 9 year old. Could you teach one about long history, in a way they'd understand and retain the details we're discussing? Just think of all the general contextual knowledge they'd need. Years ago I did come across a childhood textbook (late elementary school, I'd guess) , and it was pretty good. I don't mean it represents all textbooks, but that it was good from my adult perspective - no surprise because it was written by adults, evaluated by adults, taught by adults, and no doubt they thought it was pretty good. But what I understood as a child is an very different matter.

jghn 3y ago
Well, I was taught the same thing 40ish years ago, if that helps. In retrospect when I was in grade school I was being taught things that were about 10-30 years behind the times in terms of state of the art knowledge in their field. Which makes sense. I wouldn't expect an elementary school teacher to be up to date with the most recent knowledge coming out of academia on these topics. As another example I remember being scoffed at by my teacher in 2nd grade by pointing out how it looked like the continents could fit together. Plate tectonics was known by that point but hadn't become ubiquitous knowledge. I don't remember when I was formally taught the concept of Pangea but it was later on.
- wolverine876 3y ago
  > I was taught the same thing 40ish years ago Normally this question would be obnoxious, but hopefully it makes sense in the context (and in the context of HN): Looking at the issues raised in my GP post (to which you replied), why do you believe that? My hypothesis is, I don't know and I doubt most other people know.
  - jghn 3y ago
    > why do you believe that? Why do I believe what exactly? That this is what I was taught? The point I was raising was now there's an n=2. chiming in. I've learned to trust my childhood memories down to about age 6. I've been proven right close to 100% of the time I've had people challenging those memories. And I remember being taught the whole Fertile Crescent story. I could even tell you the teachers' names that taught it to me over the years, and have distinct memories of their classrooms. That it makes sense that grade school teachers can be behind the times? If that's what you mean it's because almost everyone is behind the times. And I don't expect a grade school teacher to be an expert in their "field". We're talking about an age range where teachers can even be somewhat fungible between subjects. Further, anecdotal evidence from my life (including both as a child and as an adult) corroborates this. The story revolving around the Levant *was* the generally accepted truth at the time among the larger population. It makes sense that this is what was being taught to grade schoolers.
dendrite9 3y ago
I was taught about isotopes and radiation in elementary school by a mostly retired teacher who was involved in radiation safety during nuclear tests after WWII. It stuck with me, even if I didn't understand everything about the types of radiation and how atoms work. I still don't understand it all! But he was very good at explaining something he was passionate about to children. We learned about other things, is some ways it felt like some years of middle and high school were learning an expanded version of what he taught us. It took several years before I realized how fortunate we were to have that experience.

jghn 3y ago

Well, I was taught the same thing 40ish years ago, if that helps. In retrospect when I was in grade school I was being taught things that were about 10-30 years behind the times in terms of state of the art knowledge in their field. Which makes sense. I wouldn't expect an elementary school teacher to be up to date with the most recent knowledge coming out of academia on these topics. As another example I remember being scoffed at by my teacher in 2nd grade by pointing out how it looked like the continents could fit together. Plate tectonics was known by that point but hadn't become ubiquitous knowledge. I don't remember when I was formally taught the concept of Pangea but it was later on.

wolverine876 3y ago
> I was taught the same thing 40ish years ago Normally this question would be obnoxious, but hopefully it makes sense in the context (and in the context of HN): Looking at the issues raised in my GP post (to which you replied), why do you believe that? My hypothesis is, I don't know and I doubt most other people know.
- jghn 3y ago
  > why do you believe that? Why do I believe what exactly? That this is what I was taught? The point I was raising was now there's an n=2. chiming in. I've learned to trust my childhood memories down to about age 6. I've been proven right close to 100% of the time I've had people challenging those memories. And I remember being taught the whole Fertile Crescent story. I could even tell you the teachers' names that taught it to me over the years, and have distinct memories of their classrooms. That it makes sense that grade school teachers can be behind the times? If that's what you mean it's because almost everyone is behind the times. And I don't expect a grade school teacher to be an expert in their "field". We're talking about an age range where teachers can even be somewhat fungible between subjects. Further, anecdotal evidence from my life (including both as a child and as an adult) corroborates this. The story revolving around the Levant *was* the generally accepted truth at the time among the larger population. It makes sense that this is what was being taught to grade schoolers.

dendrite9 3y ago

I was taught about isotopes and radiation in elementary school by a mostly retired teacher who was involved in radiation safety during nuclear tests after WWII. It stuck with me, even if I didn't understand everything about the types of radiation and how atoms work. I still don't understand it all! But he was very good at explaining something he was passionate about to children. We learned about other things, is some ways it felt like some years of middle and high school were learning an expanded version of what he taught us. It took several years before I realized how fortunate we were to have that experience.