7-3: Reflections on Big History

Today I read Big History. The book tells history from a new perspective, starting from the birth of the universe 13.8 billion years ago, through the history of nature and humans, and into the history of the future. It is a combination of the history of nature and the history of humans.

After reading, I have some thoughts I want to share with you. 

The first thing is that the book allowed me to re-understand my place in the universe. We are the product of many accidents, and the combination of various factors produced us; furthermore, we are lucky to live in the spring of the universe. What if planet Earth was not at where it is now, but further away from the sun? We wouldn't exist.

When I read about the predictions on the future, I learned that nothing lasts forever. Even the sun will eventually die - in 3 billion to 4 billion years, the sun will eventually run out of fuel and turn into a red giant. In the red giant phase, the sun will swallow Earth. This will end life on Earth. Then the sun will once again collapse and turn into a white dwarf (die).

Also, I found very interestingly that fighting for power makes little sense on the level of Big History. People like to create conflicts and make others bleed so they get control of a country, but this tiny power quickly becomes meaningless. Humans have never gotten rid of this thirst for power, probably because it's part of human nature.

Overall, this book gave me a lot of thinking. I believe you will have your own opinions after reading it.