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Big History Project
Course: Big History Project > Unit 1
Lesson 4: Claim Testing | 1.3ACTIVITY: Claim Testing Snap Judgment
Purpose
This is a quick introduction to how you might assess claims that are made in your everyday life.
Process
Do you know what a claim is? People make claims all the time. Teachers make claims; when you tell each other stories you make claims; television commercials make claims about products; doctors make claims about medicine; the list goes on and on. Much of what people share and advertise are claims; however, we often don’t explain or justify our claims.
Think about the following claims:
- The Earth is flat.
- The Universe is 13.8 billion years old.
- We should believe the information shared with us in Big History videos.
- The use of differing scales makes Big History different from other approaches to history.
Do you agree or disagree with these claims? Why?
For Further Discussion
Pick one claim and decide if you think it’s true or false. Then, in the Questions Area below, explain why you think that claim is true or false (don’t forget to provide the original claim). After that, comment on someone else’s claim and provide evidence that either supports or refutes that person’s true or false assertion.
Want to join the conversation?
I believe that the earth is round and not flat because, quite simply, we have photographs of the earth shown as a sphere.(10 votes)
The earth is spherical (of course), but the photographs can only prove that the earth is round, they cannot prove that it is spherical, because a photograph only has two dimensions, and the earth has three dimensions.(13 votes)
We should believe the information shared with us in Big History videos.
False.
Science is not a religion. Science is not a belief system. What is being presented in the Big History videos is what is currently believed based on observations and logical analysis. It is a starting point. Nobody was around when the Big Bang occurred and therefore we have no witnesses.
One hundred years ago, Albert Einstein made a profound statement regarding space and time. Maybe there will be another enlightenment of what happened in the very early stages of the Big Bang Theory.(14 votes)
"The use of differing scales makes Big History different from other approaches to history."
I think this claim is undeniably true. The wording makes it this way, the author says that BH is different, not better, than other approaches of history. While I do think this claim is also better, it's definitely different. This is a unique course that takes a look from a wide variety of perspectives and scales and I think that fact gives it an edge over other courses.(5 votes)
Yeah, I'll have to agree with you on that, mainly because it's been put together in a way that lets you think for yourself, so you can develop your own theories based on your beliefs. Big History doesn't tell you information, it shares it, allowing us an opportunity to branch out in many different directions.(3 votes)
- "We should believe the information shared with us in BH videos."
Well, the Big History project isn't meant to be believed. It's a compilation of theories, not a religion. So I'm going with false.(4 votes) 
"The Earth is flat." I believe this claim is false. Besides the fact that many photographs of the Earth have been taken to disprove this, we can also travel around the world and, noting the shifting positions of cosmic bodies in the sky in relation to our position on Earth, use mathematics to prove the Earth is round.(3 votes)
I think we should generally believe the information we are given in Big History videos. The people involved in this project have dedicated their lives and careers to studying these subjects and questions. Its important to question information but also realize the limits of our individual second-hand knowledge. That's why there are experts on things, because not everyone can pursue all areas of knowledge fully.(3 votes)
"The Earth is flat." Well, I think at this point it has been absolutely proven that the earth is spherical, not flat, but I see why people believed it at the time. However, when such evidence has been provided (pictures from space, voyages around the earth, etc.) I think we are safe to trust this theory.(2 votes)- If the Earth is flat, then how come we haven't found the edge yet?
Maybe because, the Earth isn't flat?(2 votes) - "The use of differing scales makes Big History different from other approaches to history" I agree that such approach is something new(2 votes)
My bank recently relocated my address from Taiwan to "Taiwan, Province of China". This claim is patently false. After the Sino Japanese war of 1895, the Chinese emperor ceded Taiwan to the Japanese Empire in perpetuity. After the second world war, the then government of China took control of Taiwan "custodially" until the United Nations could work things out. During this custodianship, that government lost a civil war to the current government of China, which took control of all territory except for Taiwan and two small island groups.
Taiwan has never been ruled by the current government of China. It's claim (and my bank's claim) that I reside in a "Province of China", is false. I refuse to accept it.(2 votes)
