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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.(11 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.(18 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.(17 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.(8 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)
Claim 1. The Earth is flat.
This is not true because people have gone to space and the Earth is obviously round. Also, it wouldn't make sense if it was flat because people would have already found the edge.
Claim 2. The Universe is 13.8 billion years old.
This is probably true because of carbon dating and such, but also I don't think this is the exact age of the universe.
Claim 3. We should believe the information shared with us in Big History videos.
This is probably false because most of the videos are just theories, only a few of them actually explain facts. No one knows if all the ideas they propose actually happened or not.
Claim 4. The use of differing scales makes Big History different from other approaches to history.
I don't think this one is true because I have seen similar approaches to teaching history using scales, even here on Khan Academy.
thanks for the responses!(3 votes)
I think that the earth is not flat because of several factors. Firstly, pictures taken by proffesionals in space show clearly that is not flat. If the earth was flat, if we wanted to go from one point from the earth to the other one when we reach the last point of the earth we will fall down to nowhere. So this determines that the earth is flat(2 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)
- The Earth is not flat. This is because the Earth is a sphere that orbits around the sun. There are many photos and studies that disprove the Earth being flat. To see it for yourself you could go to the beach and look to the horizon where there is a curve.
;-;(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)- I think that the claim from saying that the Earth is flat is false because,
First: we all know that the higher we go, the farther we can see. If the Earth were flat, this would not be the case. On a flat Earth you would have to see to the end of the Earth in any place without relief, like the sea, for example.
Second: sunrise and sunset times are different in each place in the world. If you think about it, this wouldn't be the case on a flat Earth either. What's more, and in relation to the previous point, the time at which the sun sets in each place also depends on the height from which you are looking at the horizon.
Third: the movement of the night sky. This argument is similar to the previous one. In the northern hemisphere the entire night sky revolves around the North Star counterclockwise, while in the southern hemisphere everything revolves around the Southern Cross counterclockwise.
There are more claims to see that the Earth isn't flat, in conclusion, we can see that there are a lot of options and all of them having a scientific explanation(3 votes) - If the Earth is flat, then how come we haven't found the edge yet?
Maybe because, the Earth isn't flat?(3 votes)
