Task 1 - Ancient Times

Question 1

What is the “Neolithic revolution” and when did it happen?

Answer 1

• > Transition from hunters & gatherers to farming and settlements
• > 10.000 BC

Question 2

When did the mastery of fire occur?

Answer 2

No exact date is decided upon. Sources range from 1 Mio. years ago to 120.000 BC

Question 3

What are aspects of a preliterate civilization?

Answer 3

• Able to make tools, fire and hunt
• Not a lot of concrete knowledge, more like a practical sense of how and when to do things
• Knowledge fluidity
• Animism

Question 4

Explain the term “knowledge fluidity”.

Answer 4

When knowledge is not preserved and documented, it is limited to the present two generations. Information is communicated by word of mouth.

Question 5

Development of written language was important because:

Answer 5

• It offered an opportunity to spread knowledge to larger audiences.
• It allows us to study past civilizations
• It promotes growth of the cortex
• It allows knowledge accumulation

Question 6

When was (language specific) alphabetic writing developed?

Answer 6

~ 10.000 BC

Question 7

What were the first cultures to use written language?

Answer 7

China (6.000 BC), Egypt (3200 BC), Sumer (3200 BC)

Question 8

What is protowriting?

Answer 8

Using symbols that represent entire entities without linguistic information (pronouns, adverbs etc) connecting them.

Question 9

What is the “Hindsight bias”?

Answer 9

We assume that ancient scientist knew more than they did. -> Failing to adapt the viewpoint of the philosophers of the time

Question 10

What is the “Mathew Effect”?

Answer 10

Popularity of a person / scientist leads us to believe this individual.

Question 11

When did we start to use spaces in sentences and why was it so helpful?

Answer 11

• > 8th century

- > Facilitates silent reading

Question 12

What is the threshold for group size?

Answer 12

~150

Question 13

What was a social obstacle for ancient science?

Answer 13

The fact that literacy was common mostly among religious leaders, which are conservatively-minded.

Question 14

What is “subitizing”?

Answer 14

Between 35.000 and 20.000 BC counting was mostly done using differentiations between one, two and “many”.

Question 15

Why did counting on the base of 5 seem functional?

Answer 15

• Perceptual limit of immediately telling apart how many tallies there are (IIII vs IIIII instead of IIII vs V)
• number of fingers on one hand

Question 16

Our time measurement system to this day is based on …

Answer 16

…The Sumerian counting system (base 60)

Question 17

Counting using a place-code was first used in…

Answer 17

India

Question 18

The first school was opened in ____ by ____ and was called _____.

Answer 18

• 388 BC
• Plato
• Academy

Question 19

Central aspects about Plato:

Answer 19

• Rationalism / Introspection
• > Truth comes from the inside and is based on rational thinking and not the influence from the outside world.
• > Humans have innate knowledge that can be uncovered through introspection
• liked by the church
• when bodies die, the soul lives on -> Dualism
• Brain: reasoning; Heart: Feelings/Sensation; Liver: Lust/Gut-feelings/Hunger

Question 20

Central aspects about Aristotle

Answer 20

• Was a student of Plato
• Founded his own school after Plato’s death, due to different opinions
• Knowledge comes through careful observation and experimenting
• > Empiricism
• Not liked by the church

Question 21

Central aspects about Socrates:

Answer 21

• Against writing things down
• Former teacher of Plato
• His knowledge was transcribed by Plato

Question 22

What is the connection between the church and science during the dark ages?

Answer 22

• The dark ages began with the fall of the Roman Empire and were dominated by Germanic tribes.
• The church had control over the education system in this time
• The Catholic church promoted theological and literal knowledge and not critical thinking