Talk:Human history/GA2

GA Review

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Nominator: Phlsph7 (talk · contribs) 11:34, 2 June 2024 (UTC)

Reviewer: AirshipJungleman29 (talk · contribs) 14:19, 2 June 2024 (UTC)

I'll take this—such an important article should be reviewed ASAP. I'll leave comments over the next week or two, if that's ok. This review will be used in the WikiCup. ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 14:19, 2 June 2024 (UTC)

Hello AirshipJungleman29, I appreciate you reviewing this core article. I've gotten used to waiting several months before nominations are picked up so I'm happy that this is not the case this time. Given the size of the article, I don't think we have to stick to the 7-day length recommendation. I'll ping @Cerebellum: so they are aware of the review. Good luck for WikiCup round 3. Phlsph7 (talk) 16:14, 2 June 2024 (UTC)

Thanks. @Phlsph7 and Cerebellum: can I ask whether you would prefer a normal GA review, or a more detailed one with FAC in mind? I am happy to provide either. ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 14:09, 3 June 2024 (UTC)

We haven't really talked about FA yet. I'm not sure if Cerebellum agrees, but from my side, the prime focus for now is on GA. Nonetheless, if you spot possible improvements that are not strictly speaking required for GA, I would be interested to hear about them. Phlsph7 (talk) 16:35, 3 June 2024 (UTC)

Understood. Onwards! ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 17:26, 3 June 2024 (UTC)

@AirshipJungleman29: Thanks for your suggestions so far. Just checking to see if you have more comments. Phlsph7 (talk) 07:45, 15 June 2024 (UTC)

Apologies Phlsph7, real life unexpectedly interposed itself. Will be back shortly. ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 15:44, 15 June 2024 (UTC)

About to leave some comments. ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 14:15, 20 June 2024 (UTC)

For reference

GA review – see WP:WIAGA for criteria

1. Is it well written?

   A. The prose is clear and concise, and the spelling and grammar are correct:

   B. It complies with the manual of style guidelines for lead sections, layout, words to watch, fiction, and list incorporation:

2. Is it verifiable with no original research, as shown by a source spot-check?

   A. It contains a list of all references (sources of information), presented in accordance with the layout style guideline:

   B. Reliable sources are cited inline. All content that could reasonably be challenged, except for plot summaries and that which summarizes cited content elsewhere in the article, must be cited no later than the end of the paragraph (or line if the content is not in prose):

   C. It contains no original research:

   D. It contains no copyright violations nor plagiarism:

3. Is it broad in its coverage?

   A. It addresses the main aspects of the topic:

   B. It stays focused on the topic without going into unnecessary detail (see summary style):

4. Is it neutral?

   It represents viewpoints fairly and without editorial bias, giving due weight to each:

5. Is it stable?

   It does not change significantly from day to day because of an ongoing edit war or content dispute:

6. Is it illustrated, if possible, by images?

   A. Images are tagged with their copyright status, and valid non-free use rationales are provided for non-free content:

   B. Images are relevant to the topic, and have suitable captions:

7. Overall:

   Pass or Fail:

Lead section

• For an article just under 10,000 words, the lead is a bit short at 272 words—it is effectively two long paragraphs (MOS:LEADLENGTH).
  • As a result, the weighting is completely out of track (MOS:LEADREL). It takes six sentences to summarise the "Prehistory" section, but the "Ancient history", "Post-classical history", and "Early modern period" sections, all of which are longer, are described in three total.
  • The "Academic research" section is not touched on at all.
• The opening paragraph does not adequately define the topic (MOS:OPEN, MOS:FIRST etc.).
• I'll go over the prose when the above MOS issues have been fixed. ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 17:26, 3 June 2024 (UTC)

  I expanded the lead to 340 words. It now roughly has the following structure:

  1. paragraph: define the topic and very short summary of section "Academic research"
  2. paragraph: prehistory
  3. paragraph: ancient and post-classical
  4. paragraph: early and late modern

  It has still a little more on prehistory than the others but I hope this is not too serious. We might be able to shorten the Ice Age part if it is still an issue. Phlsph7 (talk) 08:56, 4 June 2024 (UTC)

  I think the largest section ("Post-classical history") having just one lead sentence is still not great weighting. ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 09:50, 4 June 2024 (UTC)

  I added 2 more sentences. Phlsph7 (talk) 12:21, 4 June 2024 (UTC)

• The opening paragraph/sentence is now superb. Well done.
• "and later Greek philosophy, Buddhism, Confucianism, Jainism, Judaism, Taoism, and Zoroastrianism" these are in alphabetical order aside from Greek philosophy, which implies that it is more important than any of the others. Is that intended?

  Done. Phlsph7 (talk) 12:02, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

• Also, I think a sentence I quite liked summarising the "Regional empires" subsection has been cut; I think its reintroduction would be beneficial, otherwise there is no discussion of political history between "emergence of early civilisations" and "Byzantine Empire, the Islamic Caliphates, the Mongol Empire, and various Chinese dynasties"

  I included the idea in a different form. Phlsph7 (talk) 12:02, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

• "from about 500 to 1500 CE, witnessed the rise of Christianity and Islam " slight nitpick: Christianity had already "risen" long before 500; I think a different word is needed.

  Done. Phlsph7 (talk) 12:16, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

• "Influential technological innovations were the invention of gunpowder and the printing press." this is slightly stilted and unclear

  I reformulated it, but I'm not sure that it is much of an improvement. Phlsph7 (talk) 12:16, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

• The first explicit discussion of war in the lead is "the devastating impact of two world wars". I don't really know if that's ideal—thoughts?

  The sentence "These developments were accompanied by the rise and decline of major empires, such as the Byzantine Empire, the Islamic Caliphates, the Mongol Empire, and various Chinese dynasties." could be expanded with "..., frequently involving violent conflicts." Another option would be to mention that at the end of the prehistory paragraph that organized warfare only really became possible because of "The growing complexity of human societies". Phlsph7 (talk) 12:35, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

• Similarly, thoughts on whether the negative impacts of colonialism warrant a small mention?

  We could expand the sentence "During the early modern period, spanning from 1500 to 1800 CE, European powers explored and colonized regions worldwide, intensifying cultural and economic exchange." with "while leading to significant exploitation of indigenous populations."

• "Weapon destructiveness" seems rather out of place in that ending list, however.

  I replaced it with "military capabilities". Phlsph7 (talk) 12:45, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

• Overall, a much more suitable lead. ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 11:04, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

General comments

• I've never heard the term "Greater Middle East" before this article;its definition normally includes the whole of North Africa, but this article doesn't seem to do that. You have also used it as the place to discuss Central Asia, but it seems that definition is not universally agreed on ([1], [2], [3]). Some rethinking of sections may be needed.~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 09:58, 4 June 2024 (UTC)

What about changing the section title to "West and Central Asia"? And moving North Africa to the Africa section. It's a clunky title but the current title certainly violates the principle of least astonishment by saying that Central Asia is in the Middle East. If we break off Central Asia into its own section, we will run into trouble because there is only one sentence on Central Asia in the early modern section. --Cerebellum (talk) 10:51, 4 June 2024 (UTC)

Sounds like an improvement. I would agree with you both that Central Asia does not come to mind at all from "Greater Middle East". Aza24 (talk) 04:17, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

Done. --Cerebellum (talk) 09:01, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

• Surely things like photograph/film/recording are fundamental paradigm shifts, and warrant mention? – Aza24 (talk) 04:27, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

Added. --Cerebellum (talk) 11:37, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

• Unless I'm missing them. I should say, in general, the article seems highly cautionate of the arts. The words theater (or theatre) and music don't even appear. The European Renaissance doesn't mention art/music/poetry etc. except to say that culture was the "inquisitiveness which ultimately led to humanism". Of course, I don't expect the arts to be added to every section, but the current situation is beyond barren. – Aza24 (talk) 04:30, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

@Phlsph7: I'll work on this today, feel free to jump in as well. --Cerebellum (talk) 09:39, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

Added music, theatre, and Renaissance art. --Cerebellum (talk) 10:39, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

For the Early humans section, I think it'd be worth noting that the human voice was probably used as an instrument long before the findings of physical instruments. That always seems an unspoken misconception to me. Aza24 (talk) 18:05, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

Done. Phlsph7 (talk) 16:17, 6 June 2024 (UTC)

• I'd add "printmaking" to "Some of the major inventions of the period were gunpowder, printing, and the compass, all of which originated in China", and then probably link to Four Great Inventions somehow. – Aza24 (talk) 04:27, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

Is printmaking one of the Four Great Inventions? The wikipedia page has papermaking instead. --Cerebellum (talk) 09:01, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

I seem to have misspoke, paper is the one missing (and indeed printing/printmaking is already in the line I quoted!). I see paper is already included in a separate section though, so mention of the Four Great Inventions might be hard to muster (and is probably unimportant)

However, there's another problem here then. Our compass article seems to claim that the item was invented in the BCEs; its inclusion in the "c. 500 – 1500 CE" section seems way off. Aza24 (talk) 17:42, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

Good catch! Fixed. --Cerebellum (talk) 10:48, 6 June 2024 (UTC)

• Wondering if any of the Medieval renaissances should be mentioned? – Aza24 (talk) 04:30, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

My understanding is that modern historians hate the term renaissance and barely acknowledge that there was an Italian renaissance. As our article says, "The term has always been a subject of debate and criticism, particularly on how widespread such renewal movements were and on the validity of comparing them with the Italian Renaissance." --Cerebellum (talk) 11:37, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

• Aza's comments above hit on something I had thought to comment on—many subsections focus primarily, or even solely, on political/military history. It is obviously a difficult balance to include other topics, and I don't know whether it falls under the GA criteria's "broadness" or the FA criteria's "comprehensivity". Still, something to think about. ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 10:49, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

For art we are roughly in line with the sources - of 198 chapters in the Cambridge World History, only three by my count are about art. But in general I think it is a valid criticism, some sections are quite weak on cultural/economic history, for example the Southeast Asia section in post-classical history. --Cerebellum (talk) 11:37, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

I agree, art should not be neglected but its importance should also not be overstated since it does usually not get that much attention from world historians. Phlsph7 (talk) 13:00, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

Of course, I agree that overstatement is a risk. Still there are significant figures/movements which are very closely associated with different periods of time; those seem like the best (perhaps the only) places to include such information. Some ideas come to mind (all suggestions):

• the Tang dynasty & poetry

  Done. Phlsph7 (talk) 16:34, 6 June 2024 (UTC)

• The Islamic Golden Age (no examples of culture in the text, just science, so perhaps a single line on literature like One Thousand and One Nights and/or Islamic art would help)

  Done. Phlsph7 (talk) 17:02, 6 June 2024 (UTC)

• Medieval invention of Neume (the origin of modern music notation) – and/or the birth of polyphony in the Notre-Dame school

  Done. --Cerebellum (talk) 01:20, 7 June 2024 (UTC)

• Edo Japan and Ukiyo-e

  Done. --Cerebellum (talk) 01:20, 7 June 2024 (UTC)

To Airship's point, I think in general, if a subsection only includes political/military history, we should aim to have at least one sentence on something else. Not even necessarily the arts, but something cultural/economic/scientific. Obviously, if historians really aren't talking about anything but politics (perhaps for lack of information), we don't want to invent coverage, but there is certainly a balance at reach here. Aza24 (talk) 18:03, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

It may be best to address this in the discussion of the individual subsections. The main point is probably that each subsection covers what, according to world-historians, are the most important developments in that context. It's a plus if the domains to which these develoments belong are diverse but this is probably a secondary concern. Phlsph7 (talk) 07:43, 7 June 2024 (UTC)

Good points; I've been providing feedback with an eye on addressing similar gaps in social concepts (moral and phiosophical concepts, like human rights, inequalities, etc.). The problem is, of course, the need to keep the size menagable, and give due weight to stuff. For better or wore, traditional view of human history focuses heavily on politics (of which military history is a part of). Which is why this article only barely mentions stuff related to culture. Which reminds me - we should probably say something in contemporary history about recent decline in religiosity; I think this is missing. A final thought on how to find out what is missing that just occured to me: check which concepts from Wikipedia:Vital_articles#History (VA3?) are not mentioned here (maybe run a wikidata query for this is possible). _{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here} 02:41, 6 June 2024 (UTC)

I mentioned secularization in relation to the Enlightenment in Europe. The decline in religiosity in contemporary history is probably true for most of the West but not for various other parts of the world. Phlsph7 (talk) 08:40, 7 June 2024 (UTC)

Indeed. Is it perhaps worth mentioning that decline in the West, alongside the increase in Muslims? It does seem a little odd to me that the Late modern period doesn't say anything about any religion, but I don't know how much RS are talking about it in that period. Aza24 (talk) 17:57, 8 June 2024 (UTC)

Done. Phlsph7 (talk) 08:50, 9 June 2024 (UTC)

• The Europe section of Early modern period (c. 1500 – 1800 CE) is an interesting case study of the arts vs politics comments above. The first half neatly and succinctly covers the political/military history. Yet the second half seems to leave out the entire 16th and 17th centuries. This ends up excluding seemingly significant moments like the first viennese school (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven) and the Age of Enlightenment, for example; one might expect to see Newton or Kant (or the larger ideas they represent) included here. Again though, just suggestions. – Aza24 (talk) 18:13, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

@Aza24: Thank you for the suggestions. Could you help us identify what we can cut to add the topics you mentioned? We are already well over 10,000 words. --Cerebellum (talk) 10:18, 6 June 2024 (UTC)

Ancient history's Regional empires section seems to ramble a bit; perhaps it could be more succinct.

I wouldn't worry too much about the 10k. Of course, it's an important benchmark to keep in mind, but this is the kind of article where any reviewer/reader would understand if it was 12–13k. The Middle Ages FA is 14k; obviously it'd be ideal to not get to that high, but there is definitely some wiggle room. Aza24 (talk) 18:25, 6 June 2024 (UTC)

I found a way to mention Kant. Phlsph7 (talk) 09:02, 7 June 2024 (UTC)

Thanks. Again, all of my comments are suggestions, but I'm glad there has been more balancing out. Aza24 (talk) 20:07, 7 June 2024 (UTC)

"Massive Wikipedia:Systemic bias issues" from User:Bogazicili Discussion moved to [4]

Ottoman genocides and Holocaust is mentioned in the article but the following seems to be missing: Genocide of Indigenous peoples in Americas, Australia, New Zealand, Africa etc. Here are few that can be mentioned such as California genocide: [5] Other crimes in Africa such as Atrocities in the Congo Free State, Herero and Nama genocide, and Algerian_War#Atrocities_and_war_crimes Circassian genocide Persecution of Muslims during the Ottoman contraction with about 5 million dead. And that is just from a very quick glance at the article. Here's a specific example of the biased coverage: What the article says: Several European powers colonized the Americas, largely displacing the native populations and conquering the advanced civilizations of the Aztecs and Inca.[447] Diseases introduced by Europeans devastated American societies, killing 60–90 million people by 1600 and reducing the population by 90–95%.[448] What sources say: The Oxford Handbook of Genocide Studies p. 304 The conquest of Latin America resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of individuals, primarily as a result of disease and forced relocation into more concentrated settlements, as well as through exterminatory attacks on those who resisted Iberian domination. Severe exploitation aggravated the process through overwork, nutritional deficits, and reduced resistance to illnesses generally. Paralleling this process were concerted efforts to destroy the religious and cultural fabric of native societies through the systematic destruction of sacred objects, the death of indigenous religious leaders, and the prohibition of native rites The Cambridge World History of Genocide Volume 2 p. 6: European colonisation has stretched around the world for more than five centuries, disrupting or destroying millions of Indigenous people’s lives. Yet only in the last few decades have some colonial histories, especially those of settler colonies, begun to be understood as genocidal. This volume reflects that historiographical shift. Sixteen of the following chapters identify and document genocides committed by colonists and their leaders in Ireland, North America, Australia and Africa. However, this volume also includes two cases of mass violence perpetrated by members of Indigenous groups, in North America (Ned Blackhawk’s Chapter 10 on the Iroquois destruction of Wendake) and Africa (Michael Mahoney’s Chapter 14 on the Zulu Kingdom’s genocide of neighbouring groups). In addition, this volume also assesses cases that did not take place in a settler colonial context, such as Dean Pavlakis’ Chapter 24 on the Congo, as well as four cases on the Eurasian continent, in Korea, Central Asia, Russia and France. Bogazicili (talk) 14:12, 7 June 2024 (UTC) Bogazicili, why are these DUE in an article of this scope, why is the quote you identify "biased coverage", and why is your Cambridge History of Genocide quote relevant? ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 14:42, 7 June 2024 (UTC) AirshipJungleman29 Can you explain me why these sources are due and above (such as Cambridge History of Genocide) are not: "They Can Live in the Desert but Nowhere Else: A History of the Armenian Genocide." "Comprendre le Génocide des Arméniens—1915 à nos Jours [Understanding the Armenian Genocide: 1915 to the Present Day] (in French)"? Bogazicili (talk) 14:48, 7 June 2024 (UTC) As for the quotes specifically, the article omits genocides committed in Americas and just mentions deaths due to disease. Bogazicili (talk) 14:53, 7 June 2024 (UTC) Bogazicili, sources cannot be DUE, only content. I cannot see where either quote you have provided describes the colonization of the Americas as genocide, so I don't see any problem. ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 16:21, 7 June 2024 (UTC) AirshipJungleman29, content comes from sources. We also use sources to decide what is DUE. For example, something from a high level summary such as page 6 in Cambridge History of Genocide can be more DUE than something from a more specialized source. Second part of your response is weird. There are MULTIPLE genocides in Americas, and they each have their own chapters. I can't quote the entire book. But I see you seem prone to disregard my comment, so I'll probably move this to talk page and start an RFC Bogazicili (talk) 16:43, 7 June 2024 (UTC) I wish you the best with that. ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 16:48, 7 June 2024 (UTC) Thanks, discussion has been moved to the talk page: Talk:Human_history#Coverage_of_genocides_and_atrocities Bogazicili (talk) 05:43, 10 June 2024 (UTC)

Prehistory

• I think the first paragraph in Human_history#Rise_of_agriculture can use a map: [6], moving the Göbekli Tepe image further down? Bogazicili (talk) 06:47, 10 June 2024 (UTC)
  • There is already a map in that section; I don't think two are needed. Would a swap really be beneficial? ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 12:38, 10 June 2024 (UTC)

    You mean the map in Early humans? No, I think spread of humans should take priority. Do both maps look too crowded: User:Bogazicili/sandbox4? Bogazicili (talk) 07:51, 11 June 2024 (UTC)

• hominins, which ... includes chimpanzeens and bonobos...after the split from chimpanzees in early hominins this description of hominins is somewhat confusing: they are defined as including chimpanzees, but early ones also split from them?

I don't think taxonomists agree on whether or not chimpanzees are hominins. See Dunbar 2016: Conventionally, taxonomists now refer to the great ape family (including humans) as hominids, while all members of the lineage leading to modern humans that arose after the split with the [Homo-Pan] LCA are referred to as hominins. The older literature used the terms hominoids and hominids respectively. Clear as mud. I tried to fix the issue by removing "and includes chimpanzees and bonobos." --Cerebellum (talk) 23:23, 20 June 2024 (UTC)

This is the best explanation I could find, although it's not a scholarly source: Hominid and hominin – what’s the difference?. --Cerebellum (talk) 23:29, 20 June 2024 (UTC)

• "an increase in brain size" might be nice to have the specific increase in text

Added. --Cerebellum (talk) 23:23, 20 June 2024 (UTC)

• The first occurrence of "Homo sapiens" should probably be linked.

Homo sapiens redirects to human, which is already linked in the lead. Would you like me to link the first occurrence after the lead? --Cerebellum (talk) 19:19, 20 June 2024 (UTC)

• "were already using" is the "already" needed?

Removed. --Cerebellum (talk) 19:19, 20 June 2024 (UTC)

• If we are saying the Southern Dispersal is the dominant view, might include a note on the minority view (what is it?)

Added Other scholars argue in favor of a northern dispersal of humans through Central Asia into China, or a multiple dispersal model with several different routes of migration. --Cerebellum (talk) 19:15, 20 June 2024 (UTC)

• "lacked the necessary ores" I'm not sure necessary is the right word. ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 14:51, 20 June 2024 (UTC)

I removed the sentence because the source does not support it. The source is talking about flint and jadeitite, it mentions copper but not as being traded. --Cerebellum (talk) 18:52, 20 June 2024 (UTC)

Ancient history

• In Human_history#Regional_empires, Hittites are missing. You can also mention Hattians. Bogazicili (talk) 06:40, 10 June 2024 (UTC)
  • That would seem quite the wrong place for the Hittites, who existed several centuries before the period described in that section. If they are DUE, the following sentences in the "Cradles of civilization" subsection seem the right place for insertion: "Over the following millennia, civilizations developed across the world. By 1600 BCE, Mycenaean Greece began to develop. It flourished until the Late Bronze Age collapse that affected many Mediterranean civilizations between 1300 and 1000 BCE. ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 12:38, 10 June 2024 (UTC)

    I don't think they are DUE. The relevant period is covered in the Cambridge World History Volume 3. From what I can tell, the Hittites get exactly one sentence, on p. 360. Phlsph7 (talk) 16:32, 10 June 2024 (UTC)

• It was questioned before why the ancient history section starts at 3000 BCE (Talk:Human history#Start ancient history at 3500 BCE), which was -- prematurely, I'd say -- closed with "no consensus". I would support changing that date to 3500 BCE, per the sources given there. Renerpho (talk) 17:30, 15 June 2024 (UTC)

  I think either one is possible but the sources presented so far seem to favor 3500 BCE. I had a look at two more sources: [7] uses 3500 BCE while [8] uses 3000 BCE. Phlsph7 (talk) 07:53, 16 June 2024 (UTC)

At the risk of death by committee - since this has downstream effects on articles like ancient history, timelines of world history, and list of time periods, should we discuss at WikiProject History before changing? Interestingly, timeline of ancient history starts at 3200. --Cerebellum (talk) 10:44, 16 June 2024 (UTC)

If we wanted to implement this change across several articles, this would probably be the way to go. One difficulty in this regard might be that the periods may be defined differently in different context, for example, in different regions. If the point is just to get this article in tune with the relevant sources in our context, I don't think that this is required. Phlsph7 (talk) 15:43, 16 June 2024 (UTC)

Ok cool. I made the change. --Cerebellum (talk) 21:52, 16 June 2024 (UTC)

Post-classical history

• For the Islamic Golden Age part, I have concerns about the current text: ushering in the Islamic Golden Age, an era of learning, science, and invention during which philosophy, art, and literature flourished.[233][m] The knowledge and skills of ancient Greece and Persia were preserved in the post-classical era by Muslims,[235] who also added new and important innovations from outside, such as the manufacture of paper from China[236] and decimal positional numbering from India.[237] To me, this sounds like there were no original inventions, but they just mixed ancient Greece and Persia with other outside inventions. Can original discoveries mentioned such as those in Islamic_Golden_Age#Mathematics, Islamic_Golden_Age#Natural_sciences, or Islamic_Golden_Age#Engineering? Outside influences can also be mentioned, but I don't think the current space is justified, given Greece, Persia, or paper from China etc are also mentioned elsewhere. Bogazicili (talk) 06:28, 10 June 2024 (UTC)
  • I agree; it is important to remember that the Islamic Golden Age was not just preservation and compilation of ancient and oriental writings (in teleological preparation for the European Renaissance) but a period of superb scientific and cultural advancement. ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 12:38, 10 June 2024 (UTC)

    Done. Many different examples could be picked here. Feel free to replace mine with others if you think they are more important. Phlsph7 (talk) 17:03, 10 June 2024 (UTC)

    Great examples. Now that I'm looking into that section though, maybe it'd be better to move this: and the decimal positional numbering system from India. to Post-classical history (c. 500 – 1500 CE) - South Asia? There is nothing about science in that South Asia subsection. Above can be reworded as contribution of India that was adopted by Arabs and passed onto Europe. Cambridge World History Vol 4 pp 148–149: India made a fundamental contribution to modern science in mathematics. Indian numerals could be.... Bogazicili (talk) 08:47, 11 June 2024 (UTC)

Late modern period

• For the paragraph starting with These technical innovations had far-reaching effects.[542] The world's population quadrupled... (I'll refer to this as the demography paragraph), can we add Demographic transition? I don't think there is anything at all about this in the article. Many countries today have Sub-replacement fertility. This is noted in The Cambridge World History Vol 7 Part 2 p. 68 The demographic transition, to low birth and child death rates alike, reflected a quiet revolution in key aspects of family life. In The Cambridge World History Vol 7 Part 1, there's an entire part called "Population and Disease" (Part 2) with "Features of the modern demographic transition" starting in page 196. Maybe we can also include discovery of modern Birth control Bogazicili (talk) 05:53, 10 June 2024 (UTC)

  Done. Phlsph7 (talk) 17:42, 10 June 2024 (UTC)

  Great, thank you! Do we have space for sub-replacement fertility specifically? I'm seeing in Google Books preview that Ivanov 2009 mentions it around page 110? Bogazicili (talk) 07:16, 11 June 2024 (UTC)

  Actually, added this part myself, using The Cambridge World History Vol 7 Part 1 Bogazicili (talk) 07:38, 11 June 2024 (UTC)

  Looks good. Phlsph7 (talk) 08:03, 11 June 2024 (UTC)

• Similar to above, can we mention the increase in human life expectancy? I believe it was lower than 30s for most of human history. Bogazicili (talk) 05:53, 10 June 2024 (UTC)
  • I quite like these demographics-focused suggestions, and agree with implementing them. ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 12:38, 10 June 2024 (UTC)

    Done. Phlsph7 (talk) 08:19, 11 June 2024 (UTC)

    Looks great! If you take this article to FA nomination, some people might complain of paragraph length, but everything is WP:Summary. You could consider moving The importance of public education had already begun to increase in the 18th and 19th centuries to Long nineteenth century section, to one of the shorter paragraphs. Then this paragraph would just note the widespread education in 20th and 21st centuries. But it also makes sense to give overview of education, like you did. Bogazicili (talk) 09:05, 11 June 2024 (UTC)

• Israeli–Palestinian conflict is missing, even though Russian invasion of Ukraine is mentioned. The former is much longer in duration, and is a major issue in world politics and West Asia. Bogazicili (talk) 06:01, 10 June 2024 (UTC)
  • I would suggest not mentioning either—that paragraph is quite lengthy, and WP:RECENTISM bias is a concern to me. ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 12:38, 10 June 2024 (UTC)

    Israeli–Palestinian conflict has been ongoing since late 19th century. Definitely not WP:Recentism. Bogazicili (talk) 07:10, 11 June 2024 (UTC)

    I added the invasion of Ukraine because it was requested but I'm not sure that the article really needs it. There are many 20th-century conflicts of similar magnitude that are currently not mentioned. Discussing all of them would probably not be a good idea. I think removing the invasion of Ukraine is better than adding the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Phlsph7 (talk) 08:29, 11 June 2024 (UTC)

• Last paragraph is a bit too long, consider moving The importance of public education had already begun to increase in the 18th and 19th centuries[x] but it was not until the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries that compulsory and free education was provided to most children worldwide.[558][y] into the "the demography paragraph" Bogazicili (talk) 06:08, 10 June 2024 (UTC)

  Done. Phlsph7 (talk) 08:31, 11 June 2024 (UTC)

• Can we add something about treatment of children, such as introduction of age of consent laws and child labor laws? (Age_of_consent#Reforms_in_the_19th_and_20th_century and Child_labour_law#History) Bogazicili (talk) 06:11, 10 June 2024 (UTC)
  • This seems slightly tangential to me. ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 12:38, 10 June 2024 (UTC)

    Agreed. Phlsph7 (talk) 08:31, 11 June 2024 (UTC)

• Since I am making several suggestions to expand the article, you might consider removing Meanwhile, industrial pollution and environmental damage accelerated drastically.[488] from Long nineteenth century. Climate change and environmental degradation is already mentioned in Contemporary history (which I believe is the correct place) Bogazicili (talk) 06:19, 10 June 2024 (UTC)
  • Including both is fine with me for the moment; we can talk about cutting latter if necessary. ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 12:38, 10 June 2024 (UTC)

Academic research

• "The field of inquiry studying human history is called world history, but the two terms are also sometimes used as synonyms." This is definitely an (understandable) misunderstanding. World history is not the field of human history, but an approach, one which focuses on interactions between different systems and cultures. It's probably outside the scope of this article, but it, like "area studies", "comparative history", "global history" and the like, is even increasingly disdained. ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 16:58, 7 June 2024 (UTC)

  From Christian 2015a, pp. 1–3: World history must limit its ambitions precisely because its scope is so vast, so an exhaustive history of humanity, like a map the same size as the landscape it charts, would be of little use because it would have avoided the hard work of distillation. This is why world historians have to be good at selecting. The chapters in Volume i are indeed authoritative; they cover a great deal of territory (literally and metaphorically); but they are not exhaustive. Like all the best scholarship in world history, they try to convey both the detailed texture of human history and its major themes and trajectories. ... As Marnie Hughes-Warrington points out in her brief history of world history in Chapter 2, we find many different labels for the same core project. They include ‘universal history’, ‘global history’, ‘transnational history’, ‘macrohistory’, ‘comparative history’, ‘big history’, and more. She also points out that, whatever we call it, the world history project is ancient. All attempts to make sense of the past depend on imagining a coherent and meaningful ‘world’ of some kind, though they vary in the extent to which ‘the purpose of world construction is explicit’. I added qualifier "The main field of inquiry" to not imply that there are no other approaches. Phlsph7 (talk) 07:12, 8 June 2024 (UTC)

  You will find similar and rather contradictory statements from adherents of many approaches. These are historians trying to tell others that their way of interpreting the world is right. No one really knows what "global", "world", "transnational", etc. history means. See pp. 435 onwards of this essay from Patricia Clavin: it explicitly differentiates "international", "world", "global", and "transnational" history, in complete contrast to Hughes-Warrington above saying that they are "many different labels for the same core project". Clavin says "Global historians are primarily interested to weave the history of humans and the planet on which they live into a single story" and that from the global history perspective, world history has a "narrow geographic and chronological focus"! Meanwhile, you have Sebastian Conrad arguing that global and world history are identical (What is Global History, 2016, chapter 3 especially) but differentiated from comparative and transnational history approaches. These are all highly respected historians, and their views are completely contradictory. On this matter, historians love to argue: I remember one (I believe Sven Beckert noted something along the lines of "more pages have been dedicated to whether transnational history is best than to actual research using the approach". I would certainly recommend against stating in wikivoice that "human history=world history" or similar—especially since many non-Western historians have come to view world/global history as the successor of colonialist analyses (see Conrad's acknowledgement on p.218). ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 11:44, 8 June 2024 (UTC)

  From the sources that I'm aware of, there is not a generally accepted distinction between "world history" and "global history". For example, from Stearns 2010 pp. 14–15: World history is the more common current label. Global history often means the same thing. For some, however, there is an implication in global history of more intense focus on contacts and interconnections, though as we have seen these emphases must be embraced in world history. For a similar but more lengthy discussion, see [9]. The expression "world history" is often found in the titles in our bibliography section and Ngrams indicates that the expression "world history" is more common than the others though we probably can't read much more out of it. Do you think that the problem could be solved by adding a footnote along the following lines: Some historians use the term "world history" in a more narrow sense to refer to one among several alternative approaches to studying human history. Phlsph7 (talk) 16:13, 8 June 2024 (UTC)