Collective Learning

The greatest power humankind has ever wielded is not the engine or the atom but collective learning, the capacity to share and build on one another’s knowledge. Dig into the “big history” of collective learning, from collaboration among early humans to the exchange of scientific knowledge between diverse modern cultures.

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Featured Materials

Collective Learning
A tablet with early writing etched onto it
Video

Collective Learning

Collective learning allows us to share, store, and pass on information. Its development was a transformational episode in human history, and still affects us today.

"Collective Learning" (Part 1)
Collective Learning
Article

"Collective Learning" (Part 1)

Collective learning sets humans apart from all other species, and language magnifies the impact of that learning.
Early Evidence of Collective Learning
Early Evidence: Collective Learning
Video

Early Evidence of Collective Learning

Stone tools, changes in the human skull, and mutant genes: John Shea discusses some of the early evidence we have for collective learning.
Standing on the Shoulders of Invisible Giants
Illustration of Nicolaus Copernicus standing the shoulders of Nasir al-Din al-Tusi
Article

Standing on the Shoulders of Invisible Giants

The history of science is a history of our collective learning. Historians piece together different conversations to tell a story that crosses centuries and continents.

The Missing Link?: The Maragha Observatory
Illustration of various scholars at the Maragha Observatory in Persia
Article

The Missing Link?: The Maragha Observatory

From Ptolemy to Copernicus and Galileo, thinkers have debated what the Universe looked like for centuries. Ultimately, scholars moved from an Earth-centered model to a Sun-centered model. How did we get there?

Threshold 6: Humans and Collective Learning
Threshold 6: Humans
Video

Threshold 6: Humans and Collective Learning

About 200,000 years ago, man evolved to become the most important force for change on the Earth’s surface. What makes us so different from other living things? How did we, together, make something entirely new?
Collective Learning Snap Judgment
Activity

Collective Learning Snap Judgment

You think you know collective learning? Prove it by evaluating these snap judgments.
Culture and Collective Learning Debate
Activity

Culture and Collective Learning Debate

Does culture count as collective learning? Debate this topic with your classmates and decide if cultural changes occur as a direct result of our ability to learn collectively.
Lion of the Sea: Ahmad Ibn Mājid
Portrait of Ahmad Ibn Mājid
Article

Lion of the Sea: Ahmad Ibn Mājid

Being a great sailor requires a lot of knowledge, and the greatest among them relied heavily on the collective learning that made crossing the vast Indian Ocean possible.

Explore the lesson plan

Collective Learning
Lesson 6.2
Big History Project
Early Humans
Collective Learning
Our ability to pass on knowledge and skills to others sets our species apart. From one generation to the next, we build on what came before, learning from mistakes, innovating, improving. Symbolic language is the key to this unique ability.
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